Everyday Simplest Dry Cider

phug · Sep 24, 2014

Some people will say thet EC1118 is a beast of a yeast that will strip all the flavour out of any cider.

I've come back to this cider 4 times now, and there's always a good segment of my friends and neighbors who like it. The upside is that it is simple, cheap, and pretty darn hard to mess up.

For a 5 gallon batch, purchase 19 litres / 5 gallons of storebrand/whatever is cheapest filtered, pasteurized apple juice with vit c added. Avoid the low acid juices.

Pour vigorously into your primary fermenter, and pitch one sachet of Lalvin EC-1118 yeast. Allow to ferment for 4 weeks or until clear. For priming use 55ml per 3.75litres/gallon of storebrand frozen Apple Juice Concentrate, thawed and added to the bottling bucket before racking your cider to the bottling bucket. I cheat and use the entire can for 5 gallon batches, I believe the can of concentrate is 283 ml.

Bottle, allow to condition for 3-4 weeks. Chill and Enjoy.

This is the simplest cider in my recipe book, and it always has fans. Approx 6% ABV but will vary by your juice. Don't worry about the OG, don't bother to boost it, just start with your apple juice and let it ride.

jakis · Sep 29, 2014

If making this cider in a 1 gallon batch, how much of the yeast would I use?

phug · Sep 29, 2014

Approximately 1/5 of the packet. But not more than half of the packet I would assume. I have not done this with more than 1/5 so I can't speak to the results using significantly more yeast. Fortunately ec1118 is one of the cheapests yeasts for me to obtain as long as I go to a local wine supply store that does a large volume of sales.

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jakis · Oct 4, 2014

I see a lot of recipes for cider that recommend adding sugar. No need to do that with this recipe?

Jake

podz · Oct 6, 2014

The more sugar you add, the more alcohol you create. The more alcohol you create, the more the apple taste disappears.

Thus, if you want really tasty cider then 6% ABV is fine. If you want to get drunk off your ass but still taste the apple, then add 750 grams of sugar to this recipe. Any more sugar than that and say bye-bye to the apple taste.

phug · Oct 6, 2014

jakis said:
I see a lot of recipes for cider that recommend adding sugar. No need to do that with this recipe?

Jake

No need to add any sugar. The abv will vary but that's okay. This is about as simple as cider gets without just leaving fresh presses cider out until it ferments. It's fruity but dry and I like it.

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thCapn · Oct 6, 2014

I jus buy a four gallon case of cheap apple juice at Cash & Carry and dump it onto the yeast cake of whatever batch of beer I just racked. Three weeks later, wham, cider. Clarify and bottle or keg as you might a beer. It's always good, friends like it, it's cheap and it's almost always 5.5 ABV%.

--
th Cap'n in Portland, Oregon

jakis · Oct 7, 2014

Thanks for the info all. When bottling do I need to pasteurize the bottles?

phug · Oct 7, 2014

Not needed, you're fermenting dry and only adding priming sugar. The key to this recipe is simple.

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madwilliamflint · Oct 9, 2014

I've got to try this. I keep getting all fancy and screwing up.

Thanks o7

thCapn · Oct 9, 2014

Jakis, I just do what I do when packaging beer. These days I keg and carbonate to serve on tap.

I kegged a batch of cider last night. This batch was fermented on the leftover yeast from my Oktoberfest ale, which I made with Wyeast 1318 London Ale 3 yeast. (Yes, 'Fest beer should be a lager but I didn't have time--The big party is this weekend.) I poured four gallons of cheap, pasteurized, grocery store apple juice onto the yeast 1318 yeast cake, shook it all up, put an airlock on and set it in the corner. My basement has been about 68 degrees lately, so temp control was not needed. Time was short (pending 'Fest party), so I clarified with gelatin and cold crashed next to my Oktoberfest beer in the fermentation chamber, which is an old freezer with a Johnson controller. I kegged both the beer and the cider last night and started the quick-carb process.

The cider is clear and sweet. The sweetness is due to both the short fermentation time (just 1 week) and the yeast (read it on the Wyeast site and you'll see what I mean). ABV is 5.5% and it's going to be a crowd pleaser this weekend.

--
th Cap'n in Portland, Oregon

aboantopick · Oct 15, 2014

I like your simple recipe. I started my cider tonight before I read this.
To 5 gal of cider I also used a pound of corn sugar. SG 1.056
Used Dry Wine Yeast - Montrachet from MB for $0.75
Seems like after full fermentation fg of 1.000 that all the sugars are spent anyway. I like the idea of priming with apple concentrate so I will steal that part of your recipe. Thanks

phug · Oct 15, 2014

Steal away , I'm glad you like it

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graycobra · Oct 17, 2014

I am going to make two batches of this tomorrow. One with mulling spices and one exactly by recipe. Good KISS recipe.

madwilliamflint · Oct 19, 2014

podz said:
The more sugar you add, the more alcohol you create. The more alcohol you create, the more the apple taste disappears.

