5 Day Sweet Country Cider

[dudius]

I plan on starting something like this tonight using a champagne yeast. I'm a little afraid of making some gushers so I think I'll let it carb in bottles for about 2 or 3 hours to keep from messing up too badly.

 

[dudius]

I'm following the structure of the recipe using what I had available. I bought 1 gallon cider from Meijer (regional Walmart Clone) and one half-gallon bottle of Mott's pressed apple juice (fancy name for cider, tastes nearly identical to the 1 gallon cider). Poured out half a glass from each, added (roughly) 1/4 lb light brown sugar to each jug (I'm using the containers they came in because I don't any free carboys) and shook them well to mix the sugar. Added Red Star Champagne Yeast. One packet yeast makes 5 gallons, I just split it up between the two because two much yeast isn't a concern. Replaced caps and swirled to mix. Sticking with the minimalist theme (and because I don't have extra fermentation locks) I placed balloons atop the jugs and added rubber bands to the outside at bottle mouths for good measure. Placed them in my closet and we'll see how big those balloons get overnight!

 

[Apple_Jacker]

I'm following the structure of the recipe using what I had available. I bought 1 gallon cider from Meijer (regional Walmart Clone) and one half-gallon bottle of Mott's pressed apple juice (fancy name for cider, tastes nearly identical to the 1 gallon cider). Poured out half a glass from each, added (roughly) 1/4 lb light brown sugar to each jug (I'm using the containers they came in because I don't any free carboys) and shook them well to mix the sugar. Added Red Star Champagne Yeast. One packet yeast makes 5 gallons, I just split it up between the two because two much yeast isn't a concern. Replaced caps and swirled to mix. Sticking with the minimalist theme (and because I don't have extra fermentation locks) I placed balloons atop the jugs and added rubber bands to the outside at bottle mouths for good measure. Placed them in my closet and we'll see how big those balloons get overnight!

How DARE you compare Meijer to Walmart! You might as well compare a good beer to a bottle of piss! ;-) I moved from Michigan 2 years ago and I definitely miss doing my grocery shopping there. Bi-Lo, Publix, and Pruett's just don't compare. There are some high-end style whole food grocery stores, but I cent afford doing all my grocery shopping there. And I refuse to be a Walmart shopper... never going to happen. But, I digress...

Sounds like your plan will work. I've been doing a lot of 1 gallon cider batches lately, but didn't carb up anything. I just started a new gallon last week, so maybe ill stop putting it off and bottle it and try to pasteurize it using the dishwasher pasteurization method.

 

[dudius]

How DARE you compare Meijer to Walmart! You might as well compare a good beer to a bottle of piss! ;-) I moved from Michigan 2 years ago and I definitely miss doing my grocery shopping there. Bi-Lo, Publix, and Pruett's just don't compare. There are some high-end style whole food grocery stores, but I cent afford doing all my grocery shopping there. And I refuse to be a Walmart shopper... never going to happen. But, I digress...

Sounds like your plan will work. I've been doing a lot of 1 gallon cider batches lately, but didn't carb up anything. I just started a new gallon last week, so maybe ill stop putting it off and bottle it and try to pasteurize it using the dishwasher pasteurization method.

Lmao my town only has Walmart and meijer. I've worked for both stores (Muskegon Meijer, Big Rapids Walmart) and quite honestly they're the same thing. I've seen just as many "people of Walmart" over at Meijer, and Walmart is cheaper on everything. I just go to Meijer for produce.

On topic, I plan on making several one gallon batches this fall and tweaking the recipe here and there. I've been considering doing batches with honey, molasses, or cinnamon.

 

[ong]

This is a great recipe -- I've made several batches now, each with a few variations. Most recently, I made a five gallon batch with about two lbs. of brown sugar and a couple of cinnamon sticks, and also added about 24 oz of fresh ginger root, ground up in a blender and pressed through a cloth bag to just extract the juice, along with the zest and juice of six limes. Awesome -- it's got a great but not overwhelming ginger beer flavor! I'll be doing a raspberry-apple or cranberry-apple batch next.

