Blueberry Cider

[webos1]

Got this started in primary now, (two days ago), used about 4 lbs of blueberrys, all other ingredients the same in primary. Color looks amazing right now in primary. Used a blow off tube for two days, now air lock is bubbling away. One question for you. I am thinking of skipping the pure blueberry juice in secondary as it is a bit pricey at my LHBS. Do you think this will deminish the profile to much? I guess I have 3 months or so to make that decision be fore it goes into secondary.

 

[Tusch]

I bought the blueberry juice from a grocery store, it was cheaper than the lhbs for me. That's up to you, it certainly darkened my brew and added more bb flavor. Nothing wrong with changing it up though. Also the schedule was just how my brew went, no need to stick strictly to it. Still loving other people enjoying this, as it was my firat original recipe. Need to do another batch or something similar

 

[Tusch]

Oh and I use a 6 gal carboy but just make adjustments for your equipment and keep in mind losses due to berries

 

[StressGranule]

This sounds amazing, I was just wondering where do you get cans of apple concentrate from (what do they look like)?

 

[Tusch]

Its just the frozen apple concentrate that you buy at the grocery store to make juice from concentrate. Just make sure it has not preservatives just like your juice

 

[webos1]

OK, so only been in primary five days, for reference. My questions at this point are:
How long before the blueberries will fall down to the bottom?
Should I occasionally swirl the carboy to keep them all wet;this I think would also serve to "rouse the yeast" throughout primary.
Is the pure blueberry juice you found at the grocery store in a can like found at the LHBS?

As of last night the airlock has slowed way down, thanks in advance for answering my questions.

 

[Tusch]

Sorry in advance for my answers:
I do not know haha. I'll check back in the thread but I'm not sure if I noted how long that took for the berries to drop.
Swirling is fine, but you might want to "punch" them down gently instead to prevent adding you much air as fermentation slows down.
I believe my juice came in a bottle on the natural and organic kind of area of my local grocery store.
I would imagine any rousing of the yeast or berries will pick the fermentation up a bit for a short time, so be prepared.

 

[ColoBrewer420]

I have never made a cider/wine yet but my girlfriend has her heart set on this recipe. I have all the proper equipment, but have one major question. Do you boil the juices at all? I am used to brewing beer and was wondering if just dumping everything in a (sterilized) carboy would stay sanitary? Any advice appreciated.

 

[Tusch]

Never boil juice, unless of course you trying to make jam

 

[Mitch311]

I have never made a cider/wine yet but my girlfriend has her heart set on this recipe. I have all the proper equipment, but have one major question. Do you boil the juices at all? I am used to brewing beer and was wondering if just dumping everything in a (sterilized) carboy would stay sanitary? Any advice appreciated.

I used blueberrys in a can. They are pastuerised already for long storage.

The thing I did differnetly to others in this thread is I put my blueberries in blender and bascially made it into a watery paste. Then I put all into a 5L demijohn (or other steril container) with pectinase for 24hrs.

Put Apple juice and yeast straight on top.

Results were amazing, everyone Who tried it liked it. I stopped when it was still sweetish (1.15 SG I think). I found the blueberry "bits" all fell out with the yeast. I just racked off the top and straight into the fridge.

Very very easy to drink too much.

 

[letmeholleratya]

Started this as my first cider recipe yesterday. I'm excited! Variated a little - only fermenting in primary. When i go to secondary, i think i'll rack on to a 5lb mix of blackberry, blueberry and strawberry. Can't wait

 

[ColoBrewer420]

I have about 6.25g of this recipe in a secondary @ about 2 mounths aged and I was thinking about trying to sparkle a few bottles in lock top 750ml bottles. I have never sparkled a recipe that has aged this long or that is this high alcohol. Could I do it the same as beer or would I need to repitch yeast in maybe a champange style? I have some more time to age but thought I would ask. Any info helps!

 

[Kalaloch]

Want to make this but a little different ingredient list. I will make it based of of Ed Wort's Alphenwein but use a Cider Yeast. My question is I don't want to end up with a super high FG and be drinking rocket fuel because I am adding more sugar (blueberry juice) to the recipe.

So can I simply figure out the total grams of sugar used in Ed's recipe and then subtract the grams of sugar in my Blueberry juice? Here is what I am thinking:

ED'S RECIPE:
5 Gallons 100% Apple Juice (2,160 grams of sugar)
2 pounds corn sugar (2 pounds converts to 907 grams of sugar)

MY ADDITIONS:
32 oz Blueberry Juice - in primary (72 grams of sugar)
32 oz Blueberry Juice - in secondary (72 grams of sugar)

... so should I subtract 144 grams of sugar (total of of Blueberry Juice sugars) from Ed's recipe (his recipe is 3067 total grams of sugar) to end up with the same OG/FG as Ed's recipe?

In general is it this simple to just swap out grams of sugar like this - or is there more to it?

 

[MiBeerMan]

Not sure if this goes here or wine forum but has anyone used the Knudsen just blueberry juice? I'm wanting to throw some s-04 into a gallon of the blueberry juice and see what happens. If you have, how did it turn out

 

[Kalaloch]

@MiBeerMan so4 is a beer/cider yeast so you’d end up with cider type not a wine. But you may need to check the sugar you may be over or under. The other thing is that you’ll need to age it for at least 3 months (I do 6 months) for it to taste better. So you’ll have to rack it probably at least twice. But you could probably start w/ the juice bottle and I don’t think it will foam over when fermentation. If u can find a airlock that size you could go ghetto and use a ballon with a small pin prick at the end to let out co2. Or you could use a condom (just don’t reuse the condom if you put a pin prick in it

 

[doctor strangebrew]

Woops! Made something similar a few days ago in 1 gallon jug, but boiled the berries (raspberry, blueberry and blackberry) It has just slowed down activity and totally looks like thick jam-like muck. Won't boil fruit next time. After reading this post I realize it needs to be treated more like wine... long times in primary and secondary. Might have to drink (eat) mine with a spoon!

 

[Bryceshu]

This sounds delicious. I think i will try something similar for my next cider batch. I like a carbonated cider so i will probably bottle card it up. Iv got a cider going right now with S04 so i will see how that tastes. I do enjoy a dry cider so ec1118 has done the trick for me. I also enjoy Mangrove M02 yeast. too many great options.

 

[MiBeerMan]

So due to unplanned out of town job training next week, my plans for a blueberry mead for this weekend have now changed to a blueberry cider. Started off last Sunday by cold soaking 4 lbs of blueberries in a gallon of spring water and throwing it in my kegerator at near freezing temps for about a week. Going to let it sit until Saturday when I will then include 2 gallons of apple juice. Going to go with Nottingham since I've have good luck with it so far. However, I tested the gravity of the blueberries yesterday after potato mashing the hell out of them only to get around 1.020. Don't know what blueberry juice is suppose to be but that seems kinda low to me. Is this a normal reading or does anyone know. I noticed the Knudsen blueberry juice has less than 20 grams but that would put it up closer to 1.040 maybe. Idk.. Just a wild guess.