This is the first time I've heard this said explicitly like this. I've been walking around my house yelling "DUH, of COURSE that's true!" for the last few minutes. I've been cranking up ABV and complaining about lack of character for months without realizing they were directly related.

Thanks o7

podz · Oct 19, 2014

madwilliamflint said:
This is the first time I've heard this said explicitly like this. I've been walking around my house yelling "DUH, of COURSE that's true!" for the last few minutes. I've been cranking up ABV and complaining about lack of character for months without realizing they were directly related.

Thanks o7

Simple displacement theory.

madwilliamflint · Oct 19, 2014

podz said:
Simple displacement theory.

Well, it's more than that. A couple percent ABV makes more than a couple percent difference in flavor.

tykenfitz · Oct 21, 2014

thCapn said:
I jus buy a four gallon case of cheap apple juice at Cash & Carry and dump it onto the yeast cake of whatever batch of beer I just racked. Three weeks later, wham, cider. Clarify and bottle or keg as you might a beer. It's always good, friends like it, it's cheap and it's almost always 5.5 ABV%.

I'm brewing a 2gal Mr. Beer kit right now, do you think adding 2 gals of apple juice to the yeast cake after I bottle that would work?

Thanks,
-Fitz

thCapn · Oct 21, 2014

tykenfitz said:
I'm brewing a 2gal Mr. Beer kit right now, do you think adding 2 gals of apple juice to the yeast cake after I bottle that would work?

Thanks,
-Fitz

Based on my experience, yes. Dump the juice in, shake it up, airlock, and let it ferment. It's low risk, so why not give it a try?

--
th Cap'n in Portland, Oregon

tykenfitz · Oct 21, 2014

Thanks Cap'n I'll give it a shot as soon as I bottle this batch! Gotta have some cider for my friends who hate beer/gluten haha

thCapn · Oct 21, 2014

You bet'cha. If you have a means of clarifying then I definitely recommend it. The yeast tends to hang in suspension quite a bit. If you plan on bottle conditioning then I'd let it condition/carbonate for a week and then refrigerate for 3 or more before drinking. But if time (or thirst!) doesn't allow the drink as you're ready. It'll still taste good, just maybe a little more yeasty than if it sat longer.

--
th Cap'n in Portland, Oregon

phug · Oct 22, 2014

tykenfitz said:
Thanks Cap'n I'll give it a shot as soon as I bottle this batch! Gotta have some cider for my friends who hate beer/gluten haha

Don't do that for a gluten intolerant friend/ celiac friend. Start with fresh yeast marked gluten free for them. Under any other circumstances, go for it.

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tykenfitz · Oct 22, 2014

phug said:
Don't do that for a gluten intolerant friend/ celiac friend. Start with fresh yeast marked gluten free for them. Under any other circumstances, go for it.

Yeah I was thinking about that, I've got another 2 gal mr beer keg somewhere so I can make a clear batch for make for my celiac friend. Labling is going to be very important

Cheers for the heads up! :mug:

phug · Oct 23, 2014

anytime

Paps · Oct 23, 2014

podz said:
The more sugar you add, the more alcohol you create. The more alcohol you create, the more the apple taste disappears.

Thus, if you want really tasty cider then 6% ABV is fine. If you want to get drunk off your ass but still taste the apple, then add 750 grams of sugar to this recipe. Any more sugar than that and say bye-bye to the apple taste.

I completely disagree with the above statement.
If your high ABV cider has the apple flavor overwhelmed by a rocket fuely taste you have not conditioned it properly.

podz · Oct 23, 2014

Paps said:
I completely disagree with the above statement.
If your high ABV cider has the apple flavor overwhelmed by a rocket fuely taste you have not conditioned it properly.

Please define conditioning it properly. Adding 750g of sugar will only yield about 7.7% ABV.

Paps · Oct 23, 2014

Age it longer.
I make ciders using this same yeast strain as the OP which have plenty of apple flavor while having ABV`s in the high teens.
IMHO one should treat ciders more like a RIS instead of an IIPA.
Hope this clarifies things.

jakis · Nov 2, 2014

How much concentrate for about a gallon batch? It might be a bit less once bottled so should I use less then I gallon would call for?

phug · Nov 2, 2014

Let me check my notes, but if I recall I use 55 ml of ajc when priming a 1 gallon batch

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tykenfitz · Nov 7, 2014

Just pitched the champagne yeast on a 4.5 gal batch, I'll let y'all know how it goes!

Thanks for the simple recipe :mug:

Everyday Simplest Dry Cider

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