Search results

I used Trader Joe's unfiltered honeycrisp cider w/S-04 for my first attempt at cider, and Musselman's unfiltered 100% juice cider and Nottingham for my second batch. I'm planning on making my third batch using Tree Top honeycrisp 100% juice which I'm assuming will end up similar to the Trader...

By "store-bought" you mean either pasteurized or from concentrate only correct? If you bought juice with preservatives like sodium bentonite you won't be able to get it to ferment. Pasteurized juice doesn't need sulfiting since the organisms would've been killed during the pasteurization process.

I've been using Musselman's from Wally Mart as well. I only have my first two batches of cider going using S-04 and Nottingham but Musselman's seems to be working well so far - chugging along nicely. It smells good anyway.

Thanks for the tip. I was speculating the unfiltered stuff would be a little better but I'll try a batch of the clear stuff for comparison. The nice thing about making cider from juice is it's relatively cheap to make compared to other alcoholic drinks like mead and wine.

Gx and anyone else interested, I just tested the Musselman's cider from Wally Mart and found the following: pH - 3.6 TA - 0.36 SG - 1.050 So the pH looks good being less than 3.8, so when I sulphite later I won't have to add a higher amount that I might taste. Also to note, the fermentation...

Thanks for the info beerab. Living in AZ I'm interested in any and all sources for making cider and frozen is something I didn't consider. I'm working on my second batch now made with Musselman's unfiltered from Wally Mart which works for me for now. Since I'm new at this game I don't know if...

Thanks for the responses. I figured apple's/apple juice's would be highest in malic but that's just a guestimate on my part, so it seemed to make sense that it would be the acid to add if any. I didn't know a lot of you guy's final cider came out tart but that being the case, now I'm re-thinking...

Gosh, I guess no one's interested in malic acid the way we are. For what it's worth, I've been trying to keep my pH between 3.2 and 3.8, same as white wine. If for no other reason it'll keep the sulphite needed at a reasonable level so you don't taste it in your finished cider. Above 3.8 and...

I'm new at cider making so I'll be interested to see the responses. I was thinking the same thing, that adding malic acid to lower pH and add more "bite" would be better than adding tartaric like you do with wine/grapes. As far as pH goes, I'm not sure what the optimum range is for cider, but...

Thanks Magnus. There are a few orchards that aren't too far away that I'm planning to check out so hopefully I'll have some luck. I have supplies for wine and mead making (acids, tannin, etc.) so if nothing else I'll be doing like you said and adjusting store-bought juice.

I'm brand new to cider making and have my first batch happily fermenting away in my re-purposed freezer. I'm looking forward to making many more batches in the future but since I live in Phoenix, AZ of course fresh apples for making cider aren't around and so far I've only been able to locate...

Hey Doc - Sorry I'm a little late getting back. I've only been making wine and mead for a short time, and Sunday I'll get my first cider going so take my recommendations with a grain of salt. I've only used dry wine yeasts so far in my career and the first couple of batches I always re-hydrated...

Ok, good deal. I've been thinking about omitting the yeast and now that you mentioned that I think that's what I'll do. It may not carbonate as quickly as if you add it but I'm in this for the long haul so there's no rush. Thanks again for the info.

Gotcha - thanks for the info. I know what you mean about a batch not starting. That happened to me with my first batch of mead so I've been gun shy ever since. I almost had to see a grief counselor after that experience.

I know I don't have to since S-04 is a dry yeast, but I like to since the lag time seems to be reduced quite a bit whenever I've done it. Also in the future I'm sure I'll want to experiment with the liquid yeasts.

The k-meta won't inhibit the priming yeast? Or, do you add enough k-meta based on your pH to the proper amount (=<50ppm) and then wait a day before pitching priming yeast? I think that'd be the way it would go which is similar to sulphiting right after crush when making wine. Enough to protect...

I've made starters for wine and mead before with good results. The rule of thumb I went by was to use 2% of the total must volume in your starter, so like in a case of mixed berry mead I made I used 450 ml mixed berry juice to pitch the yeast in to make the starter. I was reading about starters...

I'm preparing to make my first batch of cider this weekend and I'm in the process of developing my recipe. I have a few batches of wine and mead aging so I'm familiar with this stuff somewhat but I'm still very much in the early learning stages. For this first batch of cider I'd like to have it...

Thanks for the info Maylar. I've never used D47 for just that reason even though one mead batch called for it. I know it'll ferment but the results wouldn't have been very good at my indoor air temp. I know there's a lot of good yeasts that'll work for cider such as Lalvin 71B-1122 which works...

I'm new to the forum (1st post) and cider making; haven't made a batch of cider yet but I'm reading up on it. I've made a couple of batches of wine from backyard grapes, and mead so I'm familiar with those processes. One of the things I learned recently was that a lot of ale yeasts ferment...