apple jack

[Rambunctious]

I just mad a 1 gallon test batch using Motts apple juice, 2 lbs of honey and EC1118. The taste was great, turns out I prefer the taste of honey rather than the brown sugar I usually use. The only problem is that even after cold crashing for 48 hours and the freezing process, it still turned out pretty cloudy. I didn't bother using any finings as every other batch of Jack I've made turned out crystal clear. Any suggestions as to why it's still cloudy and if there is any way to clear it up?

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Turns out what you have made is referred to as Cyser an apple honey wine. This will take quite some time to clear and flavor will be better after at least 6 mos.


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[MindenMan]

I pour the cider into multiple 2 liter bottles, freeze hard, and then turn upside down until ice is almost clear. At that point, there is still alcohol in the ice. I melt the ice completely at room temperature, and then refreeze to get the last bit out.

 

[DirtyOTG]

Turns out what you have made is referred to as Cyser an apple honey wine. This will take quite some time to clear and flavor will be better after at least 6 mos.


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Thanks, the initial taste was pretty good. A couple days later, not so much. Before freezing, I was at about 13‰ abv. I ended up with a full 1 QT mason jar after freezing. Should this be aged refrigerated or unrefrigerated? I'm fairly new to brewing and I wasn't sure if it would be OK to leave it unrefrigerated. I have heard some people say that once you've jacked the cider that it won't get any better with age, I have also heard the opposite. What has been your experience as far as aging jack?

 

[Rambunctious]

Thanks, the initial taste was pretty good. A couple days later, not so much. Before freezing, I was at about 13‰ abv. I ended up with a full 1 QT mason jar after freezing. Should this be aged refrigerated or unrefrigerated? I'm fairly new to brewing and I wasn't sure if it would be OK to leave it unrefrigerated. I have heard some people say that once you've jacked the cider that it won't get any better with age, I have also heard the opposite. What has been your experience as far as aging jack?

Again it is not really apple jack but rather a freeze distilled wine or more appropriately concentrated Cyzer. Refrigeration is unnecessary as the alcohol content after freeze distillation if indeed it was 13% A.B.V. to start with is now some where around 26%A.B.V. OR 52 proof much like a shnapps. The flavor will may or may not change over time. The original wine would get better with age and actually have a very complex flavor. Somewhat reminded me of Sam Adams triple bock.


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[MindenMan]

Setesh, I have been wrong before, and I may be wrong again, but here goes... Let's say you have 5 gallons of 10% hard cider . 10% of 5 gallons is 64 ounces, therefore, theoretically you have 64 ounces of 200 proof cider. It would seem there is way more alcohol left in your ice from your picture.
64 oz 200 proof, 128 oz (1 gallon) would be 100 proof. I know you get it. I have gone through multiple refreezes, and I no I don't what the proof of what mine is, but I can tell you after re freezing a couple of times, the cider burns all the way down my throat.

 

[Rambunctious]

I too have freeze distilled apple jack multiple times until it would no longer freeze just make a very loose slush after several days to a week in the deep freeze. Yes it burns all the way down would be really good I think with a sour apple flavor. I estimate the proof was about 60-70 proof.


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[MindenMan]

Apple Jack does get better with age, mine sure did. The one caveat to the whole deal is how much sugar is left when you "Jack" it. I had a bottle of something I thought was Jacked from May of last year. The bottle was about half full, which is why I thought it was jacked, and I got a major fssss when I cracked the cap, I mean solid like a bottle of soda. I was worried for a second and then the bubbles started coming from the lees in the bottom. Champagne fizzy, but not terribly dry, even with second fermentation. I am stumped, there is no logical reason for it to re carbonate. I will say it wasn't like apple wine, at least in my experience. Oh well, I'll chill it and split the rest with the wife later.

EDIT: This post made me wonder if and/or where did I have some AJ stashed. Aha!, I found it. I had forgotten I had two old fashioned glass flasks tucked away filled with my second or third batch of AJ. I remember the AJ was a little syrupy at the time, or I thought/remembered it was. Okay, Wow!, The bottles had in in a cool dark place since September of last year, and I had a small sip in case it went bad, and it was obvious there was alcohol in it, talk about smooth, Did I say, Wow yet? It wasn't boozy in the least. My wife and I split a couple of ounces, and back to the dark it went.
There was just the tiniest dusting of the lees in the bottles, so I poured carefully not to disturb it. I now need to use the MIB neuralizer flash forget it thing, so I won't be wanting to check it's progress.

