1 Gallon Cider Experiments

[hehawbrew]

It works, just not as much carb as my beers. I tried another tester tonight after a week , and it was better. I think I just need to be more patient... I know I need to be.....lol.

 

[hehawbrew]

That Welches grape juice is fermenting like crazy! I am very curious to see how this will taste!

Also-,two or three weeks ago I made a cider where I added a bunch of blackberries that I first turned into a syrup. Still going strong but looks gross on top! The trub on the bottom looks just like the top? Will all that settle after a while?

 

[Safa]

If you can cold crash it that will help a lot

 

[hehawbrew]

Ahh, after fermentation has stopped?

 

[Safa]

Yup, it helps a lot

 

[robbyhicks]

What do your 1gal fermenter setups look like? Are you guys using 1gal glass jars, 2.5gal pails? Ive been contemplating doing these smaller batches with some ciders...

 

[Ostomo517]

What do your 1gal fermenter setups look like? Are you guys using 1gal glass jars, 2.5gal pails? Ive been contemplating doing these smaller batches with some ciders...

I use 2gallon ferm buckets

 

[Safa]

I bought a couple of gallons of cider from an organic store like Earth Fare/Whole Foods which came in 1 gallon glass jars. Perfect mini carboys.

I just went to the LHBS and picked up a size 6 or 6.5 stopper.

I typically get just over a six pack out of a gallon because trub plays a much bigger role on the small scale. I have started back sweetening with concentrated juice to help up the yield a bit, but that requires upping the initial sugar levels to get decent ABV. Its fun to experiment on such a small scale though. If you screw up you only have to deal with 7/8 bad bottles of cider and a wasted gallon of juice.

 

[robbyhicks]

So then I have to ask a noob question... In a year and change of brewing, I've always had better bottles with the racking adapter, I also have a drain on my kettle so I've never had to siphon, how much of a pita is it, and what's your best setup for siphoning? I'm assuming you have 3 or 4 gallon jugs that rotate through primary-secondary-primary etc...

 

[Safa]

No secondary for me, I just primary, cold crash, and bottle.

I just have a plain old siphon, I fill it up with water, plug the bottom in the jug and let it rip. I drain the water into a separate vessel and when the cider gets to the end of the siphon I transfer the tube into my bottling bucket.

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

They do make a mini auto-siphon that fits the 1 gallon carboys nicely. But a length of tube works just as well. Personally, I just use a highly flocculating yeast and pour it off taking care not to disturb the lees on the bottom. (doesn't work for a 5 gallon batch though )

I also recommend the Universal Carboy Bungs. They work for my 1 gallon carboys up to my 6.5 gallon carboys and (for me) stay in a little better when using star san. The rubber bungs always seemed to pop out.

 

[Safa]

Ever had one of those days when everything just went wrong?

Juiced my pineapple last night, forgot to put a bowl by the spout to catch the juice. Discovered a tidal wave of juice swamping the counter.

Siphon wouldn't start, and then wouldn't keep going. Dropped things, broke things, ruined things. Just an overall **** up.

Luckily, the other half of the pineapple provided a good amount to back sweeten the pineapple cider, to which I added some maple syrup just to make it even more interesting. Pretty interesting taste, so we will see how it turns out. Oh yeah, I cold crashed the cider at 1.012 (from 1.074) and then added the juice and syrup.

 

[hehawbrew]

I did a 3 gallon experiment tonight. I've been interested in dry hoping, so I took store brand AJ and mixed my random, extra hops. Simcoe, summit, and fuggle hops. Cut up 3 limes and added a clove. Threw is some nutrient and cup if sugar! Smells great!

 

[Ostomo517]

I did a 3 gallon experiment tonight. I've been interested in dry hoping, so I took store brand AJ and mixed my random, extra hops. Simcoe, summit, and fuggle hops. Cut up 3 limes and added a clove. Threw is some nutrient and cup if sugar! Smells great!

In the primary?

 

[hehawbrew]

Yeah? Did I mess up already?

 

[Ostomo517]

Yeah? Did I mess up already?

Since you didnt boil with the must you are mainly going to get aroma which fades with time. I would dry hop a week before bottling.

 

[hehawbrew]

Sounds like a plan! Man- it's fermenting like nuts and smells awesome!

 

[hehawbrew]

So a week or so ago I made some welches grape juice cider. Fermented like crazy and finally slowed down. I took a little taste today..... Smelled like burnt rubber, tasted funny, but had a nice aftertaste. I'm assuming it needs to sit a week or so, transfer to secondary, and sit some more?

 

[Safa]

Personally I'd leave it on the yeast cake so they can clean up their waste products.

 

[Safa]

Update on the pineapple cider:


So remember I added a half of a juiced pineapple and some maple syrup to a gallon of cider made with brown sugar. OG 1.074 and cold crashed at 1.012.

This stuff is AMAZING. My best by far! Pours with a huge creamy head that persists. Great pineapple aroma, not a lot on the you g initially but it's an all pineapple aftertaste. Great mouthfeel, I'm attributing that to the syrup.

I'm definitely making this again, and I'll report back when friends have had a taste too.

 

[RosieTheGreat]

Did you end up back sweetening with the pineapple juice or did you just throw in into primary?

 

[Safa]

Back sweeten. I pasteurized after it carbed. I think it took 3 days.

 

[hehawbrew]

Personally I'd leave it on the yeast cake so they can clean up their waste products.

So-,12 days after I posted about the bad taste of my Welches experiment, it taste pretty great. Transferred to a secondary and am going to let it sit in the cold basement a month or two before bottling.

 

[thejudge]

So-,12 days after I posted about the bad taste of my Welches experiment, it taste pretty great. Transferred to a secondary and am going to let it sit in the cold basement a month or two before bottling.

I had the same issue with mine. It now sits in the basement in the secondary with a cup of raisins added. Probably let the raisins soak for a month and rack again to bulk age for 4-6 months before bottling.

 

[hehawbrew]

Nice. Good idea about raisins. I've been using them for mead nutrient, but the wife keeps eating them!

 

[robbyhicks]

How did the dry hop experiment go? I've been kicking around something a Kin to skeeter pee with lemonade... what do you guys think think about that? I've also thought about going dry with aj then back sweetening with oj...

 

[robbyhicks]

I started my lemonade today...
1 gal. Simply lemonade
8 oz. Corn sugar (dextrose)
1/2 pkg. Nottingham ale yeast

Og 1.072 or 9.5% potential abv.

I am going to let this ferment out and see how it does... and decide if I need to backsweeten, carb etc...

 

[JDMAC]

How much maple syrup did you add to the pineapple/brown sugar cider?

 

[Safa]

Added to taste, and then probably a quarter to a half a cup extra to account for what's eaten up during carbonation

 

[JDMAC]

Awesome! Thanks! I'm going to try a few of your ideas.