Adding fruit to cider

[shaunramseygriffin]

I have been going through a ton of posts about adding fruit to the cider during fermentation to get some really good flavors. I have been thinking about using blackberries or peaches but does anyone else have any suggestions? Maybe even something for the holidays like cranberries? I am open to anything really. Thanks.

 

[bernardsmith]

Why don't you experiment with small (1 gallon ) batches and see what fruits you like blended with apples? Alternatively, you might go to your local supermarket and see what juice blends they have on their shelves and use those ideas to help you decide what kinds of blends you might try fermenting...

 

[shaunramseygriffin]

Of course. Just don't know when to add them, how much and stuff like that.

 

[fuelish]

I typically add fruits in the primary, mainly because it's easier to "deal with" the fruit in a bucket than in a carboy....I have a cranberry cyser (like cider, but it's a mead) bulk aging atm, cran-apple is a good combo....actually, apple would likely pair with pretty much anything, really....the sky's the limit

 

[shaunramseygriffin]

Fantastic advice. I imagine fruit is hard to get out of a carboy. I saw a blackberry recipe that sounded fantastic! I have been reading up on meads too. Michigan is so flooded with breweries that ciders and meads are overlooked.

 

[JuiceyJay]

I have added berries in both the primary from the start and fresh berries when I rack into the secondary.
I only use 6 gallon better bottles and it isn't too tough to deal with the opening, though I can imagine with the smaller necks of glass carboys it's somewhat difficult.

 

[Con-Rad]

I've used raisins, cranberries, and oranges in the secondary all with good results!

 

[MindenMan]

Apricots and peaches rock with apples too. I really love apricots, and they compliment the apple flavor amazingly. I have made apricot ales before, but the time of year is upon us to start making ciders. My wife and I really like apple jack, but testing with 1 gallon batches only makes one 12 oz bottle, and a couple of shots.;-)
What everyone says about aging cider is true; the difference in flavor(s) changes with time, and the apple flavor and/or other fruit will bloom again with time. Don't worry if your cider doesn't taste really apple-y when bottling. With time it will. I am trying a new apricot cider recipe in the next couple of days, I will keep you all posted.

 

[shaunramseygriffin]

Please do. I'm going to try one with blackberries this weekend. Champagne yeast to make it a little tart. Any suggestions?

 

[Schott703]

Can you elaborate on the apricot recipe? I would like to try this

 

[shaunramseygriffin]

Yes. Do tell!

 

[MindenMan]

Here is what I just did: I had a gallon I used to top off another batch, and I didn't really measure it first. I couldn't find the apricots this morning, so I used peaches. I strained out the fruit, mashed it in a sanitized zip top bag, and then added both the fruit and the syrup. I added in total: 2 - 15 oz cans of sliced peaches with the syrup, 2 - 12 oz cans of apple juice concentrate, 1 tsp of Pasteur Red wine yeast, 1/4 tsp of DAP, 1/4 tsp of Fermaid K, 1 tsp of pectic enzyme, and have a total of 10 pints of soon to be cider. Be careful; DAP and Fermaid K ,will cause volcanoes in your fermenters. Trust me. That is why I split this batch in two.

Addendum: Today, after fermenting @71 for four days the alcohol % has got to be really high, as it was very noticeable, and fermentation seemed to have been done. I added a 12oz can of apple juice concentrate and 16oz of water to each jug, and within an hour fermentation was obvious again. Before I added the new juice when I tasted it, not only was there alcohol warmth, but the flavor of the peaches was still there. I will probably puree the must, and add gelatin before cold crashing until clear. At that point, I will put the cider in the freezer and wait impatiently before separating the water from the alcohol.

Addendum II: 9 or 10 hours later, the airlocks are busier than a $20.00 hooker on payday. Not like I would know myself...

 

[dallas996]

I do it the lazy way, but it works very well and imparts exactly what I am looking for in my results. I take my standard cider that I have on hand; add 1.5 to 2 cups of fruit (usually frozen organic blueberries) to a growler, top with my cider. let sit at room temp for about a week, then chill and serve. Perfect.

 

[punkrawkgeek]

I was thinking of racking a gallon of cider on top of some grannysmith apples... Is there anything I should do to the apples first, or will the booze in the cider kill anything....??.

 

[MindenMan]

I was thinking of racking a gallon of cider on top of some grannysmith apples... Is there anything I should do to the apples first, or will the booze in the cider kill anything....??.

So then, you are asking about pouring hard cider over untreated apples?
Or, are you asking about putting fresh apples into bottled cider to improve the flavor?

 

[punkrawkgeek]

I was wondering about pouring hard cider over untreated apples. And if I should treat them, how would I go about that?

 

[BGBC]

I was wondering about pouring hard cider over untreated apples. And if I should treat them, how would I go about that?

What's your goal?

 

[punkrawkgeek]

Hahah! I don't know... Throw some more apple flavor in there, maybe? I don't know. I've never added fruit before.

 

[BGBC]

Personally, I would stick to fruits other than apples. If you want apple pie flavor, you can get that with spices and backsweetening. For other fruit flavors, try pretty much any berry or stone fruit. I'd add at least after initial fermentation has died down, if you don't want to do it in secondary.

 

[MindenMan]

Update on my update. I was going to jack my ciders a week ago, but they were too dry for the results I was looking for. After careful thought and a few beads of sweat, I decided to do something I would never normally do, I poured the syrup off of a can of peaches into the cider to use as a sweetener. I mixed well, and then cold crashed, then put one of the two jugs into the freezer. On the evening of the third day, there was a liquid layer on top of the ice, I have never seen that happen before. I wondered if it was the highest % alcohol portion, it was. It burned all the way down, and then some. Somewhere in the neighborhood of a year or so from now, our close friends ( the ones that really appreciate fermented beverages) will come over and taste a "flight" of different aged and different fruit combination hard ciders. I can hardly wait. I will dig around and see what we have from last year that is old enough to drink.

I may have said this before, but I will say it again anyway: for the best longevity when aging ciders, you need to have a tiny bit of sweetness left before freezing. Think of meads, they lay down for years, start out very sweet, and with age become the nectar of the gods.

I have not calculated what the effective O.G. was, as this batch I added different things at different times. As usual, I will keep you posted. I do have distillers proof gauge now, so before I bottle it, I will get to know what the proof has become

 

[phug]

Can anyone confirm if a distillers proof gauge will even work on a sample that contains residual sugars? I get the feeling that the result will be way off.


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[MindenMan]

I will say, no. I bought one and tried it, it won't work. The residual sugar is too dense. I poured the first run of alcohol off my Peach Cider, right about 16 oz. it does taste like peaches now, and is slightly sweet after the alcohol passes by, so I know as time passes it will still taste like peaches.
I had never used pectic enzyme before, and I must say, it really broke down the peach pulp. From now on, anytime I add fruit, I will add pectic enzyme.

 

[nebraskabrew]

I have added berries in both the primary from the start and fresh berries when I rack into the secondary.
I only use 6 gallon better bottles and it isn't too tough to deal with the opening, though I can imagine with the smaller necks of glass carboys it's somewhat

I use a fruit puree for my primary fermentation, I'd like to use fruit for my secondary when I rerack. Is it best to use chopped fruit for this or would you recommend doing puree again?

 

[CKuhns]

Unfortunately thisis a really old thread.

Either chopped, whole or puree would work.

You might want to start a new thread.