NineMilBill's Easy Blackberry Cider

[NineMilBill]

Ingredients:
1 gallon Apple Juice
6.5 oz White Sugar
13.5 oz Fresh Blackberries (primary)
18 oz Fresh Blackberries (secondary)
Safale US-05

Method:
1. Soak first round of blackberries in vodka for 10 minutes, then drain.
2. Pour half of cider into primary.
3. Add sugar to remaining cider and shake jug well.
4. Add blackberries and cider/sugar mixture to primary.
5. Pitch yeast.
6. Ferment till dry (~30 days/1.003)
7. Soak second round of blackberries in vodka for 10 minutes, then drain.
8. Add blackberries to secondary and rack cider on top of it.
9. Rack to tertiary after 10 days (clearing rack)
10. After 10 days, add sugar to taste (I used ~1 cup).
11. Bottle and pasteurize after desired carb level has been reached.

This was designed to be a simple blackberry cider. It contains no chemicals, and the SWMBO loves it.

 

[DGibb]

What is the yield of this recipe? How much vodka do you soak the berries in?

I'm definitely interested in this!

 

[NineMilBill]

After the blackberries do a little absorbing (they're typically full of vodka anyway), I end up with nine bottles for a one gallon batch. I've soaked the blackberries in both small tupperware containers and small drinking glasses. I use just enough of the cheapest vodka I can find to cover the berries.

 

[InertiaticESP]

if you were to do 3 gallons, would you up the sugar to 3 cups when backsweetening? this looks like a great, straightforward recipe!

 

[NineMilBill]

That would be a good starting point. I would suggest sweetening a small sample first, take a gravity reading, and then add sugar to the batch to match the gravity of the sample. Dilute the sugar in some water by heating on the stove first, cool it, and gently mix into the batch. It wouldn't be a bad idea to rack the batch onto the sugar mix in a new carboy for mixing purposes as you would a priming sugar.

 

[InertiaticESP]

great! i'm going to start a 3 gal batch this weekend. do you know what gravity reading you got post-sugar where you were happy with the sweetness? i know "to each his own", but just curious.

 

[NineMilBill]

No I sure don't - but I'm looking forward to seeing how yours turns out. Keep us updated!

 

[InertiaticESP]

question: i'm racking to secondary today w/18 oz of blackberries. do you think it's okay to top off the new carboy w/fresh apple juice? i plan on losing some volume from the old lees and "white" blackberries.

 

[NineMilBill]

Yep, definitely wouldn't hurt a thing.

 

[InertiaticESP]

sampled a glass while racking to secondary w/fresh blackberries. tastes great at 30 days! tart, crisp. i plan on backsweetening and pasteurizing after tertiary, possibly wine bottle a few and age for 6-8 months.

attached: 3 gal looking good in secondary.

 

[djelemenohpee]

What kind of sugar are people using to back sweeten with?
Us anybody using juice concentrate?

Can't wait to make this for summer

 

[NineMilBill]

What kind of sugar are people using to back sweeten with?
Us anybody using juice concentrate?

Can't wait to make this for summer

I've only used white table sugar - although you could use just about any fermentable sugar to acheive a carbonated cider, to include juice concentrate.

 

[djelemenohpee]

Thanks ninemilbill. i plan on doing a three gallon test batch tomorrow......... if i can find the berries

 

[djelemenohpee]

So i just started a 3gal version of this today. Tripled all the ingredients but was only able to fit a little less than 2.5gal of juice. My SG = 1.080(seems kinda high: but im new to this) then i added about another half gallon of juice to wash in the yeast. Will keep everyone posted on my gravity progress.

 

[djelemenohpee]

This is 16 days in. Still bubbling.

 

[Vox]

Hey all. I'm thinking of making this and have a few questions as I'm a noob at cider craft. Only made two batches so far. When you say sugar, are you referring to dextrose or do you use store bought granulated sugar? I want to ultimately rack this into my 3 gallon carboy as the secondary. Do I need to double or triple this recipe to fit into the three gallon carboy? Also, if I were to use my brew bucket as the primary, would the blackberries stain the bucket? When you pitch the yeast, do you rehydrate or just dump it in? Appreciate your help. I'm sure I will have questions later about backsweetening as I have yet to try my hand at it.

 

[firerat]

Hey all. I'm thinking of making this and have a few questions as I'm a noob at cider craft. Only made two batches so far. When you say sugar, are you referring to dextrose or do you use store bought granulated sugar?

I've only used white table sugar - although you could use just about any fermentable sugar to acheive a carbonated cider, to include juice concentrate.

.

 

[djelemenohpee]

I did a three gallon batch and I just tripled all the ingredients. I also just pitched my yeast dry and washed it down the funnel with more juice.
Hope this helps.

 

[jms480]

I'm new to ciders, and am looking to make this soon. I just have a couple questions:
I assume the sugar you used to backsweeten is also the priming sugar?
How long did you wait to pasturize to get a decent carb level? I was thinking 7-10 days if you used the cup of white table sugar.

 

[NineMilBill]

Yes, the cup of sugar provided the carbonation. IIRC, it took about 5 or so days to carb up.

 

[Vox]

Are organic berries necessary? Just wondering is a 2.5 gallon batch would run 28.00 just for the berries at 4.99 for 6 oz for organic, and that's not even including the cider price. Non organic are 5.00 for 12 oz at Sam's Club, nearly half the price.

 

[NineMilBill]

I didn't use organic, just fresh blackberries.

 

[Vox]

A couple more noob questions.

I'm making this in a 3 gallon carboy so I have to multiply the ingredients by 2.5 correct? From what I've heard, the gallon rating on the carboys are assuming filled to the max and not the recommended volume allowing for headroom.

"10. After 10 days, add sugar to taste (I used ~1 cup)." - I've only brewed Mr. Beer cider thus far where you add a small amount of sugar into each bottle and then cap. For this type of brewing, do you just put the total sugar into the batch, mix, then bottle instead of adding sugar to each bottle?

"11. Bottle and pasteurize after desired carb level has been reached." - Can you elaborate on what you mean by this in noob terms?

I am reading the "bible" of cider making books, but haven't gotten through all of the specifics yet so I appreciate your knowledge.

 

[Vox]

I just realized step 10 may be the backsweetening process and by bottle and carb in step 11 you mean to siphon the batch into the bottles and put the priming sugar or whatever sugar/chemical you're using into the bottles and cap aka carbing. Is that correct? If so, how do you know how much sugar to out in the bottle? Please do still clarify about the carboy volume in my previous post. Thank you again.

 

[Vox]

Here's a couple of pics from the 2.5 gallon batch I made this past Sunday. Nice active fermentation bubbling away.

 

[Vox]

Should the fruit eventually fall to the bottom of the carboy. Let me know if my pics look normal with the fruit floating with yeast on top or if I need to shake it up.

 

[Vox]

Also, I used three gallons of organic unfiltered cider like from Whole Foods. Did I need to pasteurize it? Hopefully not.

 

[Vox]

This is 16 days in. Still bubbling.

Mine stopped bubbling after about ten days. Should I be concerned?

 

[Vox]

Should the berries fall to the bottom at some point? Mine are still floating several weeks in.

 

[Jenn2520]

Mine are still floating as well, it seems fine to me!