Apple / Strawberry Cider

[Daddyfoxuk]

Hi all, I made a mixed fruits cider for the Mrs but this tasted more like wine and wasn't particularly tastey lol! Can anyone help with a simple recipe for an apple or strawberry cider...? Thanks for any help!

 

[Icarus9414]

Here is the simple recipe I've made to date. The recipe needs more tinkering to make a better base recipe but here is what I've done for a 3 gallon batch.

3 gallons musselmann's apple cider
3 tbsp yeast nutrient
1.5 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp tannin
1.5 tsp pectin enzymes
Nottingham ale yeast

O.G. 1.050

Primary fermentation roughly 1 week
Secondary fermentation roughly 2 weeks

Bottle carb with dextrose (corn sugar)
Pasteurize when at the right carbonation level

 

[Icarus9414]

Here is a picture of my recent batch in the secondary. Tastes amazing so far

View attachment 1423683697268.jpg

 

[MarkKF]

When I make strawberry or blueberry Apple cider I add one bag of frozen fruit or one can of pie filling for every gal. of cider. The rest of my recipe is the same - nutrients, pectin enzyme, acid blend and tanin. Primary til fermentation slows and S. G. under 1.010 then secondary til crystal clear.

 

[Dominic1920]

When I make strawberry or blueberry Apple cider I add one bag of frozen fruit or one can of pie filling for every gal. of cider. The rest of my recipe is the same - nutrients, pectin enzyme, acid blend and tanin. Primary til fermentation slows and S. G. under 1.010 then secondary til crystal clear.

What size bag frozen fruit, they come in 1, 3, and 5 lb bags at our local bodega.

 

[MarkKF]

I use 1 lb per gal. or 5 lbs per carboy. Some time I mix frozen fruit and canned pie filling.
Canned pie filling has more sugar = more alcohol. Blueberry is my favorate, less bitter.

 

[MindenMan]

Icarus, what type of yeast nutrient are you using? I use Fermaid-K, and I would be concerned my cider would taste like vitamin B. What is your gravity when you transfer to secondary?

 

[Icarus9414]

Icarus, what type of yeast nutrient are you using? I use Fermaid-K, and I would be concerned my cider would taste like vitamin B. What is your gravity when you transfer to secondary?

I use fermax yeast nutrient. Fermax recommends 1-1.5 tsp per gallon. I err on the conservative side. With my original post I didn't realize I posted tbsp. With that much nutrient it would taste like a flintstone vitamin. I racked my most recent batch at 1.002 SG. I had a busy weekend and racked it a day later than I wanted, but it still turned out great. It is clearing up nicely in the secondary. You can see my hand behind the carboy. I hope to bottle next weekend if I can find time.

View attachment 1423889747199.jpg

 

[Daddyfoxuk]

Hi guys, thanks for the advice... started this morning 3 parts apple juice and 1 part strawberry ribena along with tannin and pectolase... used lalvin 71b yeast. OG was 1.060... What should I let this ferment down to...? Ive got my fingers crossed lol. Cheers all!

View attachment 1424000434215.jpg

 

[Daddyfoxuk]

Hi all, just over 2 days into fermentation and it's not overly active yet... is this normal...? Thanks.

 

[Icarus9414]

I let most of the fermentation finish out on its own. It is good to wait until you see less bubbles in solution. It is best to rack to your secondary anywhere between 1.000 and 1.010 if you plan on bottle carbing (no one wants bottle bombs). I've never used lalvin so I can't really comment on the active fermentation but it doesn't look bad.

 

[Daddyfoxuk]

Hi, I do plan to bottle carb in 500ml bottles... I was planning to rack at about 1.010 use a carbination drop and back sweeten with a little splenda...? Or could I back sweeten using apple juice that I originally used or does it need to be concentrate...? Thanks again.

 

[MindenMan]

Your final gravity depends on a lot of different things; until your cider doesn't change gravity readings for at least three days, don't bottle it. Unless you are planning to pasteurize your bottles of cider, you can't back sweeten with anything fermentable, (bottle bombs) you can of course, back sweeten with something un-fermentable, and then prime accordingly.

