Berry cider halfway done

[bosster01]

I read through this thread but I'm still confused about a couple of things.

I'm planning on making some hard cider with 4.5 gallons of apple juice and 1 lb of corn sugar. I have 3 lbs of mixed berries I'd like to include.

Has anyone ever tried adding all their berries to primary? I'm a little concerned about storing the berries for more than a month in the secondary, won't they start rotting? Or does the alcohol prevent that?

How did you guys sanitize your frozen berries?

Any tips would be appreciated.

 

[phug]

the berries were kept frozen until added to the secondary. No sanitation was done on the berries as they were store bought frozen berries, you may want to wash yours prior to freezing, if they are fresh. wash, dry and then freeze on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper if that's what you're doing.

I added them to secondary for 10 days before bottling. no concerns about it.

 

[bosster01]

the berries were kept frozen until added to the secondary. No sanitation was done on the berries as they were store bought frozen berries, you may want to wash yours prior to freezing, if they are fresh. wash, dry and then freeze on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper if that's what you're doing.

I added them to secondary for 10 days before bottling. no concerns about it.

Thanks I'll do the same. I have frozen fruit. I'm a little concerned about sanitation in terms of contamination with wild yeast & bacteria, but it seems like it worked out for you so I'll give it a whirl.

Do you see of any downside to heating it up to 160 with a little water for 20 minutes prior just to be on the safe side?

 

[Maylar]

The frozen fruit will be clean enough.

 

[phug]

heating will likely result in setting of pectins resulting in a haze that is difficult to get rid of. If it came from the store frozen, just pitch it straight in. I have also done this with fruit from my garden, washed, frozen, and then pitched in about a year after harvest. No issues.

 

[maxtpower]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1458871319.011615.jpg
Here is the finished 4 berry cider one week after bottling. Had some carbonation even after a week. I added a kilo of sugar prior to pitching (rookie mistake) so the cider is quite potent (9.7 Abv) which takes away from the flavor.

Thanks Phug.

 

[ukulele01]

I read through this thread but I'm still confused about a couple of things.

I'm planning on making some hard cider with 4.5 gallons of apple juice and 1 lb of corn sugar. I have 3 lbs of mixed berries I'd like to include.

Has anyone ever tried adding all their berries to primary? I'm a little concerned about storing the berries for more than a month in the secondary, won't they start rotting? Or does the alcohol prevent that?

How did you guys sanitize your frozen berries?

Any tips would be appreciated.

Interesting thread. I am adding berries in the primary, but not right away as that can lead to some of the aromatics being blown off by fermentation. I am using 450gm of mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries), along with 2 over-ripe bananas for body, in 4L of apple cider. It is my first time trying berries. My process is a little different than others in this thread. I started the cider and yeast (Lalvin 71b-1122 wine yeast) off on day 1. On day 2 I thawed the berries and bananas, mashed them in a bowl, and added a Campden tablet to prevent oxidation and sanitizes the berries/juice; that's the point I am at now. In 12 hours I will add pectic enzyme, to help it clear and extract more juice, then at the 24 hour point pour the macerated fruit in a sanitized mesh bag, add some sanitized marbles to weigh it down, and throw it in my fermentation bucket on day 3. I have read on winemaking sites that you shouldn't leave the fruit in too long as it will rot and extract more tannins; some say 3-5 days is good. Given the amount of fruit I've used, I think I will just leave it for 3 days. I intend to rack to secondary on day seven, and bottle when it is a month or so old. I plan to back sweeten with xylitol, prime, and bottle condition. Fingers crossed. Cheers! -Christina.

PS I just re-read your post and see you plan to add 3lbs of fruit. Wow, that is as much as they use in wine making....but they would macerate it. What are you going to do: leave it whole? In any case, with that much fruit you might have to let it age for a while. Make sure you punch the fruit down twice a day too, so it doesn't start growing mold on top. I've had that happen to a fruit beer I made. Anyway, good luck!

 

[Maylar]

So, my berry cider started back in October and was racked off the berries in early November. Been aging in secondary for almost 6 months and I just got around to kegging it.

Sweetened the gallon to 1.010 with frozen apple-berry concentrate. It has a complex flavor profile that I really like. Apple tartness up front, with a berry finish. I'll do this again.

Thanks for the inspiration, phug.

 

[ukulele01]

Regarding frozen juice concentrate, I belong to the Ciderworks Google forum.Some very knowledgable people there. I read that there are some pernicous spoilage bacteria that can survive freezing. Apparently it not recommended, although you could pasteurize it I suppose.

 

[phug]

Picked up a 33 with this one at a local comp. didn't place though. One thing that held it back was some higher alcohols, and I absolutely agree. Have to keep the temp in check with this one. If I remember I did this last during the summer using s-04. Both judges picked up some malolactic fermentation characteristics and felt that the berry overpowered the cider a bit. I can probably reduce the berry addition slightly and go with higher acid apples/ juice.

 

[Maylar]

This wasn't the batch that you documented back in November?

Mine is quite different. The berry flavor is subtle, you taste it on the back end. I'm thinking it needs more berries - but if too much berry is a flaw, then maybe I'll leave the recipe alone. I'd like to save a couple bottles for comp at the end of the year, but I doubt they'll last that long...

 

[phug]

Yeah, same batch