B. Nektar Zombie Killer Clone

[madscientist451]

Yes, I've had the sulfur problem using Nottingham with cider. I usually don't use yeast nutrient in cider but with Nottingham perhaps it will help.

 

[copper2hopper]

Thanks mad....should I be worried though? Is that gone leave any residual side effects in the final product?

 

[Seamonkey84]

Should just need time to mellow out. A lot of it comes out when you degas it.

 

[Maylar]

Ok so I am super delayed in getting around to doing this recipe but I have started it. Two days ago I purchased 5 gallons of Indian summer brand apple cider and an original gravity reading of that was 1.040. I added 2 pounds of Starthistle honey to up it to 1.053. I added two packs of Nottingham dry yeast packets and it was slow to start but it is finally going with a little extra oxygenation from an oxygenation kit I got in the mail yesterday. Also, I did not add any yeast nutrient or Yeast energizer. Upon sticking my nose in my fermentation chamber that is set to about 67 or 68° I am getting a heavy sulfur smell. Is this normal for Nottingham? I have never used it before.

After fermentation is complete my plan is to back sweeten with more Starthistle honey and tart cherry juice along with some more apple cider to warm up to dissolve the honey in

So your plan is to start with about 7% ABV and backsweeten / dilute down to about 5.5%? Do have any idea what the sweetness level is for the commercial ZK?

I've yet to try Zombie Killer, it's not available here in CT. And the closest spirits shop that has it is an hr and a half drive up a very boring interstate highway.

 

[copper2hopper]

So your plan is to start with about 7% ABV and backsweeten / dilute down to about 5.5%? Do have any idea what the sweetness level is for the commercial ZK?

I've yet to try Zombie Killer, it's not available here in CT. And the closest spirits shop that has it is an hr and a half drive up a very boring interstate highway.

That’s the hope if it ferments out that far from 1.053 to 1.001. Even still that’ll only get me to an 6.83%. From there (and I’m glad you brought this up since I’m new to meads and hard ciders as this is my very first one) I didn’t realize adding back sweetening ingredients diluted out the abv. If that’s what happens then yeah I’m hoping to hit around a 5% abv beverage then. I’ll try to back sweeten to a 1.030 according to an earlier post on this thread that’s what ZK does. Yeah we have the real deal pretty readily available where I’m at in Illinois so it’s a pretty sweet yet tart beverage.

 

[Maylar]

That’s the hope if it ferments out that far from 1.053 to 1.001. Even still that’ll only get me to an 6.83%. From there (and I’m glad you brought this up since I’m new to meads and hard ciders as this is my very first one) I didn’t realize adding back sweetening ingredients diluted out the abv. If that’s what happens then yeah I’m hoping to hit around a 5% abv beverage then. I’ll try to back sweeten to a 1.030 according to an earlier post on this thread that’s what ZK does. Yeah we have the real deal pretty readily available where I’m at in Illinois so it’s a pretty sweet yet tart beverage.

Look at my post #149 above, I mentioned that it takes quite a bit of dilution to drop ABV that much. So you should be OK to back sweeten. Keep us posted on your results. I have a jug of star thistle honey that is hopefully intended for this purpose, but I really need to sample ZK first.

One of the things I've noticed is that their product has changed from when it was first introduced. Originally it was a 7% cyser sweetened with cherries. That's what they won a gold medal with. Now it's a 5.5% cider sweetened with cherries and honey. Wish I could have had some of the original one.

 

[copper2hopper]

Thanks Mylar. Good stuff to know. Looks like I’ll be alright then and be able to get a good 5-5.5% out of her then. A little good news update to this batch....the strong sulfury smell has dissipated quite dramatically already. I had to change out my lid cuz the rubber grommet on the first one broke off into the damn batch so when I popped the lid it smelled really good like a hard cider should. I’m really excited for this. I also went out today and got my other Indian summer cider and Indian summer montmorency tart cherry juice to have ready for the back sweetening portion in a couple weeks or so. Good thing with Indian summer brand is that it’s readily available to me here in Illinois and they are in Traverse Michigan where B Nektar gets their ingredients from for this anyways I believe. So this should be a good one I hope. Here’s my ingredients (with 2 packs of Notty not shown) for reference and even still should all be available on amazon for those of you too far away to get Indian summer brand at their stores. Also, keep in mind I did not add any yeast nutrient or energizer our anything else into 5 gallon primary other than the heated up/dissolved 2lb of that honey you see here to bump the OG from 1.040 (Apple cider all by itself) to 1.053. Then just a little boost of oxygen from my oxygenation kit.

