Will this be ok?

[ColoradoXJ13]

SO I have brewed a lot of beer, and for some reason, with the fall, and me living far away from the nice apple orchards of the east coast, I am missing having apple cider all the time. I was thinking about doing this

5 gallons pasteurized apple cider (the dark brown stuff from 1-gallong jugs)
1-2# dark brown sugar
WLP720 Sweet Mead Yeast

I am wanting a cider that looks and still tastes somewhat like the original cider but is alcoholic. Not like a strongbow or the other hard ciders on the market, not dry like apfelwein, but a carbonated, somewhat sweet alcoholic apple cider. Is this what I am going to get? Will this work?

Thanks, and sorry for the questions that have been asked a bunch of times but I looked around the forum and couldn't find the answers I wanted.

 

[dave36640]

Just Be Sure the Cider is preservative free. Asorbic Acid (Vitiman C) is the only acceptable Perservative.

 

[beerdad]

That sounds pretty good. I tried some apple juice concentrate in my last batch. It should make it a little more apple-ee. I haven't treied it yet.

 

[Adolphus79]

The dark brown sugar is going to leave it quite tart. You might want to go with like 1 pound of Cane sugar (table sugar). Also, make sure your cider has nothing added to it (preservatives). I don't know what the sweet mead yeast will do to cider, but I use Cotes de Blancs in my New England Hard Cider, and it still tastes nice and apple-y...

Whichever recipe you decide on, let us know how it turns out...

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

The dark brown sugar is going to leave it quite tart. You might want to go with like 1 pound of Cane sugar (table sugar). Also, make sure your cider has nothing added to it (preservatives). I don't know what the sweet mead yeast will do to cider, but I use Cotes de Blancs in my New England Hard Cider, and it still tastes nice and apple-y...

Whichever recipe you decide on, let us know how it turns out...

The sweet mead yeast has a lower attenuation than most yeasts, so I figure it would leave it a bit sweet which is what I want. I found apfelwein to be too dry and bitter and not enough apple flavor left, it tasted like white wine.

Why would brown sugar leave a more tart flavor than table sugar? I was hoping to get a bit of a molasses sweetness from it while upping the ABV.

From white labs

WLP720 Sweet Mead/Wine Yeast:
A wine yeast strain that is less attenuative than WLP715, leaving some residual sweetness. Slightly fruity and will tolerate alcohol concentrations up to 15%. A good choice for sweet mead and cider, as well as Blush wines, Gewürztraminer, Sauternes, Riesling.
Alcohol Tolerance: 15%
Attenuation: <75%
Flocculation: Low
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 70-75°F

 

[Adolphus79]

The dark borwn will be more tart than cane sugar because of the molasses.

That yeast looks pretty good. If you want to keep it sweet, then let it ferment for a week or so, then taste it every couple days afterwards til it hits the sweetness you want, and stop fermentation with potasium sorbate when it is as dry as you want. Then, you can also backsweeten with some splenda if it comes out too dry for your liking, or kill the yeast, and backsweeten with more cider.

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

So whole foods has unpasteurized cider ($7.69/gal...ouch), can I use campden then ferment it?

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

The dark borwn will be more tart than cane sugar because of the molasses.

How about corn sugar? I may just not bother with the sugar...

 

[Adolphus79]

So whole foods has unpasteurized cider ($7.69/gal...ouch), can I use campden then ferment it?

If it is truly unpasteurized, then yeah, you probably should use campden. Check your local schools for a school farm or something, I bought some cider from ours here for $2.90 a gallon.

How about corn sugar? I may just not bother with the sugar...

Corn sugar is the most used sugar in brewing because it is completely fermentable without adding any flavor to the brew. If you're looking to bump up your ABV without adding any flavor, that is the way to go.

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

King Soopers only has cider with Potassium metabisulfate and potassium sorbate....so I may go with the unpasteurized...got one more store to check...argh.

What is the typical dosage/treatment time for campden?

 

[Adolphus79]

1 tablet per gallon, 24 hours before you pitch your yeast...

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

Ok, well I bought 5-gallons of the unpasteurized cider at Whole Foods (@ $7.69/gallon), for some reason, the total came out to $30.76 and I got a 5% discount (I think for not asking for shopping bags). Looking at the receipt now, she only charged me for 4, works for me...

anyway, crushed up 5 campden tabs, added a cup or so of the cider to it with 2.5tsp pectic enzyme, stirred, added to a carboy with about 4.5 gallons of the cider (warmed a bit of the cider in a pot and added 1# corn sugar). I didn't want to add all 5 gallons so I could have some headspace, I have no idea how vigorous the ferment will be. Going to pitch the WLP720 sweet mead yeast tomorrow night with no starter, hope this works.

Will let it ferment until about 1.010 (if I am back in town by then...gone from the 29-7th), then keg it. If it needs to be sweetened, I will add some apple juice concentrate to taste.

 

[Adolphus79]

sounds like a plan... let us know how it turns out...

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

So I am back from my trip to Peru (which was awesome) and the cider is still fermenting, it is down to 1.005 now and tastes thin and not sweet enough, not what I wanted, but I assumed this would happen.

Does anyone think that racking it to a corny, cooling for a week with gelatin to settle out the yeast, then racking to another keg and adding apple juice concentrate and/or lactose to sweeten would be a bad idea? I'd like to have this ready for Dec. 6, so I am short on time...

 

[Yooper]

That would be ok, except the apple juice concentrate you add would cause the cider to start fermenting again and it'll ferment out.

If it were me, I'd rack it to a carboy add campden tablets and sorbate and let it sit for a week. Then rack into the keg and add your sweetening and then force carb.

Campden and sorbate together work as yeast inhibitors and keep the yeast from reproducing. After that's done, you can sweeten without fermentation restarting.

 

[ColoradoXJ13]

I was planning on keeping it cool the whole time (40*F in my keezer) so I hope fermentation won't continue.

 

[Vermicous]

Fermentation should still continue at 40 degrees although very slow. Yooper's suggestion is probably your best bet.