My biggest problem is bottle pasteurizing... I can't come up with a really good way to get the bottles out of the hot water. Using my jar lifter that I use for canning didn't work -- the bottles slip through until I'm gripping the cap, which then pops off spectacularly, gushing hot cider everywhere. I tried a silcone oven mitt, and actually got a pretty nice first-degree burn when some water poured into the top of the mitt. Anyone have any good tips?

 

[Wheatmeister]

I've got 5gals of this going as of today, since last weekend. Used 5gals of fresh cider from a nearby orchard, 2lbs of Brown Sugar. I boiled 3/4 gallon with a tsp of cinnemon along with 18 cinnemon sticks and 20 cloves (yes, im going for it big). OG came out to 1.073. Currently down to 1.050 and will bottle in swing top bottles at 1.040. Used red star montrachet and it's going slow, it's only 66*F sitting on my basement floor though. High hopes.

 

[dudius]

My biggest problem is bottle pasteurizing... I can't come up with a really good way to get the bottles out of the hot water. Using my jar lifter that I use for canning didn't work -- the bottles slip through until I'm gripping the cap, which then pops off spectacularly, gushing hot cider everywhere. I tried a silcone oven mitt, and actually got a pretty nice first-degree burn when some water poured into the top of the mitt. Anyone have any good tips?

There's a stickied thread somewhere about pasteurization where the person mentions using tongs to remove the bottles and transferring them to their other hand wearing an oven mitt.

 

[Wheatmeister]

There's a stickied thread somewhere about pasteurization where the person mentions using tongs to remove the bottles and transferring them to their other hand wearing an oven mitt.

Wrap duck tape around an old pair of tongs. the hot water stickifies the tape and makes the tape get a good enough grip on the bottles to lift and grab with a towel

 

[PattyM]

...or use the type of tongs used when canning food. They are non-slip rubber coated and hi-temp safe (pressure canned mason jars get much hotter than the bottles do).

 

[ong]

...or use the type of tongs used when canning food. They are non-slip rubber coated and hi-temp safe (pressure canned mason jars get much hotter than the bottles do).

Those are what I was using -- but with the 22ozers, when I gripped the shoulders of the bottles, they weighed enough that they would slip down until the tongs were on the bottle cap, which then popped off with a bang! Bad.

My best efforts involved draining most of the water through the ball valve into another pot, so I could safely pull the bottles out. Then I dumped the water back in to the main pot.

 

[ong]

Hmm, I just had an interesting idea I'm going to test out. It occurred to me that assuming one could kill the yeast effectively with campden/sorbate, it might be possible to measure a small amount of those ingredients into a gelcap, and pop one into each bottle. I've been finding this recipe is carbed to my liking within 4 hours or so... I'm going to test out gelcaps in room temperature water, and see how long they take to release their contents.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Hmm, I just had an interesting idea I'm going to test out. It occurred to me that assuming one could kill the yeast effectively with campden/sorbate, it might be possible to measure a small amount of those ingredients into a gelcap, and pop one into each bottle. I've been finding this recipe is carbed to my liking within 4 hours or so... I'm going to test out gelcaps in room temperature water, and see how long they take to release their contents.

They do not kill yeast, they just prevent yeast from reproducing/multiplying.

 

[dudius]

I'm following the structure of the recipe using what I had available. I bought 1 gallon cider from Meijer (regional Walmart Clone) and one half-gallon bottle of Mott's pressed apple juice (fancy name for cider, tastes nearly identical to the 1 gallon cider). Poured out half a glass from each, added (roughly) 1/4 lb light brown sugar to each jug (I'm using the containers they came in because I don't any free carboys) and shook them well to mix the sugar. Added Red Star Champagne Yeast. One packet yeast makes 5 gallons, I just split it up between the two because two much yeast isn't a concern. Replaced caps and swirled to mix. Sticking with the minimalist theme (and because I don't have extra fermentation locks) I placed balloons atop the jugs and added rubber bands to the outside at bottle mouths for good measure. Placed them in my closet and we'll see how big those balloons get overnight!

