So on a recent trip to TJ's to pick up some Candy Cane Joe-Joes (aka Xmas Crack), I grabbed a couple of bottles of the vintage ale (still need to stock up so I can continue my vertical tastings with this year's) and foolishly swung by the juice section...
Honeycrisp are probably the favorite apple varietal of both my wife and me, so I figured I had to make cider out of them (I mean, what else would a homebrewer do when confronted with a varietal apple juice at a reasonable price!?).
I'm mostly a beer brewer, but I've done enough cider to figure out a recipe that is bulletproof for our tastes, and still palatable to most people...as well as being ready really quickly, at least for cider.
The basic recipe is to ferment out 4.5 gallons of apple juice, cold crash, rack to a keg and top up with 1 gallon of unfermented apple juice. For us, this hits the perfect level of sweetness to be drinkable once carbed, but not cloyingly sweet like many commercial ciders (though with the relatively recent cider explosion, things are much better).
Since I have the TJ's Vintage Ale, and I know Belgian and Hefe yeasts make great cider, I decided to try to harvest the yeast and ferment the cider with it.
So today, I bit the bullet and drank a bottle of the Vintage Ale after Jury Duty and before heading to my second job (which starts at 4:30), flamed the lip of the bottle, poured some of the TJ's Honeycrisp juice into the bottle, covered it with a flamed piece of foil and put it in the cabinet above the stove to get started. I put the remainder of the juice in the freezer, and will take it out to thaw as soon as I see activity in the starter.
Once the starter ferments, I'll cold crash it, decant it (drinking the starter, for science) and step it up. I'll probably pitch the starter into 4 gallons of the juice once it's actively fermenting.
Should make for a great cider, and I hope some of the Honeycrisp character comes through. If not--not the end of the world, I've made plenty of fantastic ciders using this method with generic store bought apple juice.
Honeycrisp are probably the favorite apple varietal of both my wife and me, so I figured I had to make cider out of them (I mean, what else would a homebrewer do when confronted with a varietal apple juice at a reasonable price!?).
I'm mostly a beer brewer, but I've done enough cider to figure out a recipe that is bulletproof for our tastes, and still palatable to most people...as well as being ready really quickly, at least for cider.
The basic recipe is to ferment out 4.5 gallons of apple juice, cold crash, rack to a keg and top up with 1 gallon of unfermented apple juice. For us, this hits the perfect level of sweetness to be drinkable once carbed, but not cloyingly sweet like many commercial ciders (though with the relatively recent cider explosion, things are much better).
Since I have the TJ's Vintage Ale, and I know Belgian and Hefe yeasts make great cider, I decided to try to harvest the yeast and ferment the cider with it.
So today, I bit the bullet and drank a bottle of the Vintage Ale after Jury Duty and before heading to my second job (which starts at 4:30), flamed the lip of the bottle, poured some of the TJ's Honeycrisp juice into the bottle, covered it with a flamed piece of foil and put it in the cabinet above the stove to get started. I put the remainder of the juice in the freezer, and will take it out to thaw as soon as I see activity in the starter.
Once the starter ferments, I'll cold crash it, decant it (drinking the starter, for science) and step it up. I'll probably pitch the starter into 4 gallons of the juice once it's actively fermenting.
Should make for a great cider, and I hope some of the Honeycrisp character comes through. If not--not the end of the world, I've made plenty of fantastic ciders using this method with generic store bought apple juice.
