Beginner looking for thorough and comprehensive instructions.

[va1mar]

I'm rather new to home brewing.
Tried a kit from spikeyourjuice.com a few times to expiriment with various fruit based alcohols.
Decided that I liked everything about the process and invested in everything that I thought would be useful.

I bought a gold homebrew kit
http://www.monsterbrew.com/Prod_GoldKit.cfm

Red star pasteur champagne yeast
http://www.monsterbrew.com/Prod_RedStarPasteurChampagneYeast.cfm

Yeast energizer
http://www.monsterbrew.com/Prod_YeastEnergizer(2oz).cfm

Yeast nutrient
http://www.monsterbrew.com/Prod_YeastNutrient.cfm

Priming sugar
http://www.monsterbrew.com/Prod_PrimingSugar.cfm

Plus a bottling bucket, brown 12oz bottles, and caps.

Since I know literally nothing, I'd like to be walked through the entire process.
I've watched a lot of youtube videos and read a lot of forum stuff, but am feeling a little overwhelmed and rather confused. As there's a lot of speculation and estimates instead of facts and straightforward answers.

I'm looking to achieve a rather alcoholic, yet tasty, end result.
Also, This is the apple juice I invested in. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-100-Apple-Juice-96-oz/10415325

Thanks for your help.

 

[Tippsy-Turvy]

If you want something thorough and comprehensive yet targeted at beginners, you can't beat John Palmer's "bible":
http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

 

[ncboiler]

Keep things simple to start off with. I am new to the hobby and have never used an energizer or nutrient. I guess my recipes were simple enough that I didn't need them. Just stick with the basics, get a process and expand from there. I suggest you read, "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing " by Charlie Papazian.

The process is pretty simple so what has you overwhelmed?

 

[va1mar]

I don't know the optimal amount of sugar to add to the apple juice for high alcohol yield.
Nor how much water should optimally be in the sugar to be added.
And the best way to activate the yeast.
And when exactly to rack, and then to bottle.
And finally how long they need to be bottled till they are drinkable.
I guess are my main concerns.
I've been mostly working off of fresh pressed apple juice and beer videos and figure there have to be some differences in the process compared to plain cheap apple juice.

I'm going from "put a pre measured packet of powder into a 64 oz bottle and wait a week" to something else entirely, lol.

also, thank you Tippsy-Turvy I will read this bible.

 

[brewkinger]

While both of the books mentioned are fabulous resources, they are more for brewing beer than they are for cider making.

Check out my recently started (and currently work in progress) thread in the cider forum titled "cider making - a how to". It will get you started in the right direction. It really is not terribly complicated, but like you I wanted a place to start.

 

[podz]

I am new to the hobby and have never used an energizer or nutrient. I guess my recipes were simple enough that I didn't need them.

A simple recipe has nothing to do with not needing nutrient.

Apple juice lacks sufficient levels of nitrogen for almost any yeast to be happy. In some yeasts, such as Red Star, when they get unhappy about this then they will produce sulfur dioxide (SO2) - rhino farts that smell up your entire house and make your wife oh so happy with your new hobby. Additionally, fermenting apple juice without using nitrogen additives such as DAP (diammonium phosphate) can take up to 6 weeks. Using DAP, I have never seen a batch that took more than 1 week to complete fermentation.

So, if you're ok to wait for a long time for fermentation to complete and you don't mind the possibility of S02 production, then by all means go ahead and skip the DAP.

 

[realityinabox]

I just started out recently as well, but now have a few batches under my belt. First off, I'd suggest starting with a few small batches, just to get your feet wet.

Second, I found http://www.howtomakehardcider.com/ to be very helpful starting out. Lots of good details on the process without being too overwhelming.

 

[dougget]

I too am doing my first batch and have decided to keep it simple.

I read a lot and watched a lot of videos and the details of various yeasts, nutrients, secondary fermentation, cold crashing, pasteurizing, back sugaring, etc... could make your head spin.

Here's what I'm doing for my first batch:

1 - Buy 2 gallons of cider pasteurized but with no preservatives, a 3 gal carboy, airlock with stopper, a pack of white wine yeast, a racking cane, and 5' of tube.

2 - Put 4 table spoons of bleach in your carboy and fill with water. Find another container (kitchen pot) that will hold the stopper, airlock, and a cereal bowl. Put those things in the pot and fill with the bleach water until they are covered. Top off the carboy and let everything sit for 40 minutes.

3 - Rinse all of your equipment with tap water 2 or 3 times.

4 - Half fill the cereal bowl (1/2 to 3/4 cups of warm water) and add the yeast. Set your kitchen timer for 15 minutes (read the yeast pack it may say a different time).

5 - While the yeast is getting started, pour your 2 gallons of cider into the carboy.

6 - After the timer goes off, pour the contents of the cereal bowl into the carboy and put your stopper/airlock and fill the airlock with tap water to the line.

7 - Wait... 2 weeks. (This is where I am right now. 2 weeks is a guess. I expect to wait till the bubbling has stopped or slowed to 2 minute interval.)

