Here's what I am about to try; I welcome any feedback. I am not 100% committed yet if this is a terrible idea.
The first time I made cider was kind of a disaster; despite knowing my way around a fermentation, my Nottingham-fermented cider had a solvent off-flavor. Temperature was well-controlled, and the juice was pasteurized, so my best guess is it was a yeast nutrient problem, hence my use of a mead-style nutrient schedule on this run. That was $80 of foofy farm cider down the drain, so I will be using grocery store juice until I get things figured out.
My fermenter is heating up right now and I will pitch in the morning unless y'all talk me out of it!
- 5.5 gallons of Trader Joe's pressed apple juice, not from concentrate (OG 1.048, $5/gal, tastes pretty good!)
- Yeast: Voss Kviek (Imperial Loki) and the plan is to oxygenate, and pitch an insane-sounding 1 tablespoon or so at about 90F, which should let the yeast express some fruity notes
- Nutrient schedule: Fermaid-O TONSA 2.0 profile, set to "low" nitrogen requirement (it comes to 4 doses of 2.5 g). Because kveik yeast is so fast, I am planning on doing the doses 12 hours apart instead of 24 hours.
- Assuming it doesn't taste like a sack of rhino butts, I will knock out the yeast and backsweeten in the keg with FAJC. (I assume it will ferment to dryness... I am kind of worried the Voss kviek will eat my house.)
The first time I made cider was kind of a disaster; despite knowing my way around a fermentation, my Nottingham-fermented cider had a solvent off-flavor. Temperature was well-controlled, and the juice was pasteurized, so my best guess is it was a yeast nutrient problem, hence my use of a mead-style nutrient schedule on this run. That was $80 of foofy farm cider down the drain, so I will be using grocery store juice until I get things figured out.
My fermenter is heating up right now and I will pitch in the morning unless y'all talk me out of it!