5 Day Sweet Country Cider

[mtnman68]

5 day sweet cider?
I do not understand. Won't the cider make a bottle bomb, if it is not finished fermenting? And all one gallon of cider I have tried to make was still bubbling after 7 days. So if it is still fermenting after 5 days, Won't it blow the bottles up?

Thanks

mtnman

 

[burninator]

5 day sweet cider?
I do not understand. Won't the cider make a bottle bomb, if it is not finished fermenting? And all one gallon of cider I have tried to make was still bubbling after 7 days. So if it is still fermenting after 5 days, Won't it blow the bottles up?

Thanks

mtnman

In the instructions, OP mentions that he pasteurizes after a very short bottle conditioning period.

 

[mtnman68]

This is mtnman again and I will tell you what I have done so far with my second batch of cider. I started Sat. afternoon, did all of the cleaning, put a gallon of apple store bought cider, gave it a shot of yeast, which started bubbling after about 20 minutes. Now it is Tue. morning checked it and it is still bubbling briskly. Right now my plans are to bottle Thur morning. By the way I did not use any sugar.
I am planning to hake it sweeter than the first batch and carbonate it, 1 question first to make it sweeter would adding a can of frozen consentrate make it a little sweeter? And do I add any more yeast for carb. Do I add the juice and yeast when I bottle it and then pasteurize or do I wait a little while to pasteurize it. I really would like for this batch to be drinkable. So any help and advice would very appreciated.

mtnman

 

[skone]

Thanks to dayflyer55 for this recipe and thread. I'm giving it a whirl. 1 gallon of preservative-free, flash-pasteurized Vermont cider. 5pm I pitched 2g Montrachet, a half teaspoon of yeast energizer and a half teaspoon of yeast nutrient. No added sugar. Vigorous airlock action this AM upon waking and it's still full on bubbling away like the back of a jet ski. OG was 1.050. 24 hours later, reading was 1.040. I'm hoping to get to about 1.01 or right around 5% ABV. Wishful thinking without added sugar? Plan is to cold crash outside (still in the 30's), bottle, and pasteurize. I'll follow up with changes/results. Good times!

 

[skone]

My previous post is directly above this one in the thread...

I got the gravity to 1.01 on the 3rd night and cold crashed her in the fridge. 1 gallon jug, so why not? Temp was low 40's. Bottled 10 brown twelve ouncers 24 hours later with no added sugar for priming. Left the bottles to carb up for right about 18 hours, then ran 'em through the dishwasher on sanitize setting to knock out the yeast. Never pasteurized before - MAN THEY GET HOT IN THERE! Got one nice and cold – big pop when I took the cap off. I thought oh, that's gotta be nothing but headspace Co2, but no --- really nicely carb'd! Nose was very apple-y. The taste was very sweet going into the bottles. It was not sweet post-pasteurization. But certainly not dry by any stretch. Scrumpy? I hear this term but am not sure what it means. Lots of character and plenty drinkable. I will share these and enjoy them fully myself. Not sure that I'll do this recipe again, but so happy I did it at least once. Nothing like venturing out of your comfort zone seeing as there's always room to learn. Cheers, guys.

 

[Witchcraftbrew]

I just completed this recipe. My OG was 1.07 before fermenting. I tasted it at 1.04, but still wanted a little less sweetness. I ended up bottling at 1.03 which tasted great to me. I left it in the bottles for about 22 hours before I opened one up to test the carbonation. The bottles overflowed when I popped the tops off. The recipe said wait a day or so. Could this have happened because I fermented to higher alcohol content? Kind of a bummer, but at least what was left in the bottle tasted awesome. I just figured I'd have to open the rest over a pitcher 😆

 

[JJ900]

witchcraftbrew, I think others in prior posts said that it could be less than a day. I've done this recipe a few times and I think for me its been somewhere around 9-12 hours after capping that I needed to pasteurize. If it is at all related, I don't think the OG would cause faster carbing, rather that the FG of 1.030 would cause it. If you went lower to 1.020 then maybe it would carb up more slowly.

 

[globell]

Does it taste yeasty at all? Just wondering! Thanks

 

[globell]

+deleted+

 

[Witchcraftbrew]

So, I have an update from my overflowing bottles. I heat pastuerized them on the stovetop, packed them in boxes (in case they exploded) and left them alone for 2 weeks. When I decided to open ine, I did it over a bucket and surprisingly, there was no overflow at all. It was absolutely delicious and clear. I have since opened and drank several more with no overflow problems. And no....there was no yeasty taste. So glad it ended up turning out👍🍻

 

[globell]

So, I have an update from my overflowing bottles. I heat pastuerized them on the stovetop, packed them in boxes (in case they exploded) and left them alone for 2 weeks. When I decided to open ine, I did it over a bucket and surprisingly, there was no overflow at all. It was absolutely delicious and clear. I have since opened and drank several more with no overflow problems. And no....there was no yeasty taste. So glad it ended up turning out👍🍻

Awesome! Congrats!!

