MBM30075
Well-Known Member
Last week I started my first cider/apfelwein.
My recipe was:
3 gallons "natural" (cloudy) apple juice
2 lbs. table sugar
1 tbsp yeast nutrients
1 packet Lalvin champagne yeast
The apple juice was pasteurized and had no preservatives. Ingredients list was like "apple juice, water, concentrated apple juice."
My OG was 1.080 or 1.081. I'm expecting this to get down to .995 - 1.000. I'm also expecting this to take a looooong time in primary, secondary and bottle conditioning. I'd love to have something else apple-y to drink sooner than December or so.
So, I thought about doing a weaker cider, forgoing the table sugar, using an ale yeast and maybe getting a brew ready to drink more along the timeline of a beer.
Here's my proposed recipe:
5 gallons "natural" (cloudy) apple juice
2 tbsp yeast nutrient
1 packet Nottingham yeast
According to my calculations, if 2 lbs. of table sugar added to 3 gallons of juice made an OG of 1.081, then then juice itself should be about 1.050.
***** Calculations *****
1 lb. table sugar = 1.046 SG / gallon or 46 pts. / gallon
2 lb. table sugar / 3 gallons = (46 + 46) / 3 = 92 / 3 = 30.667 = 1.031)
1.081 (my OG) - 1.031 (calc'd SG of the sugar) = 1.050 (SG of the juice)
***** Calculations *****
If I do that and pitch the Nottingham on top, how much attenuation will I get?
If I get the normal 75%, that would be an FG of 1.012-1.013, giving me about 5% ABV. That's a good target for me. Even if it runs it all the way down to 1.000, it's only 6.5%. Still in the right range.
Will the yeast quit then (@ 1.012), though? I've heard from a lot of people that the sugars in apple juice ferment out a lot better than the sugars in an average beer wort. Is that true? Even with a beer yeast?
Also, if I do this recipe, what sort of overall time table should I expect? Would a 1-2-3 work for this? What about 2-2-4? Would a recipe like this still require months of aging to be good?
Thanks!
My recipe was:
3 gallons "natural" (cloudy) apple juice
2 lbs. table sugar
1 tbsp yeast nutrients
1 packet Lalvin champagne yeast
The apple juice was pasteurized and had no preservatives. Ingredients list was like "apple juice, water, concentrated apple juice."
My OG was 1.080 or 1.081. I'm expecting this to get down to .995 - 1.000. I'm also expecting this to take a looooong time in primary, secondary and bottle conditioning. I'd love to have something else apple-y to drink sooner than December or so.
So, I thought about doing a weaker cider, forgoing the table sugar, using an ale yeast and maybe getting a brew ready to drink more along the timeline of a beer.
Here's my proposed recipe:
5 gallons "natural" (cloudy) apple juice
2 tbsp yeast nutrient
1 packet Nottingham yeast
According to my calculations, if 2 lbs. of table sugar added to 3 gallons of juice made an OG of 1.081, then then juice itself should be about 1.050.
***** Calculations *****
1 lb. table sugar = 1.046 SG / gallon or 46 pts. / gallon
2 lb. table sugar / 3 gallons = (46 + 46) / 3 = 92 / 3 = 30.667 = 1.031)
1.081 (my OG) - 1.031 (calc'd SG of the sugar) = 1.050 (SG of the juice)
***** Calculations *****
If I do that and pitch the Nottingham on top, how much attenuation will I get?
If I get the normal 75%, that would be an FG of 1.012-1.013, giving me about 5% ABV. That's a good target for me. Even if it runs it all the way down to 1.000, it's only 6.5%. Still in the right range.
Will the yeast quit then (@ 1.012), though? I've heard from a lot of people that the sugars in apple juice ferment out a lot better than the sugars in an average beer wort. Is that true? Even with a beer yeast?
Also, if I do this recipe, what sort of overall time table should I expect? Would a 1-2-3 work for this? What about 2-2-4? Would a recipe like this still require months of aging to be good?
Thanks!