Plunging into Cider again

I have been attempting off and on to make a drinkable Cider for the past 2-3 years, but never really understood the whole hurry up and wait until my wife bought me the Mr Beer LBK. Since then I have managed to pull off some pretty awesome self concocted mixtures that the family likes.

I am trying to delve back into cider, but am at this moment limited to 1g at a time. My first batch is bubbling using the following site for info: How To Make Hard Cider

While reading on here, AFTER the fact, I realized that maybe boiling the entire batch may not be as bad as he makes it out to be? Also, the Pasteurization thing is very informational as I keep trying to figure out how to make a sweeter beverage for my wife, and cold crashing it doesn't always work.

I am using the Musslemans just because it was available, and EC-1118 just because I am familiar with it. Add on that 3/4c brown sugar for a 1g batch. Hoping this turns out well, I plan on leaving it in the jug fermenting for a solid 2 weeks @ 70 degrees (jug temp, not ambient air temp)

Looking for information on how much sugar to add for me to have it go for 3-5 days and then try the pasteurization method to keep it about as sweet as your average Mikes (sorry I spoke a swear word there...) before I pasteurize it using the stove-top method, or if I should just use the Xyletol route with added sugar for the normal 2 week carbonation.

Thanks for the help

 

Many of the commercial ciders are quite sweet, with final gravitys close to the same as a natural apples full complement of sugar. Adding 1/2 lb of sugar to a gallon will give you close to the sweetness of many hard ciders found in the stores today.


To use the stovetop pasteurization method, a plastic soda bottle filled with your beverage will be the gauge for carb level, not how much sugar you put in. When the bottle reaches a good firmness, you will know its time to pasteurize.

Hope this helps.

 

At what point do I move from jug to bottles if I intend on pasteurizing? 1 week, or when the bubbles slow down to a specific point? I am having to work without a Hydrometer, although that is on my list of potential Christmas gifts.

Also, let sit at room temp for a week after pasteurization or fridge for a week after or just start drinking?

 

You need to wait until fermentation is completely finished. That means no bubbles. After that has happened is when you can back sweeten with your sugar and then wait for carbonation to happen.

You will have to check your soda bottle quite often (several times a day) and be prepared to pasturize the rest of your bottles quickly when the soda bottle becomes carbed to your satisfaction. Otherwise, you are looking at creating a bunch of bottle bombs if you wait past that point. This carbonation level should happen around 5-7 days after you add the extra sugar and cap them. Remember they need to be air tight, and in bottles that can handle the pressure!

 

I am trying to do this without back-sweetening, that's the issue. Looks like I can't without a Hydro

 

Sure you can. start your cider, wait a month then backsweeten to guides and pasteurize. Once you have fermentation going in the first fermentation, it is unlikely to stop, or if it did you'd just have a sweeter cider after pasteurization.

 

Key being qithout backsweetening

 

Look, you can do this but it is both unreliable and possibly dangerous.

Because you are unsure of the speed of your fermentation and not sure how much sugar is left you will come up with a cider that is either too sweet or to dry and possibly not carbonated enough or over carbonated with the possibility of bottle bombs.

The key being that there is very little control when you trying to sweeten and carbonate before allowing the cider 2 ferment to dryness.

 

There's a lot of information out there, not all of it good. My first cider was done after watching this video and it turned out amazing:

http://brewingtv.com/episodes/2012/9/7/brewing-tv-episode-67-how-to-make-hard-cider.html

 

Understood William, just trying to make do with what I got I'll be experimenting here soon and hopefully don't end up with any explosions

 

I don't have a large number of ciders under my belt, but two weeks of fermenting at 70 seems like you will already be dry.

Lots of risk to do what you are doing without a hydrometer.......but seems like your best bet is to give it only a few days and then start tasting a small sample every day. When you think it has almost lost enough sweetness, bottle it. Use the soda bottle indicator William discussed below to monitor carbonation. (So basically 9 glass bottles and one plastic soda bottle) As soon as the soda bottle gets firm then pasteurize the glass bottles you filled. They will have some residual sugar and some carbonation; probably neither ideal but potentially the best you can get without having a hydrometer and without backsweetening.

 

Sitting at 1 week I sampled it, seems about the right amount of sweet left, little on the dry side which is ok, as I plan on adding 1tbsp Xylitol and then putting it into the bottles to carb.

I already put it into the fridge to help clear out as much sediment as I can. I know using the EC-1118 it wouldn't kill it off in the fridge, so hoping I can just clear it enough to make the finished product better.

I have a home-made cinnamon extract I will be adding to this, probably only 1tsp for the gallon batch.

Maybe this will turn out alright, not sure about the alcohol content, but more worried about taste than ABV right now.

 

I am confused as to why you don't want to back sweeten your cider. As far as how long to leave the cider before bottling, the cider I just did had an initial gravity of 1.07 and at 70 degrees went to 1.01 in ten days. So my logic would say that in half that time it would have a gravity of 1.04 (which is what the juice started at after pressing and before adding the 8 cups of sugar to the 5gallons). If you want a sweetened cider personally I would just backsweeten with a non-fermentable sugar such as lactose and then prime bottles with 3/4 tsp sugar per 12 oz bottle. No hydrometer needed and results will be consistently good.

 

I went it go a week and bottles it, no sugar, added cinnamon, bottled, half the people wanted to drink as is, I was worried about suspension