Anyone want to explain how to make hard cider for a newbie?

[RPh_Guy]

In the States "brown sugar" is refined table sugar (usually from sugar cane or beets) with a bit of molasses (from the refining process) added back.
For some odd reason different countries have different names for types of sugar.

 

[muledogus]

I'll just chime in on this thread since I'm not looking for a ton of info.

I'm doing my first cider as well.

Bought 3 gallons of 100% apple juice not from concentrate and pasteurized and 1 gallon of unfiltered apple cider with spices added (3 gallons was all they had of the juice and I figured the cider would give it some cloudiness anyway).

I did not use a nutrient but pitched a tube of white labs English cider yeast after aerating with pure oxygen for about a minute.

have it sitting at 67 degrees.

Just pitched 3 hours ago so not expecting activity yet but have I done anything that might make this awful?

I was going to do just juice and then do a secondary with some oak, cinnamon sticks, nutmeg and vanilla but the spices in the cider seemed really strong so I'll have to taste it and see if I need any of that now.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Juice and yeast? All good!

 

[S-Met]

Juice and yeast? All good!

All good, though if you are using fruit juice only, no pulp, it would benefit from some yeast nutrient.

Opinion:
Juice is made for drinking, not fermenting. Its palliative target is ready from the bottle. Fermenting drastically changes the juice leaving it very flat in terms of flavor. I like to let a few tea bags coldbrew in some juice for a couple days and/or add some lime juice and zest to add a little bitter-sharp flavor back in.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Juice is made for drinking, not fermenting.

That depends what you call juice.
I'd call juice the liquid from fruit (or vegetables I guess).
If it has sugar it'll ferment.

I think we're on the same page. Filtered juice, especially from the typical American eating varieties, does not produce the best cider.

I typically use yeast with low nitrogen requirement, so I don't have to worry about nutrients, even with filtered juice. Yeast with moderate to high nitrogen requirement is most likely going to need nutrients with filtered juice.

 

[Ghostrider513]

100% agreed, don't add anything

I had read some people used brown sugar. That's all. Thought it was part of making the cider.

 

[TwistedGray]

I had read some people used brown sugar. That's all. Thought it was part of making the cider.

Nope, not at all.

Literally juice + yeast

 

[z-bob]

I had read some people used brown sugar. That's all. Thought it was part of making the cider.

Some people probably do. (some people probably put mayonnaise on a hotdog, or put lemon in their coffee) I've seen several trusted brewers here say that brown sugar is nasty when fermented; I'm not going to try it. But you can if you want [I just grossed myself out thinking about lemon-in-coffee]

 

[bafinaire]

I’ve done this a few times. I’ll advocate for all those that say 100% juice and half packet of yeast.

Start with a baseline and experiment from there.

I will say previously I used champagne yeast but that was before I was into brewing beer. This fall I plan on getting some cider yeast and fresh pressed apple cider from my local orchard.

 

[S-Met]

Some people probably do. (some people probably put mayonnaise on a hotdog, or put lemon in their coffee) I've seen several trusted brewers here say that brown sugar is nasty when fermented; I'm not going to try it. But you can if you want [I just grossed myself out thinking about lemon-in-coffee]

Mayonnaise on a hotdog, lol. I've seen it, but many put ketchup on a hotdog. I thin it should be stone mustard and saurkraut, but to each their own.

Many recipes call for 1-2 lb of sugar for a 5gal batch to boost abv. Most store juice is around 1.055+/- .005points. I dnt know the math, but ferment dry and thats at least 7.5%. Thats plenty strong for me.

 

[Ghostrider513]

Nope, not at all.

Literally juice + yeast

Thanks. What about adding the cherry or blackberry juice in place of 1 qt of apple juice. That will be okay?

 

[bafinaire]

Thanks. What about adding the cherry or blackberry juice in place of 1 qt of apple juice. That will be okay?

Can’t hurt at all!

 

[Ghostrider513]

Can’t hurt at all!

That is what I want to hear. How long to wait for it to be ready? 2,3, or4 weeks?

 

[bafinaire]

That is what I want to hear. How long to wait for it to be ready? 2,3, or4 weeks?

I’m less refined than others. Previously with the champagne yeast I’d wait one or two weeks tops. Going with cider yeast, my guess would be couple weeks minimum. If you bottle let them condition another two. Depends on your taste buds. Sample it after a couple weeks!

 

[S-Met]

Have you decided on what yeast to use?
Check out this thread, to confuse you all further
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/cider-yeast-selection.637961/

 

[ebbelwoi]

I think I've finally got past the beginner stage, and here's what I recommend, to the OP or for future reference:

Use pasteurized fresh-pressed apple juice (not from concentrate).
Use ale yeast (Nottingham, S-04 or US-05).
Don't add sugar or nutrient.
Keep the temperature around 68F/20C.
It should be done fermenting in a week or so, and it should taste pretty good.

Now that you've made a decent basic cider, start experimenting on subsequent batches.

 

[Cavpilot2000]

I haven;t made cider for about 3 years, but I was on a big kick of cider-making a few years ago. I am luckily able to get raw, unpasteurized juice straight from a commercial press. For unpasteurized, it is a good idea to add some metabisulfite to inhibit wild yeast and other organisms, but for any cider it can help reduce oxidation. But that's an advanced topic.

As far as fruit, please please please don't use bottled fruit flavor. It all tastes like artificial crap.
You can use the fruit purees that are available in cans at your LHBS. For my blackberry cider, I use 5 gallons of cider, one 96 oz can of blackberry puree, and 3 lb of honey. It comes out about 8% abv.
The extra honey isn't necessary unless you want more booze.
But use real fruit if you want flavor, not "flavorings".

If you stabilize and back-sweeten, frozen apple juice concentrate works well, as it adds back in some of the flavor that gets lost in fermentation.

 

[S-Met]

I think I've finally got past the beginner stage, and here's what I recommend, to the OP or for future reference:

Use pasteurized fresh-pressed apple juice (not from concentrate).
Use ale yeast (Nottingham, S-04 or US-05) to the jug.
Don't add sugar or nutrient.
Keep the temperature around 68F/20C.
It should be done fermenting in a week or so, and it should taste pretty good.

Now that you've made a decent basic cider, start experimenting on subsequent batches.

I agree with almost everything, but if you are using juice only without fruit pulp, I would use yeast nutrients. Also keep to the temp range of your yeasts.

 

[Jamesfromdogriver]

I had read some people used brown sugar. That's all. Thought it was part of making the cider.

I heard the brown sugar was good for turning your product into apple jack, my last batch was ass kicking with white sugar so this go around I am doing brown. I pour a wine glass full of cider and drop in a shot glass of apple jack. then pink lemonade on top. Pretty nice boiler maker and ass kicking also.

 

[diyHardCider]

As usual, tons of good advice here. I put together a website (diyHardCider.com) to teach people how to make hard cider... it covers most of the basics.

Here are some of the pages I would recommend starting with:

• How to Make Hard Cider - A guide to making your own hard cider...start with beginner's version, then read the ultimate one.
• Hard Cider Recipes - Has a beginner and advanced hard apple cider recipe + links to a few with fruit.
• Cider Making Kits - It's much easier to start by getting an equipment kit. I wouldn't necesarily advise getting an ingredient kit, but some like it as it simplifies things.
  
• Miscellaneous other pages like hard cider yeast and the best sugar substitutes for hard cider

Hope these resources help some folks that come across this thread.

-Andrew