I attended Chris Banker's (from QUAFF) Cider Revolution lecture at NHC 2013 Philadelphia this year and was totally inspired to brew my first cider in the fall. All I did was purchase 5 gallons of organic non-spiced cider, filled up a carboy, and added the Lallemand Belle Saison Dry Yeast that was in the conference goody bag. Ridiculously easy.
The Belle yeast took off like a champ and filled my house up with a weird apple sulfur smell for 4 days (my wife was not impressed, go figure!). I let it go in primary for 5 weeks, finally tasted and took a gravity reading two days ago. It is dry....REALLY dry, tasty and very refreshing. There are no spices, it is very thin, crystal clear, and almost reminds me of a pear cider. I could totally keg it and drink it today.
However Chris mentioned at NHC that one can make a Tart Cherry Cider by adding "1 bottle of Zergut Tart Cherry Syrup" to 5 gallons of fermented apple cider and keg to 2.5 volume of CO2. I found the Zergut syrup but it has fruit in it. I found a 33cl bottle of this that might do the trick: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LRH6WW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 . I feel like I should go with the latter.
I want to bottle the cider after adding the syrup. The gravity reading is below 1.000! Around 3 points below 0. How the heck do I bottle this with high carbonation? Should I:
1) Add the syrup to the bottling bucket and bottle with a trace amount of the yeast cake from primary
2) Add the syrup to the carboy, let sit for 2 weeks, and bottle with a trace amount of the yeast cake from primary
3) Add the syrup to the bottling bucket, add 1/2 packet of champagne yeast, bottle
4) Add the syrup to the bottling bucket, add 1/2 packet of champagne yeast, bottle with 1 packet of priming sugar
I want high carbonation without bottle bombs. I'm planning to bottle in heavy glass with champagne corks. Any advice is appreciated!
Side note: I was the guy at NHC Philadelphia 2013 serving my Deep Kriek and Grand Cru Cabernet Lambic during "Sours After Hours" around midnight on Friday during the Maryland Guild Homebrewers night. I've posted as simcoe4life on this forum in the past.
The Belle yeast took off like a champ and filled my house up with a weird apple sulfur smell for 4 days (my wife was not impressed, go figure!). I let it go in primary for 5 weeks, finally tasted and took a gravity reading two days ago. It is dry....REALLY dry, tasty and very refreshing. There are no spices, it is very thin, crystal clear, and almost reminds me of a pear cider. I could totally keg it and drink it today.
However Chris mentioned at NHC that one can make a Tart Cherry Cider by adding "1 bottle of Zergut Tart Cherry Syrup" to 5 gallons of fermented apple cider and keg to 2.5 volume of CO2. I found the Zergut syrup but it has fruit in it. I found a 33cl bottle of this that might do the trick: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000LRH6WW/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 . I feel like I should go with the latter.
I want to bottle the cider after adding the syrup. The gravity reading is below 1.000! Around 3 points below 0. How the heck do I bottle this with high carbonation? Should I:
1) Add the syrup to the bottling bucket and bottle with a trace amount of the yeast cake from primary
2) Add the syrup to the carboy, let sit for 2 weeks, and bottle with a trace amount of the yeast cake from primary
3) Add the syrup to the bottling bucket, add 1/2 packet of champagne yeast, bottle
4) Add the syrup to the bottling bucket, add 1/2 packet of champagne yeast, bottle with 1 packet of priming sugar
I want high carbonation without bottle bombs. I'm planning to bottle in heavy glass with champagne corks. Any advice is appreciated!
Side note: I was the guy at NHC Philadelphia 2013 serving my Deep Kriek and Grand Cru Cabernet Lambic during "Sours After Hours" around midnight on Friday during the Maryland Guild Homebrewers night. I've posted as simcoe4life on this forum in the past.
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