Alright so I tried the half-gallon of Mott's cider first. I had plans to spend the day with friends so rather than using time to bottle, carb, and pasteurize I decided to add the half gallon to a growler. I let it set for about an hour and then threw it in the fridge to cold-crash since a large volume would chill more slowly. It was well-chilled after a couple hours and I took it to a friend's house and we consumed it immediately. It tasted pretty good, my friends enjoyed it. It wasn't very sweet or tart but somewhere right in the middle. One friend mentioned it had a slight sour taste which I noticed present in the cider before adding sugar and yeast.

I still have the full gallon of Meijer cider fermenting. I think I'll end fermentation this weekend when I bottle my pumpkin porter.

 

[Kdenaultrdg]

So, I'm thinking about making this as my first venture into cider-making. I really like the faster turn around time of this recipe in comparison to other cider recipes.
I'm thinking of doing two 1 gallon batches: one as is (with the cinnamin), and one as is but substituting a split vanilla bean for the cinnamin). Do either the cinnamin stick or the vanilla bean need to be sanitized...and, if so, how?
Also, (noob question) do I cold crash by just putting the gallon jugs in the frig? How long do I cold crash for? How do I now when it's been long enough in the frig?
Do I bottle immed after cold crashing or let the gallon jugs come back to room temp?
For testing carbing....a regular plastic soda can be used (16oz?) can be used? And the bottles are all left out at room temp for carbing, correct?
Kathleen

 

[Zippox]

Also, (noob question) do I cold crash by just putting the gallon jugs in the frig? How long do I cold crash for? How do I now when it's been long enough in the frig?
Do I bottle immed after cold crashing or let the gallon jugs come back to room temp?
For testing carbing....a regular plastic soda can be used (16oz?) can be used? And the bottles are all left out at room temp for carbing, correct?
Kathleen

I think putting them in the fridge for one to two days is the most common. I asked the bottling after pulling it out of the fridge question and I was told that it's fine to pull it out of the fridge and bottle it with the priming sugar. Once the bottle temps get to room temp, the yeast is happy and can start carbonating the bottles.

For testing carbonation, fill the first and last of the batch in two 16 oz bottles like you were describing, and when they are hard like when you first bought it then stove pasteurize all the bottles.

And yes, they need to be left out at room temp to carb up. The time this takes is between three and 24ish hours. So you need to have a free weekend when you get to the carbonating and pasteurizing because it's a guessing game for how long they will take to be ready.

 

[Kdenaultrdg]

Excellent...thanks Zippox.

Any ideas on the need/method of sanitizing the cinnamin stick and vanilla bean?

Also, I have Nottingham and Cote des Blancs. I can keep these carboys inside with a consistent air temp about 70. Or I can put them in the garage and deal with some temp fluctuations (sixties during the day and forties at night). A an experiment, i filled a cooler with water and placed in the garage to try to establish a more stable temp outside...it comes in btwn 55 and 60. Which is better for cider...warmer inside the house or cooler in garage? Would one of these yeasts be happier in one of these conditions? Ultimately, a sweet, not dry, cider is my goal.

Kathleen

 

[Zippox]

I found this with a quick search on the forum:

you don't have to sanitize or boil your cinnamon sticks. They are naturally antiseptic, it's basically dried-up tree bark that lasts years without decay (although loses flavor to evaporation of oils). In apfelwein, the alcohol content should be high enough to inhibit anything that may be on the sticks.

Along with this one

sanitize the outside of the bean, then splay it, then add it to the beer. The inside of the bean, assuming the case was intact, is probably sterile.

To sanitize, you could use star san or high-ABV ethyl alcohol. Vodka is common, and bourbon would work too.

If it were me, I'd throw both the beans and the cinnamon sticks in vodka. Better safe than sorry.

 

[Nivek]

I just bottled and pasteurized a batch inspired by this recipe. I discovered that a day may be too long to allow for bottle priming when the yeast is starting off fairly active.

I tested a bottle almost right at the 24 hour mark before pasteurization and had a effervescent reaction fit for a 3rd grade science experiment. Thankfully bringing the batch to near freezing allowed me to pop the caps safely and relieve some of the pressure.

The batch still tastes great though. I just need to find some more fresh pressed juice and try it again before it's all gone.

 

[merkadoe]

I'm really new to this so bare with me please. Is there any way I could make this a still cider? I will be bottling into mason jars (all I have on hand) and I know they aren't meant for holding pressure. Could I just wait for fermentation to fully finish or would that affect the final taste?

