5 Day Sweet Country Cider

[vnyand]

If there are no additives all cider (which is the same as "pure apple juice") comes in around 1.055. It may be lower if this was filtered (probably to make it more juice-like instead of typical cider) but it shouldn't be by much.

The brewing yeast may leave more residual sweetness, but when a large percentage of your fermentables are from pure sugar it will almost definitely finish dry.

As for your bottling question... what? A. why would you pasteurize? (not that you can anyways without force-carbonation) B. you would carbonate the exact same way you would a beer (assuming you don't pasteurize your finished cider), though I don't recommend using old soda bottles.

 

[DingoDog]

I'm planning on trying this recipe tonight. This will be my first attempt at cider. I like the idea of a short fermentation time and a residual apple flavor and sweetness. I'm planning to keg my cider and force carbonate. Does anyone know of any issues with kegging this cider recipe? Is pasteurization still necessary? If so, how will I accomplish pasteurization or should I just use campden tablets to stop fermentation? Also, I was thinking that maybe I don't need to worry about stopping fermentation at all because once the cider reaches 1.040 I'll cold crash it and keg it. Once kegged, it'll stay in my keggerator and never warm back up.

Thoughts anyone? Thanks

 

[DarkPhyre]

how much head room should I leave in the carboy?

 

[dayflyer55]

Does anyone know of any issues with kegging this cider recipe? Is pasteurization still necessary? If so, how will I accomplish pasteurization or should I just use campden tablets to stop fermentation?

Honestly, i never really deal with chemicals, but from what I hear campden or any other chemical would have a hard time killing fermentation while its running downhill. Perhaps you could cold crash, put in a carboy,then kill with chemicals.

Your scenario would work, but you might as well throw some chemicals in there for good measure.

Pasteurization is definitely not necessary, bottle pasteurization is designed specifically so that you can carb naturally and keep residual sweetness, as its the only way you can possibly do this without using unfermentables.

 

[dayflyer55]

how much head room should I leave in the carboy?

If you are doing primary in a carboy, I'm pretty sure it won't really matter. Just dont fill up too high and make sure you use an airlock.

 

[Yooper]

I'm planning on trying this recipe tonight. This will be my first attempt at cider. I like the idea of a short fermentation time and a residual apple flavor and sweetness. I'm planning to keg my cider and force carbonate. Does anyone know of any issues with kegging this cider recipe? Is pasteurization still necessary? If so, how will I accomplish pasteurization or should I just use campden tablets to stop fermentation? Also, I was thinking that maybe I don't need to worry about stopping fermentation at all because once the cider reaches 1.040 I'll cold crash it and keg it. Once kegged, it'll stay in my keggerator and never warm back up.

Thoughts anyone? Thanks

Campden (sulfites) won't stop fermentation. Winemakers use it all the time, since wine yeast is very tolerant of sulfites. If anybody tells you that campden will stop fermentation, they are not correct, unless you use so much of it that the beverage will be undrinkable!

 

[dayflyer55]

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.

Glad you liked it. The reason that I stop fermentation short is because I find it the best way to keep a true apple flavor. If you ferment out and backsweeten, you have 2 options: 1) Backsweeten with sugar, in which you don't get that apple flavor. or 2) Use (unfermented) cider and dilute the final alcohol content. It just doesn't make sense to waste all that time when you will get at best a basically identical finished product (especially with a good clean fermenting yeast).

I completely agree with you about racking. If I did it over again, I would cold crash overnight before transfer to bottling bucket to get rid of yeast for sure.

 

[LTownLiquorPig]

Been on for a week, cool in my basement, temp on the carboy hovers 60-62. I think a little cool for my ale yeast maybe? My initial gravity was around 1.06, this morning it was 1.035 or so. Still very sweet and cloudy, lightly carbonated. I'd drink it like this, but the boss wouldn't, and I want a little higher ABV out of it. Going to check again in two days.

Cold crash and bottle sounds like the plan. How cold is too cold to cold crash? The cellar way to the basement is likely between 32* at night and 50-55* through the day. Would that work? I have a small fridge, was going to clean it up today and turn it on, been in the garage for a couple years.

 

[stargazer007]

Cold crashing in winter? I'm located in frozen north. So in winter it can be 20 below or colder. Could I rack to a secondary & cold crash for 4-5 hours outside & then bottle pasteurize?

 

[TheCIASentMe]

Cold crashing in winter? I'm located in frozen north. So in winter it can be 20 below or colder. Could I rack to a secondary & cold crash for 4-5 hours outside & then bottle pasteurize?

You could, but I would be a little concerned about possible freezing at those temperatures and implosion of the container if it's sealed. Stick a thermometer on it and watch it closely maybe?

 

[StophJS]

I'm brewing this up in the next couple days with 1 1/2 lb honey instead of the brown sugar. I think I may want to cold crash it for the purpose of getting rid of excess yeast, but it may very well be around freezing temperature when I do. A few questions if anyone feels like giving their input.. What temperature is too cold to cold crash? How long should this be done around 32 degrees or so? Also, how will this affect my carb time in the bottle before I pasteurize? Thanks.

Edit: Also forgot to ask, how imperative is it that I ferment this at the bottom of the range for the US-05 I'm using?

 

[StophJS]

Just got this going today. OG was 1.058? Little disappointed about that. I just plan on letting it ferment to 1.02 so I can at least get my 5% abv. US-05 got going on this in 5 hours.. maybe because it's 76 degrees in here. Not exactly ideal but hopefully the taste won't suffer too much. I also notice there is a fair amount of stuff in the bottom of the fermenter while there wasn't really anything settled out in the jugs.

 

[LTownLiquorPig]

Just got this going today. OG was 1.058? Little disappointed about that. I just plan on letting it ferment to 1.02 so I can at least get my 5% abv. US-05 got going on this in 5 hours.. maybe because it's 76 degrees in here. Not exactly ideal but hopefully the taste won't suffer too much. I also notice there is a fair amount of stuff in the bottom of the fermenter while there wasn't really anything settled out in the jugs.

I had to fight to get mine to 1.06 or so. I'm doing the same, getting it to 5% and going with it.

 

[PortlandPatrick]

Cold crashing in winter? I'm located in frozen north. So in winter it can be 20 below or colder. Could I rack to a secondary & cold crash for 4-5 hours outside & then bottle pasteurize?

As mentioned, keep an eye on it. If it does freeze pretty solid, you can drain off the nonfrozen portion and claim you intentionally made apple jack

 

[urbanmyth]

I plan on making a 1-2 gallon batch of this tomorrow afternoon, fermenting in a growler and then transferring to some swing-top juice bottles I picked up at World Market. Would anything detrimental happen if'n I pitch the whole yeast packet into a smaller batch like that?

 

[StophJS]

I plan on making a 1-2 gallon batch of this tomorrow afternoon, fermenting in a growler and then transferring to some swing-top juice bottles I picked up at World Market. Would anything detrimental happen if'n I pitch the whole yeast packet into a smaller batch like that?

That would be considered overpitching, and will probably just mean you'll have more yeast in your finished product than you probably want. Stick those bottles in the fridge for a few days though and pour gently and I imagine it will be just fine in the glass.

Also, I just finished this recipe (1 1/2 lb honey instead of brown sugar, + yeast nutrients) and figured I'd let people know how it turned out. I did 4 gallons with a packet of rehydrated US-05, fermented at 60. OG was roughly 1.06 and I pulled the plug and bottled after 4 days when it was at about 1.02 (5% abv). Not really sure why but I actually added a half cup of table sugar as well at bottling time, not that any priming was necessary. As I was bottling I ended up with a half a bottle at the end, plus I broke the top off one when capping, so I drank about 1 1/2 of these right then and there. Tasted great and actually had a little carbonation already at that point. Got a nice buzz from them as well Much more so than you would expect given the ABV.

I bottled at about 4 PM in 75 F temps, let sit and cracked one open roughly 6 hours later, and had the bottle fizz up a lot and nearly overflow but not quite. The cider itself didn't seem super carbonated but was adequately carbed, so I'm not sure what the mechanics of this was. Either way I went ahead and pasteurized of course. Pasteurization on the stove-top following the sticky was a breeze. Afterwards there is what appears to be dead yeast floating at the top of the bottle. Today that has settled to the bottom and the cider has begun to clear further. Definitely recommend and had fun with this recipe. Find some quality cider to start with though. With such an incomplete fermentation this is obviously going to be most important for determining the final qualities of the cider. Cheers!

 

[LTownLiquorPig]

Down to 1.01 today, was hoping to catch it at about 1.02 but things got a little hectic round here. Adding Gelatin as soon as this is typed and going to cold crash.

