5 Day Sweet Country Cider

[dayflyer55]

So I was at the local orchard the other day, and decided to buy a few gallons of fresh (unfermented) cider to make hard cider. I gave it a taste and enjoyed it so much that I decided I wanted to brew it in a way that keeps as much of the original flavor as possible. Also, this recipe is a huge time saver, as it is ready in less than a week!

4 gallons fresh, unfiltered pressed apples (uv pasteurized)
1 1/4 lbs brown sugar
2 cinnamon sticks

1) Pour 3 1/2 gallons of juice into fermenter
2) Heat remaining half gallon with cinnamon sticks and brown sugar until sugar dissolves properly. Let cool to room temp.
3)Combine mixtures and mix vigorously to oxidize.
4)Hydrate and Pitch yeast.

-Let ferment for about 2-3 days, or until it hits 1.04.
-Bottle it. No need to rack of clear, this stuff is going to be cloudy no matter what you do to it, as it hasn't really fermented that far. it may help, however to give it a day in the fridge to get rid of excess yeast. I didn't do this though.

Let it sit in bottles for a day or so to carb, then bottle pasteurize. I did this by using my sanitize/rinse setting on my dishwasher of 10 minutes, but you can also do it on the stove (see stove-top pasteurization sticky).

Result:
A sweet, hard cider at about 5% abv that keeps a lot of original cider flavor, and is just a tad more tart and dry than the unfermented version. Definitely looks "rustic" due to its cloudiness. Cheers!

 

[n240sxguy]

Any problem if it isn't pasteurized?

 

[n240sxguy]

Any problem if it isn't pasteurized when you get it?

 

[Yooper]

Any problem if it isn't pasteurized?

The bottles will blow up if you bottle a sweet cider before it's finished and the yeast isn't stopped by pasteurizing.

 

[n240sxguy]

I mean if it isn't pasteurized when you get it from the mill?

 

[Yooper]

I mean if it isn't pasteurized when you get it from the mill?

Oh, well, then whatever wild yeast and stuff that is in the cider will ferment rather than the yeast you pitched. It might be quite good, but it could also be quite bad. The UV pasteurizing would kill any wild yeast and bacteria for you so you could add your chosen yeast strain. You could use campden tablets if the cider isn't already pasteurized for you and you want to kill any wild bugs in there.

 

[n240sxguy]

If it isn't pasteurized from the mill, would you just heat it to pasteurize it, then cool it, and continue from there? I'm trying to find a quick, easy, good tasting recipe that will be widely accepted by people so I can serve it through the fall get togethers. This one sounds like a winner. I don't want to expend all my time on a cider, I would rather save that for my beer. Since I have never had or made a hard cider, is it much better carbed? I know we like sparkling grape juice around the holidays, so I assume the same would apply here.

 

[n240sxguy]

Do the campden tablets affect the flavor at all? Would it be better to use them or heat to pasteurize it?

 

[n240sxguy]

Also, I didn't see what kind of yeast was used for this recipe.

 

[dayflyer55]

I used Nottingham ale yeast for the recipe. I use it for a lot of recipes as its a good neutral yeast. I know most people use campden tablets for recipes, but I don't. I've never heard any complaints about off flavors from campden tablets.

 

[dayflyer55]

By the way, this actually ended up clearing nicely after a couple days in the bottle, wasn't expecting it to

 

[pattycakes888]

Ugh! i wish i saw this a few weeks ago, i was trying to find an quick and easy hard cider recipe....left it in the primary too long, ended up with super strong, smelly, cider....which if you can get over the smell taste like a very dry wine but gets you drunk within two glasses

 

[Genacide]

Would aging and any benefit to this recipe, or is it going to be the same at 6 days, 6 weeks, or 6 months?

 

[dayflyer55]

Because of pasteurization, I'm pretty sure aging would have a minimal effect.

 

[vnyand]

I've read elsewhere that if you start out with pasteurized cider it actually gets vinegar-like after a couple months. Starting from unpasteurized supposedly produces cider that will store for a year.

Pretty sure I read it on a Northern Brewer forum. I can dig up the link if anyone is interested.

 

[MotorCity]

Followed the recipe plus 2 cups of honey. Any suggestions on possibly kegging this cider

 

[SandMBrewCo]

Ive got a batch of this brewing. Probably bottle tonight. Ill let you know how it turns out.

 

[Inflames]

Just tried this recipe. It came out sweet and fizzy with lots of apple flavor. I let it carb up in bottles for a day as per the instructions and I got bottle geysers
So i cant bottle pasteurize now. So test every few hours.

 

[SandMBrewCo]

So I followed this recipe pretty closely, but only making 1 gal and adding 1 peeled frozen/thawed lemon. OG was 1.070. Kept it in the primary for 2 days Racked it straight into the bottles (Newb mistake, more later) and let it sit out side over night (Low temp of aprox 50 F)

Brought it inside after work the next day (Its fall where I live so the temp only got to about 65 degrees F) I opened one to check the carbonation before pasteurization incase I needed to let them sit a while longer. It was fine, nice and bubbly ( I believe the term is effervescent =] ) Pasteurized the rest and I was good to go. FG (aprox) 1.034

When I told the guy at my LHBS about this recipe he literally looked at me like I was crazy. Kinda like, "Okay pal, whatever you say..." He told me the way that you should do it - back sweeten and prime for carbonation. But I must say that it has surpassed my expectations.