8 - I bought 8 one liter flip top bottles for my finished product. So, get 2 empty milk gallon jugs and fill with 1 tablespoon of bleach and water. Pour into the 8 bottles and let sit for 40 minutes.

9 - Rinse 2 or 3 times with tap water.

10 - Using racking cane and tube, siphon from the carboy into the bottles, cap, and put in fridge.

So that's what I've done, but I would make a couple of recommendations.
1 - Use Star San instead of bleach.
2 - Get an Auto-Siphon instead of a racking cane.
3 - I have a hydrometer, but didn't use it... I would test before fermentation and again after just to get an idea of alcohol content. Without any extra sugar, I'd guess about 5%. With sugar... perhaps 12%.
4 - As an experiment, I plan to add a half stick of cinnamon to one of my final bottles.

I do plan to get a little more fancy with my next batch. I've been reading about adding brown sugar to the primary fermentation to get a little more alcohol content and a little different flavor.

Finally... Keep notes. Dates and times, gravity readings, type of juice and yeast, temperatures, etc. If I get a good batch, I'll want to be able to do it again .

Based on many recent threads on this forum, it seems like many people like myself are trying some cider. I've received a ton of great advice from the forum members and am grateful for all of the sharing. Best of luck to all.
Doug

 

[podz]

I have a hydrometer, but didn't use it... I would test before fermentation and again after just to get an idea of alcohol content. Without any extra sugar, I'd guess about 5%. With sugar... perhaps 12%.

I have measured the gravity of store bought apple juice across several brands and it has always been 1.046. Since yeast generally attenuates 100% when making cider, i.e. finishes with a terminal gravity between 0.998 and 1.002, this leaves you with 6% ABV if you don't add any sugar at all.

For a 20 litre batch (5.28 US gallons), the ABV is increased by 1 percent for every 400 grams of sugar. Therefore, adding 400 grams of sugar will produce a total of 7% ABV, adding 800 grams of sugar will leave you with 8% ABV, add 1200 grams and you get 9% ABV, etc and so forth.

 

[va1mar]

I have measured the gravity of store bought apple juice across several brands and it has always been 1.046. Since yeast generally attenuates 100% when making cider, i.e. finishes with a terminal gravity between 0.998 and 1.002, this leaves you with 6% ABV if you don't add any sugar at all.

For a 20 litre batch (5.28 US gallons), the ABV is increased by 1 percent for every 400 grams of sugar. Therefore, adding 400 grams of sugar will produce a total of 7% ABV, adding 800 grams of sugar will leave you with 8% ABV, add 1200 grams and you get 9% ABV, etc and so forth.

This is exactly the kind of answers that I wanted, thank you.

 

[va1mar]

So if I add 25 cups of sugar or roughly 6000 grams I can get my apple juice to 20%?

 

[ChelisHubby]

Probably and I have not made Cider but to raise the alcohol to 20% the taste will probably not be what you want.

 

[Nogud247]

If you add too much sugar it will actually halt the yeast some. Too much of a good thing and all that. You'd need a yeast that can handle that %.

 

[realityinabox]

You won't get to 20% with yeast. You could try champagne yeast, but I think that stalls at about 15%.

 

[govner1]

If you want something thorough and comprehensive yet targeted at beginners, you can't beat John Palmer's "bible":

http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

^^^^THIS!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[podz]

So if I add 25 cups of sugar or roughly 6000 grams I can get my apple juice to 20%?

Yes, you can reach 20% ABV with apple juice and 6kg of sugar if you use Turbo Yeast. But the result will taste very bad. Don't waste your money because you'll likely end up dumping the batch.

Champagne yeasts can get you to 18% ABV but you'll need to use nutrient/energizer AND you might also need to do a staggered fermentation. For a 20 litre batch, you will need to raise your ABV by 12% so you need 4800 grams (4.8 kg) of sugar included into the total volume. You could start with 3200 grams of sugar to 18 litres total volume, then after a week add the remaining 1600 grams of sugar and top up to 20 litres total volume by using approx. half a litre of apple juice.

Tip: 1 kg of sugar displaces approximately the same volume as 1 litre of juice.

 

[ChelisHubby]

^^^^THIS!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

X2

 

[va1mar]

what do you think is the maximum alcohol content I can put into this "cider" and still expect a good flavor?

 

[podz]

what do you think is the maximum alcohol content I can put into this "cider" and still expect a good flavor?

Define "good flavor".

You can drink 8% ABV cider without any aging as long as you keep fermentation temps cool and don't produce fusels. Above 9% ABV, the apple taste will quickly start to disappear and the "alcohol heat" taste will become apparent. As you raise the ABV percentage, you need progressively longer aging to calm down the heat.

 

[podz]

Actually, I just notice this White Labs Super High Gravity Ale Yeast

It can go up to 25% ABV with staggered fermentation and people in the reviews claim that it did not taste nasty.


http://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp099-super-high-gravity-ale-yeast

 

[va1mar]

Thank you podz, you've been very helpful.
I think i'm going to aim for 8% for my first batch, and hope that it's ready for my Dia de los Muertos gathering.

After that I'm going to experiment with higher alcohol contents, and aging.