 

[Rambunctious]

Had a little incident with starting new batch of hard cider. Using an ale yeast I harvested from a commercial brew. I had under pitched so in an attempt to get it rolling. I decided to make a half batch and aerate for a day or two until it got rolling. Bad idea worked fine the day I pitched it and the next morning no problem. Not so well that evening apparently it was going better than I thought so when I attempted to shake it up it blew its top and sprayed cider across two rooms and a hallway floor to ceiling. LOL... Oh well live brew and learn I guess.


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[Bryceshu]

does anyone use potassium sorbate before jacking ? I just jacked some but am worried that once I put in jars and age fermentation will happen again.. what do you guys think ??? after jacking can I still give it some potassium sorbate to stop fermentation ??

 

[bmd2k1]

does anyone use potassium sorbate before jacking ? I just jacked some but am worried that once I put in jars and age fermentation will happen again.. what do you guys think ??? after jacking can I still give it some potassium sorbate to stop fermentation ??

I do Not....and have Not had any issues.
Cheers [emoji111]

 

[Maylar]

No need to sorbate something that's got more alcohol than the yeast can handle.

 

[MindenMan]

No worries, mate. I usually add 1 ounce of FAJC to 11 ounces of applejack and have had no re-ferment issues at all. For what it is worth, I add 3 ounces of FAJC to the first 9 ounces of melted ice water and have had no re-ferment issues there either due to the residual alcohol in the ice.

 

[Bryceshu]

awesome thanks guys, my first round of jack came out super delicious, kind of has a maple smell to it. going to age it and see how it tastes this fall!

 

[MindenMan]

The longer it ages the better tasting and smoother it becomes. I just opened a 2 year old bottle a few days ago and was just blown away how smooth and flavorful it was/is.

 

[bmd2k1]

The longer it ages the better tasting and smoother it becomes. I just opened a 2 year old bottle a few days ago and was just blown away how smooth and flavorful it was/is.

What's the longest you've aged a batch?

Wonder what the taste/time bell curve looks like....hmmm [emoji111]

 

[MindenMan]

Two years is the longest any of my a/j has survived. New and 9 months: major difference, 16 to 18 months, different from 9 months, and 24 months there is even greater difference.
I did a lot of study on the origins and processes used 100 years ago or more and here is the short version: the old timers added to a 16oz bottle, 1 tablespoon of activated charcoal (to adsorb off-flavors) and 4 tablespoons of white sugar. They would then seal the bottles and age them hanging in their attics for a minimum of 2 years. I am not sure why 2 years was the "magic number" when it came to aging back then, but I am sure they used the trial-and-error method just like so many of us have

 

[MindenMan]

Following the information I read early on I did not add activated charcoal, but I did add some white sugar. At about six months in age the a/j had what I thought was a port/sherry flavor to it; it wasn't "bad" in any way but I was concerned at a later date if the port/sherry flavor would still be present later. At two years old I can tell you there was no port/sherry flavor present, so maybe that is why the a/j was historically aged for two years.

 

[MakeLemonade]

They would then seal the bottles and age them hanging in their attics for a minimum of 2 years.

Are you sure they were in the attic? Seems like that's the worst place to store something because of temperature variations.

 

[MindenMan]

Hey Lemonade, I take no offense to your asking me because you are new; if I am sure about the attic storage? Do your own research and then get back to me, will you?

 

[bmd2k1]

Two years is the longest any of my a/j has survived. New and 9 months: major difference, 16 to 18 months, different from 9 months, and 24 months there is even greater difference.
I did a lot of study on the origins and processes used 100 years ago or more and here is the short version: the old timers added to a 16oz bottle, 1 tablespoon of activated charcoal (to adsorb off-flavors) and 4 tablespoons of white sugar. They would then seal the bottles and age them hanging in their attics for a minimum of 2 years. I am not sure why 2 years was the "magic number" when it came to aging back then, but I am sure they used the trial-and-error method just like so many of us have

Do ya long term store in glass, plastic? Notice any difference?

I currently have some in both [emoji41]

Cheer! [emoji111]

 

[MindenMan]

My only experience is with glass 12 ounce bottles; I have put hard cider in plastic bottles and did not notice any issues.

 

[Bryceshu]

Hey guys i jacked a few batches of cider i had going, its pretty delicious. Going to try to save these for the holidays. One had almost a maple syrup type smell to it, but i didn't add any maple syrup at all. Super delicious.