Do you guys recommend 5 campden tablets when time comes for transfer/back sweetening? Or just cold crash and keep cold for kegging since I keg. I’d imagine the colder temps will be difficult to get the honey dissolved unless I plan on heating it up again in the cherry juice and/or some more cider which was my plan. Any advice step by step would be great. Thanks.

 

[Maylar]

You'll want to stabilize with campden and k-sorbate before back sweetening, even if kegging. I usually do a half tablet per gallon at that stage. The challenge will be to get the ratio of honey and cherry right. When I sweeten with honey I warm it up first and mix with room temp cider, it mixes better and doesn't need a ton of stirring. I'd probably take a quart of cider and do controlled tasting / mixing a glass at a time until I get the flavor and sweetness and scale up from there.

 

[copper2hopper]

So today’s been two weeks. Haven’t taken gravity reading or anything but should I secondary today? Does it typically take only two weeks for primary? Or 3?

 

[Maylar]

It could very well be done now. Nottingham is a powerful fermenter. But of course a gravity reading is needed - Notty will take 1.053 below 1.000.

 

[copper2hopper]

Ok so I couldn’t wait and pulled a sample for hydrometer reading this finished out at 1.012 from 1.053 at two weeks and the sample tasted AWESOME putting it at a 5.38%. If I was supposed to wait longer I’m sorry I just couldn’t. I felt like it was in right spot with just enough residual sugar to actually still remain pretty sweet tasting so I autosiphened about 4.75 gallons into the keg and it was coming out pretty shockingly clear even without cold crashing. I added about 2tsp of k-sorbate and 2.5 tabs of campden tablets to make sure this thing doesn’t kick back up. I then topped off with about 23oz of the tart cherry juice and a couple ounces of the honey dissolved into the warmed up juice. Got it carbonating now after shaking the hell out of it all to get it good and mixed and dissolved. Force carbonating at 30psi for about a day or two now and I’ll post back to y’all with updates then.

 

[fun4stuff]

Hey guys. I've been making clones of this for years- almost always have some version of it on tap. I thought I'd share my recipe as i feel i have it down.


Ingredients:

-Cider house select kit: apple flavor (Brewer's Best Cider House Select Apple Cider Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LV42VEC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_dcjoEbN4D1GPW)

-4 lbs wildflower honey

-16 oz tart cherry concentrate juice (king orchards montmorency).


OG 1.050

FG 1.000



I like using the cider house kit because it comes with pectic acid, finings, cider yeast, and Apple flavoring; although I'm sure you could roll your own for cheaper. I do not use the sweetener pack that comes with it.


Directions:

1) Mix apple cider concentrate from kit, 2lbs honey, and pectic enzyme into large pot. Heat honey in microwave or hot water bath so it pours and dissolves easily. Heat pot on low until it all dissolves. Do not boil. Once dissolved, pour to fermenter. Pitch yeast once temp drops to 80 deg. Let ferment at temps 65-75 deg.


2) Once reaches FG after 1-2 weeks, I add to keg. Then to the keg I add stabilizer (sodium metabifsulfite and potassium sorbate), finings, 2 lbs honey (heated), and cherry concentrate. Usually, I dissolve the heated honey into about a gallon of the mead separately in another pot (that I heat on low to help dissolve), then add back to keg. You can add to a secondary if you want.... Would add mead and finings then give it a chance to clear, then keg with the rest. I don't think this is needed though.


3) carb at keg at 25-30 psi. Serve at 38 deg F.


----


I have varied it up over the years with different flavored cider kits and different fruit juice concentrates. They're all good- blueberry is another favorite.

 

[Maylar]

I added about 2tsp of k-sorbate and 2.5 tabs of campden tablets to make sure this thing doesn’t kick back up.

Stopping at 1.012 from 1.053 means fermentation was NOT finished and there was a good amount of yeast still at work. Typically sorbate/sulfite during an active ferment doesn't work. At least you're using a keg so if it continues to ferment you don't get bottle bombs. The cold will help slow it down too.

 

[copper2hopper]

It definitely looked done. And the yeast cake at the bottom was settled out. There’s no way anything more active was going on to the point I was gonna get any more activity out of waiting another week. Plus with how crystal clear this stuff is there’s no way there’s any active yeast floating around to kick anything off. This stuff is freaking deliciously close. I got another 5 gallons going as we speak.

 

[Maylar]

OK. But I've never had an ale yeast stop at 1.012. Never. I'm glad you're happy with the result.