 

[jaybaileys]

Just did this recipe in 1 gallon. Came out great. OG 1.066 on 10/27. FG 1.040 on 10/30. Bottled up and after 4 hours put in dishwasher to Pasteurize. Worked great, really bubbly and sweet, thanks for the recipe and the thread got so many great ideas from the vinator to all the other tips. I just started brewing cider this month. We went to Vt. for vacation and my wife fell in love with Citizen Cider. So, I am trying some recipes.

 

[globell]

Just tasted the cider (its at 1.05)
and the cinnamon is almost a skunky off taste. Did anyone has this and it clear up later? Have primary fermented with cinnamon before and have had this taste. It's not the taste on the spice thats overpowering - it's different. I actually tossed the previous gallon away because if it (month ago). Assume it'll just clear up with time.
or maybe it's the nottingham yeast - sure is stinky

 

[globell]

One month after bottling and this stuff is fantastic. Absolutely no - off flavors and people LOVE it. Pretty sure this is going to me my go-to cider from now on and I plan on keeping it in the pipeline... It's just too easy to not have a steady supply of this on hand at all times...

Cool What yeast did you use?

 

[BeardedBrews]

I decided to take a stab at this as part of a group brew day on Sunday. It doesn't get much easier, or cheaper. 4 gallons of grocery store brand cider, 1.5 lbs of brown sugar, two cinnamon sticks. Nice active fermentation after 10 hours, I'm down to 1.060 after 24 hours with tons of gas in solution.

Thanks for the inspiration @dayflyer55

 

[globell]

A note to the skunky off taste to the cinnamon....talked with health food store and they said any old cinnamon (don't think mine was more than a few months old) will pick up off tastes from the environment. Keeping them in a sealed glass jar is better than a plastic bag and will prevent this sort of thing from happening so quickly.

 

[Manwolf]

hey dudes - If I whip this up and let it ferment for 5-7 days, rack it off into my corny keg and carb it at serving pressure while it's crashing, it should be gravy, right?

 

[jc587491]

A note to the skunky off taste to the cinnamon....talked with health food store and they said any old cinnamon (don't think mine was more than a few months old) will pick up off tastes from the environment. Keeping them in a sealed glass jar is better than a plastic bag and will prevent this sort of thing from happening so quickly.

Yeah I just did a batch like that. However 5-7 days might be too long depending how sweet you want it. I did mine for 3 days and it was about 1.030 FG which is where I like it. I let it totally ferment out last year and I did not enjoy it at all. YMMV. Good luck!

 

[Manwolf]

dang, thats fast! okay. if I overdo it, I'll just dump a lump of FAJC in the keg. LOL
seems like can't go wrong with daily sample / grav check.

 

[SirHC_]

Trying 1 gallon of this now. 1 g cider, 1 cup Sugar.
1068 down to1048 in 3 days.

 

[Manwolf]

this came out GREAT. nottingham yeast, regular apple juice from my local supermarket with no additives; fermented at 64º for ~8 days. the lower temp and longer primary really kept it from getting too dry. crashed in kegerator for 2 more days and it REALLY cleared up.

SG 1.080
FG 1.015

racked into corny keg and added a half small stick of cinnamon just for a hint. one week of set & forget carb @ 12 psi made it perfect.

 

[Shifty11]

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!

Once Primary hits 1.004, will cold crashing the whole batch stop the fermentation? Could I just rack into a keg at the point, cold crash it for 24 hours, then attach hoses to my keezer set up without concerns of yeast activity?

 

[Blacksmith1]

I doubt he's going to answer. That was posted in 2011, and he hasn't been on the forum since 2014.

 

[Shifty11]

Yeah, it was worth a shot.

Anybody have any thoughts on the questions above?

 

[Blacksmith1]

From what I have read cold slows them down but yeasts still keep fermenting even at low temps.

 

[Bryceshu]

Once Primary hits 1.004, will cold crashing the whole batch stop the fermentation? Could I just rack into a keg at the point, cold crash it for 24 hours, then attach hoses to my keezer set up without concerns of yeast activity?

I haven't kegged YET as i dont have a keggerator. Sorry about my spelling.. but i think if you throw some potassium sorbate in there which would prevent the yeast from converting anymore sugars into carbon dioxide and alcohol.

If you are bottling and want a carbonated cider you can prime it up and once it is at the level you want either stick it in the fridge (iv never had issues with this) or stove pasteurize. There is an awesome thread on here about stove top pasteurizing.

 

[JordanfromOK]

Noob cider/wine maker here.

I plan on kicking my 1st try of this recipe off this coming Monday or Tuesday evening (12/16 or 17/2019).

I'll be doing a 3/4 gallon batch, in a 1 gallon wide mouth jar, with 5 wtoz of sugar. Will be using Fleischmann's Active Dry yeast since its cheap and hasn't treated me bad yet and has relatively low ABV tolerance. It's all scaled down because of the lack of fermenters and bottles available at the moment.

OP recipe calls for brown sugar. My question, for the more knowledgeable: Is turbinado (natural brown sugar) fine to use instead if packaged light or dark brown sugar? An almost rhetorical question, but I like other's opinions as I learn all of this stuff. I understand it's not the same recipe when changes are made. Plus this just sounds stupid simple. "Duh" moment if one is just after good flavor. Why not try it out and build/tweak off of it as a base recipe. Cut down some of the sugar. Add some blueberry juice. Or maybe some peach. Ughhhh sounds good.