 

[Apple_Jacker]

I'm really new to this so bare with me please. Is there any way I could make this a still cider? I will be bottling into mason jars (all I have on hand) and I know they aren't meant for holding pressure. Could I just wait for fermentation to fully finish or would that affect the final taste?

Most ciders I've made have been still, even the ones that were similar to this recipe.

 

[merkadoe]

Most ciders I've made have been still, even the ones that were similar to this recipe.

How to I make it still? Just let everything ferment out?

 

[thiessenace]

You can always add campben tablets and add them to your cider. Let it ferment to desired gravity and then crush the tablets and add them. Or you could let it ferment out conpletly and it could be vey dry.

 

[Nivek]

I'm really new to this so bare with me please. Is there any way I could make this a still cider? I will be bottling into mason jars (all I have on hand) and I know they aren't meant for holding pressure. Could I just wait for fermentation to fully finish or would that affect the final taste?

Yes, you would just need to either stabilize or pasteurize immediately after bottling. I'm sure people have been using mason jars for this for a very long time. Fermenting it out all the way will drastically change this recipe and you'll likely be stuck waiting for the cider to age for the flavor to come out.

 

[Soilworker]

Just made a batch of this yesterday. I used 4.5ish gallons Honeycrisp apple cider with 30oz of Muscovado sugar. I'm hoping the muscovado sugar adds a nice hint of molasses. My cider had a SG of 1.050...the SG of the cider and sugar was 1.066. Started bubbling along nicely in under 12hrs. I'll be sure to report back with the results.

 

[vitalbrew]

Okay, I read all 21 pages on this thread. Saw several questions on kegging this recipe but no answers. Has anyone kegged this without pasturizing?

I'm thinking of brewing it following the recipe, racking and kegging it at desired gravity, allowing it to 'bottle condition' in keg for a few hours until decently carbed, throwing the keg into ice to stop the yeasties quickly, then moving it to the keggerator fridge after thoroughly chilled in the ice. It seems like this should stop the yeast. Am I missing something? Is the concern over kegging without pasturizing that the yeast will add off flavors over time with type of approach?

I'm a beer brewer used to kegging and force carbing. I don't really want to go back to the bottling hassels.

I did a small batch of lemon lime soda once where I stopped the carbing by just refridgerating the bottles. Seems like this should work to me for kegging this cyder....shouldn't it?

 

[Apple_Jacker]

It might stop the yeast....or it might just slow them down.

 

[Clifton]

Has anyone kegged this without pasturizing?

I did a small batch of lemon lime soda once where I stopped the carbing by just refridgerating the bottles. Seems like this should work to me for kegging this cyder....shouldn't it?

I kegged without K meta and sorbate. It overcarbonated big time. I tried to relieve some pressure and ended up getting 2 gallons of foam all over the place.

I think the reason the soda worked was because the bottles were smaller and were able to be chilled faster. I think it took too long for my keg to chill down to yeast dormancy temperatures.

Next time I may cold crash first, then keg and force carb. Maybe you'll have better luck.

 

[vitalbrew]

Clifton, that sounds awful! Thank you for responding.

Hmmmm, I wonder if I just throw it literally on ice as soon as I keg it then transfer to the keggerator if that'll stop the yeast or not. If it does, and it doesn't condition, I can just force carb it like you said. IDK, kinda risky still I suppose.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Cold won't necessarily kill yeast, but it might. I had a bottle of cider I made 2 years ago and never left the back of my friends fridge. She discovered she still had it and she gave it to me to test it out. When I made it 2 years ago, they were undercarbed but I threw them in the fridge anyway and drank them as-is within a month or 2. This one that stayed refrigeratedfor 2 years still had fermentation going and was very much over carbed. I had to open it slowly to let the excess CO2 out, or I would have probably lost most of the cider in an impressive fountain of foam. Don't trust that cold temps will kill yeast or make them go dormant. Just food for thought.

 

[vitalbrew]

AJ - good info. I appreciate it. Not sure what I'm gonna do at this point. LHBS recommends cold crashing and sorbate. I may give it a shot and just do my darndest to drink it up fast. :cross: