Apple Pie Cider

[CyderSilverblade]

I have been searching for an apple pie type of cider recipe.
I tried the caramel apple cider (using starbucks syrup) and didnt like the taste.
So now I would like to try a more apple pie flavor.

For five gallons:

what yeast would be good for this
and sugar...
from few recipes on here for apple pie its a combo of sugar (I would use dextrose) and brown sugar..
cinnamon/sticks
maybe vanilla beans?

Thank you in advance for any suggestions!
(and why do I have to fill out recipe info before it will let me post?)

 

[JDWebb]

Apple pie usually consists of granny smiths and cinnamon, but like anything else, you can get carried away with it. I've made apple pies from just about every apple known to man, and always come back to a good granny smith for that down-home countryfied apple pie with white cane sugar and a good cinnamon. Allspice and clove have similar aroma and are very very strong, vanilla is a medium but can add depth to whatever you're baking, it also brings out sweetness.

I would think a good apple pie cider would be one made with white sugar, a mix of tart and flavorful apples so you get the apple taste and a good Vietnamese cinnamon and thats it.

 

[CyderSilverblade]

Still trying to figure out what to do here.
Browsing the mead forum...
trying to adapt for cider

5 gallons cider
Dextrose
Brown Sugar
Apple Pie Spice blend
Maybe vanilla beans
Yeast not sure which one yet

 

[JDWebb]

I did a plain jane cider, backsweetened a bit with 1 can of frozen concentrate, came out good. I poured it off into 4 quart jars and run my experiments afterwards. In one jar I put a vanilla bean with cinnamon sticks, it doesn't taste like apple pie, it tastes good, but not apple pie. Traditionally, apple pie doesn't have vanilla in it, I would leave it out.

In another I put just cinnamon, that one is closer. Next time i will pour into 2 half gallon jars and put cinnamon sticks, a very small pinch of clove or part of a crushed allspice berry and see what that does. I think that would be closer to apple pie.

I would also use brown sugar to get more of a caramel flavor, or even caramelize white sugar just a bit, not too dark, real light and use that.

 

[JDWebb]

In fact, I think I would put a clove in a tea bag and dunk it in for a bit, then pull it out. Clove is very overpowering, I would not put it in a primary where you can't control it, I would wait until secondary.

 

[Newsman]

Check out this recipe: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/caramel-apple-hard-cider-292770/ I think it's very close to what you are wanting. I make it fairly regularly. What I like to do is add about a cup of DARK brown sugar, a cup of cider and a tablespoon or so of cinnamon extract (homemade using cinnamon sticks and Captain Morgan spiced rum.) I also tend to add some vanilla to give it a little deeper flavor and bring out the cinnamon. I've found that adding a can of frozen (thawed) white grape juice concentrate along with a can or two of frozen (thawed) apple juice concentrate does an amazing job of backsweetening.

 

[Newsman]

PS: The updated recipe is at approximately post #420

 

[CyderSilverblade]

Newsman-I made that recipe and didnt like the flavor.

This is what I did (going from memory here) - I found this on the forum here.

5 gallons fresh pressed unfiltered apple juice
5 lbs honey
1 lb dark brown sugar
1 lb dextrose
acid blend
pectic acid
yeast nutrient
L1118 yeast
1 - 1.25 oz can of apple pie spice

and man oh man did this smell GOOD!!!

Ive never added honey or additional sugar to a cider recipe so Im curious how this will turn out.

Questions I have:
Will the yeast eat up ALL the sugar?
Will I need to add priming sugar when bottling?
Will I need to worry about bottle bombs?

I prefer a sweeter carb'd cider so I hope this will get me close.

 

[Lodestone]

Newsman-I made that recipe and didnt like the flavor.

This is what I did (going from memory here) - I found this on the forum here.

5 gallons fresh pressed unfiltered apple juice
5 lbs honey
1 lb dark brown sugar
1 lb dextrose
acid blend
pectic acid
yeast nutrient
L1118 yeast
1 - 1.25 oz can of apple pie spice

and man oh man did this smell GOOD!!!

Ive never added honey or additional sugar to a cider recipe so Im curious how this will turn out.

Questions I have:
Will the yeast eat up ALL the sugar?
Will I need to add priming sugar when bottling?
Will I need to worry about bottle bombs?

I prefer a sweeter carb'd cider so I hope this will get me close.

That is a lot of sugar your OG is gonna be really high, far beyond a cider and well into wine (technically a cyser). As for your questions:

Will the yeast eat up ALL the sugar?
Yes. With some extra work i.e. cold crashing at the gravity you want and treating with sorbate etc. maybe not.

Will I need to add priming sugar when bottling?
If you want it carbed then yes. If you chemicaly treat it then it wont carb even with priming sugar. If you can stop the fermentation at the gravity you want via just cold crashing. the remaining sugar will carb it without priming sugar.

Will I need to worry about bottle bombs?
Are you going to carbonate it? if so then yes, but read the bottle pasteurization thread and you will have a lot less to worry about. Its sticky-ed at the top of the cider forum.

 

[Newsman]

I made some to take to a convention. It was a huge success. A couple changes I made from the recipe I linked to:
1) I added about half again as much brown sugar for the syrup
2) I added a couple tablespoons of vanilla extract
3) Instead of adding water to the brown sugar for the syrup, I used about a cup of apple juice.
4) I added a LOT of cinnamon extract (probably about 3-4 tablespoons homemade cinnamon extract.)
People LOVED it, they raved about it. May not have been exactly "liquid apple pie" but it was VERY popular.

 

[CyderSilverblade]

Last night I tasted the cider before I pitched the yeast...
holy cow
This stuff is beyond good!!!

OG 1.10

Pitched the yeast and now I wait.

Once the airlock is quiet I will rack into secondary and wait.

I know this is a ton of sugar and Ive not done this with cider before (have made mead) so I am curious how the final product will be.

I like sweet and carb so I will attempt to bottle carb/stove past when ready.

How will I know once Im ready to bottle if there is enough sugar left to self carb or if I will need to add priming sugar then bottle/stove past?