The only thing that I would do differently in the future is to let it sit in the primary for a day or to then rack it to the secondary for another day because there was a lot of yeast left in the bottles.

All in all - A simple recipe that would be great for a beginner. After all... Im a complete newb and even I pulled this one off. Now on to irish stout lol. Thanks.

 

[Sharkeydude]

I've done this same type of recipe for a while now. I let it go for 5 days and it really turns out well. I have found that I need to bottle, let it set for about 4 or 5 hours then, pasteurize otherwise, I get bottle rockets if I leave it for 24hours. It is a fun recipe and really ages nicely.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Ugh! i wish i saw this a few weeks ago, i was trying to find an quick and easy hard cider recipe....left it in the primary too long, ended up with super strong, smelly, cider....which if you can get over the smell taste like a very dry wine but gets you drunk within two glasses

This is exactly what happened to me last year! It smelled awful, like a weird yeast/cider vinegar smell, but the taste was tolerable and after drinking 1 bottle, you are feeling it

I wish I learned of this fast recipe 2 days ago! I just started 6 gallons of cider Tuesday night. I did the right thing this year and bought myself a hydrometer. My initial reading was 1.080. I have to wait until it gets all the way down close to 1.000???

 

[Sharkeydude]

You can wait till 1.000 or 1.004or5. Judging by your OG it should be a whopper by the time it gets to that point. Don't get too married to the hydrometer, just use it as a gauge and your taste buds as reconfirmation. That's what I do and it serves me well.
I used to brew a lot of beer but, the ingredients, for me, got too costly so, I'm a cider guy. Besides, this is done in a week and I'm buzzin' in the cave long before the beer is ready.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

You can wait till 1.000 or 1.004or5. Judging by your OG it should be a whopper by the time it gets to that point. Don't get too married to the hydrometer, just use it as a gauge and your taste buds as reconfirmation. That's what I do and it serves me well.
I used to brew a lot of beer but, the ingredients, for me, got too costly so, I'm a cider guy. Besides, this is done in a week and I'm buzzin' in the cave long before the beer is ready.

Well, if it is high in alcohol content, that definitely won't bother me as long as it tastes good. I'll rack it next Tuesday and see where I'm at with the taste.

 

[TheCIASentMe]

I've read elsewhere that if you start out with pasteurized cider it actually gets vinegar-like after a couple months. Starting from unpasteurized supposedly produces cider that will store for a year.

Pretty sure I read it on a Northern Brewer forum. I can dig up the link if anyone is interested.

Vinegar flavors generally come from either too much oxygen during the brewing process or a bacterial infection not from your cider being pasteurized. Check the seals on your primary and sanitize more/better if this happens.

 

[dclaflin]

I am stuck! I had this in the primary for two days with no fermentation. I pitched the yeast again and after approximately 24 hrs still nothing. Any thoughts?

 

[SenorPepe]

Check your apple juice label for preservatives--sorbate I believe is used in juices. It should be 100% apple juice, or include ascorbic acid.

 

[Sharkeydude]

Check the chemicals in your juice first. Two yeast killers in juice are potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate. Yeast will not do their thing if these are present. I bought a jug the other day without noticing and nearly pitched my yeast. I stuck it in the fridge to use as a back sweetener later.
If the chemicals aren't there, then you may want to consider some yeast nutrient.

 

[dclaflin]

I am now getting some fermentation it is just really slow. Don't think it will be done in 3 days at this rate. Also I halved the recipe, not sure if that would effect it. Also I did use "100%" cider, not juice. Maybe they snuck some preservatives in there.

 

[matthewjconnor]

Just started my batch! I ended up using lalvin ec-1118 yeast, which I haven't used before. It sure did smell good when I was heating it up on the stove!

 

[LTownLiquorPig]

Going to throw this together in the morning.

1)Limited LHBS near buy, so I bought all 4 (yes, only 4) dry yeasts they had, Munton's active brewing yeast, Lalvin K1-V1116, Lalvin EC-1118 and Lalvin 71B-1122. Which would be most likely to get me a sweeter finished product?

2)I'm going to be using pasteurized canned apple juice in a 23 L carboy. Will that leave too much headroom or air in the vessel? Should I adjust up the recipe to 23L?

3)Any way to carb and pasteurize plastic pop/soda bottles? Or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Thanks for the input! OP, thanks for the recipe!

**UPDATE**

Threw it all together in a carboy this morning.

Problems:
Couldn't get OG to 1.076. Close to 1.061 at about 62* on the sticky thermometer on the carboy. I put in the prescribed 1.25 pounds brown sugar, added another 2 pounds, then a pound of white sugar, as I was out of brown at that point. Would the canned juice have less sugar than the cider? I used a pure apple juice with no additives a not from concentrate.

Pitched the Munton's yeast.

It's in the basement with a blow off valve set up right now, air temp down there about 64-65*.

Looked and smelled as I'd expected.