Work has us on 4 day weeks, so starting it off Monday or Tuesday night. Let it do what is does all of 2 or 3 days, as SG readings allow, then bottle after work Wednesday or Thursday. Bottle pasteurize Friday or Saturday as needed.

Thoughts and further advice on OP recipe and further fruit additions?

I'm excited to try this out and rambling. TIA Dayflyer

 

[JordanfromOK]

Update since last post: (It's long. Cause I'm OCD)

Jordan here again.
Well, life happened and didn't get this tester batch started on time, but kicked it off midday Friday (12/20/2019).
Noticed my math typo in previous post as well. 3/4 gal of Great Value 100% AJ with 3.75 oz of brown sugar. Not 5oz. Tried a lil tip, to introduce yeast nutrients for the 1st time too. I picked it up in a Facebook brewing group. Dead yeast in the mix, since they're cannibals.

Procedure :

11:15-
Boiled 4oz filtered water in microwave. 5 min. Put 1/4t Fleischmann's Active Dry bread yeast in beer mug. Add 15ml of just under boiling water to mug. Sanitize ~2.5" cinnamon stick in StarSan for 2 min. Let air dry.

11:39-
Eat brunch. Delicious egg, cheese, & ham bagel sandwich my wife made. (Just finished 2 more in while typing this out too. Ughh! Delicious).

11:54-
Sanitized 4 c Pyrex measuring cup and thermometer probe. Microwave the 15ml of yeasty water for 30 seconds. They dead now.

11:58-
Pull sanitized 1 gal wide mouth fermenter from Heated Dry dishwasher cycle. Hot to touch.

12:04-
Spray down outsides of sugar container, AJ jug, and 4 c Pyrex measuring cup.

12:20-
2 c AJ & cinnamon stick into 2 c sauce pan. (Electric range) Heat on #3. Added DIY yeast nutrients to the mix as well.

12:27-
Added 3.75oz brown sugar to 2 c AJ, cinnamon stick, & nutrient mix. Heat up to #4. Stirred a while. (12:32) Lid on. (12:37) Small bubbles visible coming up. Stir with lid off. Simmer with heat on #2.

12:40-
1 c AJ into a mug with 1 t of Fleischmann's Active Dry yeast to hydrate. Heat reduced on sauce pan to #1.

12:42-
High pour remainder of 3/4 gal AJ into wide mouth fermenter.

12:48-
Turn heat off. Aerated fermenter with DIY degassing wand and drill until 12:53. Lid on fermenter.

13:01-
Cinnamon & brown sugar mix @ 160°F. Lid on. Move to fridge. ~40°F fridge temp.

13:15-
Signs of life in hydrated yeast.

13:30-
Aerated fermenter again.

13:34-
Strained 2 c sauce pan into fermenter. Aerated again.

13:39-
Must temp. @ 89°F. Pitched hydrated yeast & 1 c AJ mix. Stirred.

13:48-
Must temp. @ 83°F. Initial OG: 1.063. (Temp. adjusted) Actual OG: 1.065.

~3.28% ABV when @ 1.040
~5.91% ABV when @ 1.020

Airlock activity by 14:30 at least.
Left in garage. Kinda chilly here in Oklahoma. I trusted my dash thermometer/compass when it was in the house and agreed with out thermostat. In the garage saying 60°F constantly. When it's 38-50°F outside and the needle doesn't dip more than a degree or two under 60°F at any time of day or night... Idk. I want it to chew through the sugar a lil slow anyway.

I would of liked a higher OG, but will adjust for differences in sugar content next batch. This stuff had a nice deep cinnamon smell and look to it right when I aerated it. Looked like I'd tossed a couple T of powdered cinnamon on top of it.

Plan on bottling Monday (12/23/2019) around 17-18:00, when I get my 6 day Christmas vacation started. So 3.25 day primary. Hopefully won't be too dry by then. Pasteurize Christmas Eve.

Sorry about the novel people. I find it better to have multiple copies of notes just in case the hard copy gets covered in must. Haha.
I think these are the 1st pics I've uploaded too. Seems simple enough. Hope they show up right.

Thanks all for previous posts.

 

[IamBIGGUN]

My 1st 2 batches I fermented in a 6 gal bucket with cheesecloth on top and they turned out great! This batch I'm making in carboys with airlocks. Do you guys think that with such a vigorous fermentation there was enough available oxygen at the surface of the bucket to make a difference in fermentation process compared to the airlocks? I am second guessing my move now, but hoping that there is SO much CO2 being expelled that the oxygen in the bucket was displaced and there will be no difference.

 

[IamBIGGUN]

And of course I changed 2 things at once and now don't know what to blame. I am getting a sulfur smell from all of the carboys. I changed yeast from Red Star champagne yeast to nottingham ale yeast. I have now read that nottingham ale has a tendency to do that and you can just ferment through but if I'm cutting it off in just days it will not have time to dissipate. So now I have to decide if it was the yeast, the air locks, or a combination of them both that caused this.