Tastes pretty good. A little warmer than I was hoping for. After clearing a little with the gelatin I will bottle and pasteurize.:rockin:

Edit: and big time cinnamon aftertaste. Not expected, but I like it! Hope the boss will as well.

 

[LTownLiquorPig]

Bottled, this morning. Drinking my second bottle now. Don't think I caught it in time, was at 1.002 or so (almost 1.000). Hoping it still might carb, but it's a still cider right now. Very drinkable and by my math at 62* it comes in at about 7.7%.

Back to a beer next, a session beer I'm thinking.

Thanks for the recipe!

 

[SandMBrewCo]

Im having an issue. I hope that someone can help.

I made a two gallon batch of this adding about 3 lbs of brown sugar and 4 lemons.

I heated about .5 gal of the cider near boiling and dissolved the brown sugar. Added to carboy with the other 1.5 gal of cider. OG 1.102

This morning, no air lock activity. Gravity was 1.105(aprox). Got home from work and its the same story.

Im not sure if I pitched the yeast too soon and the 'must' (don't think this is a wort) was too hot and killed the yeast? I also made a yeast starter and added the yeast nutrient in with the starter.

Can anyone shine some light on this. I made a gallon batch about a month ago and it was fantastic. Heavy fermentation within 24 hours. Hope i didn't mess it up. This was for thanksgiving, and time is getting short.

Also - I added 2 tsp of cinnamon extract. Don't know if this may related to the issue.

 

[SandMBrewCo]

Just added about a gram of champagne yeast. Hopefully i didn't jump the gun. The more I brew, the more I realize the importance of patience. A word that starts with 'F' comes to mind. lol

 

[urbanmyth]

What are the chances of the bottles 'spoding in the dishwasher after they have carbed up? I make small batches of cider (1 gallon Carlo Rossi growlers) and then I bottle into 1 liter swing tops. I have heard swing tops are usually stronger bottles, but I have still only ever let them just bottle condition to dryness. I would love to try a sweeter cider variety.

 

[DingoDog]

Any luck with the champagne yeast?

 

[SandMBrewCo]

Any luck with the champagne yeast?

Negative . I think that i have narrowed down the cause(s). Please let me know what you folks think:

To many lemons - I used a total of 4 for this two gallon batch. Maybe this made it to acidic for the yeast

Adding the cinnamon extract. Ive seen some recipes use this but its always after fermentation.

I believe that both cinnamon and lemon are antiseptics. Anyways, looks like ill be drinking the hard stuff this thanksgiving. Let me know what you guys think messed this one up. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[PhysicsBrew]

I had just finished a batch of EdWort's Apelfwein and dumped this on top of the yeast left in the carboy after bottling. Other than using Cooper's Ale Yeast, everything else is identical and the cider turned out fantastic!

I am typing this as a batch of bottles are downstairs pasteurizing, after only 12 hours! I am thankful I decided to crack one open this evening. Perhaps it is because I already had a full-sized yeast colony from the apelfwein that it carbonated so fast.

Thank you for the recipe, my wife and I are excited that we can get our cider fix in less than a week now!

 

[StophJS]

Has anybody followed this recipe completely and actually hit the quoted OG? I've done this twice now, the second time with 3 lb of honey in 5 gallons and couldn't get nearly 1.07. Do brown sugar and honey contribute that differently to gravity?

 

[dayflyer55]

How to Brew - By John Palmer - What Sugar Should I Prime With?

Always a good source of information

 

[dayflyer55]

"Honey is difficult to prime with because there is no standard for concentration. The gravity of honey is different jar to jar"

 

[nukinfuts29]

Just started my batch!

Can I bottle this into 1Gal apple juice containers (because they are screw top) and skip the pasturizing for the bottles? I won't have it sitting around long enough so i figure i will just pour from the AJ bottles.

 

[dayflyer55]

That's a fair assumption. As far as not pasteurizing, I would advise against it, as it will go dry within another week or so and would need to be backsweetened or aged.

 

[nukinfuts29]

Hmm....guess i'm going to need bottles, caps, and a capper then

As for my assumption, I was dead on. Fermentation began within three hours, but nothing through the airlock. 24 hours in there was a bubble every 2-3 minutes. As of 6PM yesterday (Wed) it was pushing a bubble out every 30 seconds or so, and it's foaming like crazy.

So no worries on that, the cider will work just fine.