 

[Daddyfoxuk]

Hi all, 1 week in and it's still fermenting well... I was thinking could I bottle this around 1.030...? I don't want this too dry quite sweet actually and would like a fizzy cider... is this possible and how would I go about doing this? If I add Campden ( I think) tablets to stop fermentation then add some splenda and a carbination drop for carbing up will this work...? Thanks for any advice

 

[Archer]

If you are bottle carbing/conditioning and don't want to rely on chemicals to abate the yeast, you either have to (1) ferment it completely dry, then back sweeten with nonfermentable sweetner i.e. splenda, and add just enough dextrose to carb the bottles; or (2) stop fermentation at the desired sweetness (or add sweetner), bottle condition with dextrose, then cold crash and keep it cold or just pasteurize the bottles ala Papper's posts at the top of this forum.

 

[Daddyfoxuk]

Thanks for the info... so does the yeast not have to be active for carbing my bottles with coopers drops...? Think I would like to bottle around the 1.020 mark... would I just bottle it at this point with sugar to carb then when it reaches enough carb either cold crash or pasteurise...? Do I not need the Campden tablets at all? Cheers again.

 

[Archer]

Even though your active fermentation may be over or slowed, there will still be enough yeast looking for some sugar to carb with the coopers drops. I've waited months after primary before bottle carbing; you just want to make sure that your bottles are initially stored someplace room temperature while they are carbing so the yeast can do its job. 1.020 sounds kind of sweet, but that's just MHO. If you pasteurize, you really don't need the campden tabs.

 

[Daddyfoxuk]

Evening all, checked the gravity today it's at 1.050... I plan to bottle around 1.010 add a coopers drop and 1 to 2 teaspoons of splenda... any thoughts? Cheers.

 

[Archer]

You will get some sediment in your bottles, but that won't hurt anything but appearances in the last glass.

 

[MindenMan]

Daddy... if you bottle at 1.010, there is still some residual sugar left, and adding Cooper's drops might make glass grenades. If you do not make the Splenda into a liquid solution, hello Mentos and Diet Coke. Seriously, you will make volcano city, if your sweetener is granulated. There is generic liquid version of Splenda, and somewhere between 2 and 4 drops per bottle should do it for you.

 

[Hankhill11]

Where can someone get strawberry juice locally? I haven't seen anything but juice cocktails in local supermarkets? that strawberry ribena is a UK product and not really around Wisconsin. I'd like to have some concentrate or juice in addition to fresh strawberries.

 

[mtnman68]

I started a gallon batch of strawberry\apple cider today. And my og that is what I am calling the first test using a hydrometer and it showed 70, is that too low? That included a cup of sugar and what ever was in the strawberries. I pitched the yeast at about 2:00 this afternoon and it is now 6:13 and it has started fermenting already.I used some Cider House Select yeast. And I used about a pound and 1\2 of fresh strawberries. Which I added about a half a cup of water and boiled it for about 30 minutes, then mashed up the berries with a potato masher and strained the berries through a piece of cheese cloth. I am hoping it will taste as good when it finishes fermenting as it did before I pitched the yeast

mtnman68

 

[MarkKF]

Do you mean 1.070? That is where I used to start my first few years. Now I shoot for 1.050-1.055

So I guess the answer is no, not too low.

 

[Evilgrin]

If you are adding sugar to your cider use it first to macerate the berries. This will draw out a lot of the juice. About 1/2 cup per 2lbs of fruit but more wont hurt a thing for this purpose.

http://www.smartsavvyliving.com/how-to-macerate-fruit-with-sugar/

 

[Harambe]

I think you're supposed to add fruit to the secondary, not the primary.

 

[MarkKF]

I always add to primary. Sometimes I backsweeten with more juice, not whole fruit.

 

[Drewed]

If you add fruit to the primary it will have more of a wine taste to it. Added to the secondary will have more of a fruit taste. I tend to do both.