Another noob attempt at Cranberry Cider

[mysigp226]

1 gallon of Apple Cider in Whole Foods carboy
32oz of pure Cranberry juice (fresh pressed, not from concentrate, no water, etc, $9 for 32oz also from Whole Foods)
1/2 tsp Yeast Nutrient
1/2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
S-04 Yeast
SG 1.050

- Removed/Reserved 32oz of of apple cider
- Added cranberry to apple cider carboy
- Pitched yeast
- Put reserved apple cider into old cranberry bottle and refrigerate

My plan is to let it ferment until I rack and then add the reserved cider back in to fill back up to 1g

Here's a picture....

- On the left is an identical recipe as the above except for no-cranberry (that way I can see what the cranberry did to the flavor).
- In the middle is the cranberry version
- On the right is the original bottle/label from Whole Foods

 

[defenestrate]

that is going to be some serious cran-flavor!

 

[mysigp226]

I hope so

 

[defenestrate]

i work at whole foods and i bought a couple of these the other day. i actually ordered s-04 too along with my incoming beer order. i was going to ferment them out as is, then secondary one on to orange zest and clove and another onto a pound or so of frozen blueberries.

what kind of FG are we looking at with s-04? 1.010?

 

[Tusch]

What is the OG, that is what you need to know to estimate a FG

 

[wreckinball9]

my S-04 ciders ( 5 gals AJ with 2 lbs brown sugar) finish at 1.000

 

[JoeSponge]

Sig,

Can you please set that to fast forward and email me a glass when it's done? I'm excited about the prospects.

I am itching to get a couple of jugs worth... Hey, "out the window", do they ever put that stuff on sale? I know it's WF and all, but dang, $7 / gallon is steep.

 

[Firstnten]

One of my local orchards had 80/20 apple juice to cranberry juice fresh pressed cider That I'm going to try.


5$ a gallon here. how much does the cranberry over power the apple?

 

[defenestrate]

Sig,

Can you please set that to fast forward and email me a glass when it's done? I'm excited about the prospects.

I am itching to get a couple of jugs worth... Hey, "out the window", do they ever put that stuff on sale? I know it's WF and all, but dang, $7 / gallon is steep.

yeah they do. the had it on sale when i live a couple months ago-most likely going into the holidays. when they do put it on sale its on huge displays most of the time so you cant miss it.

 

[mysigp226]

7 days after pitching, the SG had dropped to 1.010 so I racked to secondary and added sparkaloid.

5 days after that (total of 12 days) the cider had cleared and this is what I have at the moment. The cranberry one definitely has a cranberry flavor, but it was a bit tart..though not undrinkable. I decide to add about 1/2 cup of splenda to each one and I think the flavor is good to go. Im so excited!!! Both are in my garage cold crashing to stop the yeasties.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

THAT clear in 12 days? I'm impressed! I'll have to give this S-04 ale yeast a try. Beauty colors on these, I'm curious as to the flavour profile; I've never used cranberry due to the fact that during my flavour experimentations the cranberry had a tendancy to taste more like cough syrup when added to alcohol. Regards, GF.

EDIT: Just noticed the sparkelloid, I thought it cleared that fast on it's own. Guess I should read more carefully. I'm no longer as impressed, but it does look good.

 

[defenestrate]

i've never heard of sparkaloid... i've got 2 fermenting right now, going on 2 days. i'm curious to see how much they clear up as is.

 

[mysigp226]

i've never heard of sparkaloid

It does nothing but cause the suspended "gunk" to drop to the bottom. Purely aesthetic.

 

[defenestrate]

i think i'll let mine ferment out with out the aid of sparkaloid-see if it clears up at all.

 

[Tusch]

I personally prefer to let it clear and age on its own and reserve the finings for if it is having a hard time clearing. But, either way, it does look great, hope it taste as good as it looks.

 

[nickmpower]

THAT clear in 12 days? I'm impressed! I'll have to give this S-04 ale yeast a try. Beauty colors on these, I'm curious as to the flavour profile; I've never used cranberry due to the fact that during my flavour experimentations the cranberry had a tendancy to taste more like cough syrup when added to alcohol. Regards, GF.

EDIT: Just noticed the sparkelloid, I thought it cleared that fast on it's own. Guess I should read more carefully. I'm no longer as impressed, but it does look good.

Keep in mind that what can look clear in a 1 gallon container can be very unclear in a 5 gal carboy

 

[cellophanetower]

How did this turn out? I just pitched the same (minus additional fermentables). Thanks!

 

[mysigp226]

Just an update on the non-cranberry version.

I had put it in a mini-keg on 1/25/09 and just tapped it tonight (8 months in the keg). I think I added too much splenda. It's _VERY_ sweet with very little apple flavor and virtually no "burn" of alcohol. It's in the fridge cooling and I'll see if it tastes any better tomorrow.

Disappointed. But hoping the cranberry one turns out better.