Looking to make some cider for the first time, but I don't want to do a whole 5 gallons of it. Looking to make 1 gallon... anyone have a good, sweet recipe? Not too sweet, but definitely on that side of the flavor.... not dry.
Thanks
Thanks
1 Gallon Sweet Cider Recipe?
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TopherM
Well-Known Member
Bueller?
TopherM
Well-Known Member
Seriously, though. I don't suppose you have a keg setup? It's a PITA to produce sweet, carbonated hard cider in naturally-carbed bottles, obviously because the yeast WON'T leave the bottle sweet, they'll continue to eat the sugars and produce CO2, so you either have to "time" it so that you put them in the fridge or pastuerized them when they have the right combination of carbonation and residual sugars. It's an inexact science at best. And artificial sweeteners taste like crap.
With a keg, you just put the fermented juice at serving temps to hybernate the yeast, then add more sweet juice and force carb. Easy.
If you don't have a keg setup, here's what I'd do:
1) Get good juice. I personally always use White House brand juice from the grocery store. It's a good balance of quality 100% juice and an affordable price. DO NOT get pre-spiced cider. If you want to make spiced hard cider, you'll want to boil the juice and add spices yourself, or boil the spices in water and add the spice tea to the fermented cider post-fermentation.
2) Ferment about 4/5 gallons of apple juice. I use either Nottingham yeast or S-05. Don't use champagne yeast or cider yeast. Champagne yeast is going to dry out the cider toooo much, and cider yeast that claim to be formulated to leave residual sugars are hit or miss at best. Just my experience, others seem to like those yeasts, but I don't.
3) If I couldn't keg, I would rack the fermented cider to clean and sanitized two liter bottles. Put 1/2 of the juice each (2/5 gallons = about 1.5 liters) in two liter bottles. Add 1/10 gallons (1/10 gallons = about 0.4 liters) of SWEET APPLE JUICE to each bottle, which leaves about 1/10 liter of headspace.
4) Let the bottles carb at room temp until they are firm (solid, no smushy, but you want to catch them on that first day they are solid, not wait) with built up CO2, which should take about 5 days, give or take a day or two. Once they are firm, put them in the fridge for AT LEAST 2-3 days to allow the CO2 to dissolve into the solution.
That'll give you well carbed, sweet hard cider! The CO2 will escape pretty quickly once you open each one to serve, so I'd make sure you don't open it unless you're prepared to drink the whole 2 liters that day! If that's an issue, consider doing the same procedure in four 1 liter bottles!
Good luck!
With a keg, you just put the fermented juice at serving temps to hybernate the yeast, then add more sweet juice and force carb. Easy.
If you don't have a keg setup, here's what I'd do:
1) Get good juice. I personally always use White House brand juice from the grocery store. It's a good balance of quality 100% juice and an affordable price. DO NOT get pre-spiced cider. If you want to make spiced hard cider, you'll want to boil the juice and add spices yourself, or boil the spices in water and add the spice tea to the fermented cider post-fermentation.
2) Ferment about 4/5 gallons of apple juice. I use either Nottingham yeast or S-05. Don't use champagne yeast or cider yeast. Champagne yeast is going to dry out the cider toooo much, and cider yeast that claim to be formulated to leave residual sugars are hit or miss at best. Just my experience, others seem to like those yeasts, but I don't.
3) If I couldn't keg, I would rack the fermented cider to clean and sanitized two liter bottles. Put 1/2 of the juice each (2/5 gallons = about 1.5 liters) in two liter bottles. Add 1/10 gallons (1/10 gallons = about 0.4 liters) of SWEET APPLE JUICE to each bottle, which leaves about 1/10 liter of headspace.
4) Let the bottles carb at room temp until they are firm (solid, no smushy, but you want to catch them on that first day they are solid, not wait) with built up CO2, which should take about 5 days, give or take a day or two. Once they are firm, put them in the fridge for AT LEAST 2-3 days to allow the CO2 to dissolve into the solution.
That'll give you well carbed, sweet hard cider! The CO2 will escape pretty quickly once you open each one to serve, so I'd make sure you don't open it unless you're prepared to drink the whole 2 liters that day! If that's an issue, consider doing the same procedure in four 1 liter bottles!
Good luck!
tennesseean_87
Well-Known Member
Search for stove-top pasteurization.
