applcot cider

[pyromaniaq]

Recipe Type: Partial Mash
Yeast: some kinda ale
Batch Size (Gallons): 5
Original Gravity: 10
Final Gravity: TBD
Boiling Time (Minutes): 10
Color: red and peach colors
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 1 week @about 70
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 3 weeks @ about 70
Tasting Notes: not sure yet.








ingredients:

2lbs of honey
24lbs of crap apples
ale yeast
nutrients
16lbs of apricots




I went to work on the apples first with my slap chop, then with my neighbors blender. I got the apple into a workable puree and then froze it.

Then i boiled the apricots and seeded them, then froze them.

The next day i thawed the apples and apricots and put them in my 5 gallon buckets with 2 gallons of water, crushed up 2 campden pills per bucket and let it rest for a day.

Today I made my yeast starter with a safale us-05 dry American ale yeast, designed to yield a medium to low FG producing a clearer product, that leaves the palate cleaner. I put the starter in the primary and let it go...I could the magical bloop bloop bloop of my airlock before i left for work.

I put 1/2 cup of honey in my starter to....start it, and i put 1lb of honey in each bucket to sweeten.


I'll stir the fruit in my buckets everyday for a week, then ill take the fruit out and let the fermentation keep going for 3 more weeks....Every week I'll stagger more nutrients into my cider, tasting and sweetening as we go. at the end when ive reached my desired FG and sweetness ill probably rack and pasturize the whole thing, then bulk age it in carboy for a couple months before bottling, racking every 3 weeks or so.

I've never used different fruits in a cider, and ive never sweetened it during fermentation and ive never stagger added nutrients...so this is one huge experiment.

Guess ill let ya guys know how it goes....any feedback is welcome!

 

[Yooper]

I'm not a fan of boiling (or blanching) fruit. I like to wash and then freeze fruit before using, though. Then I put it in big mesh bags to let it thaw. It turns into a pulpy mess- which is a good thing since it's easier to extract the juice from the fruit that way.

I use one campden tablet per gallon of cider. I crush it, and put it in 1/4 cup hot water and stir to dissolve it. I pour that over my fruit and juice in primary. I don't know about apricots, but crabapples make a very nice cider or wine. I like to use 6 pounds of crabapples per gallon, and approx. 2 pounds of sugar per gallon, depending on the natural sweetness of the apples. That's for a wine, with an OG in the 1.100 area. For a cider type beverage, I'd use far less sugar (maybe even none).

My crabapple wine recipe might give you some ideas about tannin, acid blend, etc. I'd definitely use the campden, then 12 hours later add pectic enzyme, then 12 hours later add the yeast.

 

[pyromaniaq]

What are the pro's and con's on blanching your apples? From what i understand cooking them first in that manner brings more of the tannin out, which would be a good thing right? Also sanitizes the fruit. I don't really know any of the bad stuff?

Would you recommend that I had my sweetener to the primary, or after I rack the fruit out?
I was going to use honey in a 5 gallon batch, i want it semi dry, but I still want that sweet apple flavor, and I think the honey will compliment that, what quantity would you recommend, instead of sugar?

And I thought the campden was to stop yeast? Why would I want to get in the yeasts way in the beginning of the brew?

Sorry, I guess I don't know everything about the art of brewing yet.


Thank you so much for your time and advice

 

[Yooper]

I don't know of any "pros" on blanching the apples. I wouldn't think a "cooked fruit" taste in my cider would be very good, and I'd be afraid to set the pectins (think apple jelly).

I use campden tablets (sulfites) to sanitize the must. I use one campden tablet per gallon, crushed and dissolved, when I mix up the must. I add everything to the fermenter except the yeast. The campden kills wild yeast and bacteria, and then 24 hours later, I add my chosen yeast.

Sugar and honey will ferment out completely. In wines and ciders, simple sugars are used to boost fermentables, not to sweeten initially. Adding any simple sugars during fermentation will cause them to ferment out. If you wish to sweeten after fermentation, a standard way to do it is to crush one campden tablet per gallon, and 1/2 teaspoon of potassium sorbate per gallon. You dissolve that in a little hot water, put it into a new carboy and rack the cider/wine into that. Sorbate doesn't kill yeast, but keeps it from reproducing. It's used after the cider is clear and most of the yeast have fallen out, and the cider is racked off of the lees. After the cider is stabilized, it can be sweetened with sugar, honey, apple juice, etc, to bring back some sweetness and apple flavor. If you add sugar during fermentation, when it ferments out it will turn much more wine-like. I make apple wine, and crabapple wine, and I use sugar to get the OG to 1.085-1.100. Most cider makers don't add sugar, just the cider, so it's lower ABV and more like cider.

Campden doesn't kill yeast- at least not wine yeast. In large quantities, it can be used as a sanitizer for wine equipment. In small quantities, wine makers use it all the time as a preservative and antioxidant.