Caramel Apple Hard Cider

[tampa911]

I assume it is, but can anyone comment as to the gluten free nature of this recipe? I am under the impression that as there are no grains it would qualify, but don't really know for sure.

 

[WannabeBeerNerd]

I actually had brewed this for a friend with Celiac's as my first try at cider and he loves it, so without lab analysis I'd say it's ok

 

[LandoAllen]

What is the best recipe for the caramel sauce?

 

[robbyhicks]

My celiac wife has had 2 batches and no reactions... Depending on sensitivity my only concern would be the yeast used... Danstar/lallemand says all their dry yeasts are gluten free, so I'm comfortable using their Nottingham, I'm gonna try their belle saison for my next attempt and shoot for a citrus twinge with some sweet orange peel and maybe coriander...

 

[Bk2X]

Made this cider up sat night using notty yeast at 65* and today i noticed this funk on top of the cider. Since I normally brew beer in a conical I never get to see the fluid during fermentation. I have never seen this stuff before so obviously my question is, Is this mold?

 

[DougK]

Added this to my list of upcoming brews.

One question: if I plan on kegging, is the pasteurization needed or is this JUST to kill the yeast?

I was thinking just use the campden tablets and then force carb.

 

[UpstateMike]

One question: if I plan on kegging, is the pasteurization needed or is this JUST to kill the yeast?

I was thinking just use the campden tablets and then force carb.

Campden tablets and then force carb, no need to pasteurize. Just make sure the yeast is no longer active.

 

[DougK]

Campden tablets and then force carb, no need to pasteurize. Just make sure the yeast is no longer active.

That is what I thought. I wasn't sure if it also had something to do with the late additions as well

 

[Clifton]

Bk, Your fermentation looks normal.

 

[dfess1]

ok, so after reading all 88 pages, it wasn't until post # 862 on page 87 that someone else reported back entering this in a comp. No one else has done this besides USmike? I'll be picking up the ingredients tonight on the way home, looking forward to how it comes out.

6:30 and this is made and in the fermenting closet ( along with 40 gal of various beer/cider). Looking forward to three weeks from now...

 

[Gitmoe]

ok, so after reading all 88 pages, it wasn't until post # 862 on page 87 that someone else reported back entering this in a comp. No one else has done this besides USmike? I'll be picking up the ingredients tonight on the way home, looking forward to how it comes out.

6:30 and this is made and in the fermenting closet ( along with 40 gal of various beer/cider). Looking forward to three weeks from now...

Good luck man! When you said you read all 88 pages today I almost fell over. I need to make another batch of this soon. Not that I don't have enough cider sitting around my house already...

 

[renderman]

I have made some changes to the recipe. Changes are in RED.

Caramel Apple Hard Cider

Ingredients, Part 1:
7 x 96 ounce bottles (5.25 gallons) Wegmans 100% Apple Juice, pasteurized, only vitamin C added
2 lbs. Dextrose
Nottingham Yeast
6 tsp Yeast Nutrient (or follow the directions on your bottle of yeast nutrient for a 6 gallon batch). This will help eliminate the "Rhino Fart" phase of fermentation.

Ingredients, Part 2
5 campden tablets (Optional, see notes)
3 – 12 oz. cans of Frozen Concentrated Apple Juice, thawed to room temperature (Reduced from 5 cans, this will make it less sweet, and make it not carb up so fast. Feel free to adjust the amount of FCAJ to your taste.)
Caramel Syrup (See recipe below)

Recipe for Caramel Syrup: (Make about 24 hours before bottling)
2 cups of water
2 cups of light brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon, OR 1/2 tsp liquid cinnamon extract
Combine in a saucepan and bring to a low boil. At boil, reduce heat to Low and simmer for about 5 minutes. (EDIT: Removed "Reduce by half". This may have been making the syrup too thick to properly mix) Let cool & bottle for future use.

Part 1:
Opened 1 bottle of apple juice, got a gravity reading of 1.050. Temp is 64 degrees.

In a 6 gallon carboy, pour in bottles 1 and 2 of apple juice.

Open bottles 3 and 4 of apple juice. Pour half of each bottle into carboy. Add 1 pound dextrose per bottle to the remaining amount of apple juice in bottles 3 and 4. Shake bottles to mix sugar and apple juice. Pour bottles 3 and 4 into carboy.

Pour bottles 5, and 6 of apple juice into carboy. Take another sample for OG, got a reading of 1.064. Open Nottingham yeast, pour into carboy. Agitate carboy to mix in yeast. Pour bottle 7 of apple juice into carboy.

Part 2 (In about 14 days):
Check for target FG of 1.010 to 1.015

Rack cider into another carboy. This is optional, but it may help in clearing.

OPTION: If you want a still cider, add 5 crushed Campden tablets to the cider at this time. If you want a carbonated cider, do not add Campden tablets.

Make the Caramel Syrup and wait 24 hours before proceeding.

After 24 hours, siphon cider into your bottling bucket. Add the Caramel Syrup and the 3 cans of apple juice concentrate while siphoning to aid in mixing. Bottle the cider and enjoy.

If you are carbing in the bottle, be aware that this will carb up fast (4 - 5 days) due to all the sugar. When it is time to bottle the batch, I highly recommend that you fill and cap a plastic pop bottle (NOT a water bottle) first, and use that as a guide to tell you when it will be time to Stovetop Pasteurize the batch.

Just quoting so I can find this easier ... As its the updated recipe

 

[DougK]

Just quoting so I can find this easier ... As its the updated recipe

FYI there is an updated recipe on page 42.

It really only changes the number of Apple juice concentrate cans to 3 and changes the syrup instruction so you don't boil it as much. It also clarifies the usage of the campden tablets.

 

[renderman]

FYI there is an updated recipe on page 42.

It really only changes the number of Apple juice concentrate cans to 3 and changes the syrup instruction so you don't boil it as much. It also clarifies the usage of the campden tablets.

That the one I quoted ... I'm on a phone and the page numbers in the HBT are different ... It's page 28 on an iphine

 

[DougK]

That the one I quoted ... I'm on a phone and the page numbers in the HBT are different ... It's page 28 on an iphine

Whoops, my phone got me too. I didn't notice that. This is one of my on decks as well.

 

[renderman]

Whoops, my phone got me too. I didn't notice that. This is one of my on decks as well.

Yeah .. Took me awhile to find it ... But in hind site I realize 2 things:

A. I can't spell for sh&@

B. I know what page it's on now incase I loose this one.

 

[chuckalope]

I made this per your instructions, it turned out great! Thanks for the recipe!!

 

[MidTNJasonF]

Put 3 gallons in the carboy on 2/18/13 at an OG of 1.072
Cold crashed the carboy yesterday on 3/18/13
Made syrup with 1.25 cups of light brown sugar and 1 cup of water that I added to the keg.
added 3 cans of juice concentrate to the keg.
Checked the carboy and it was at 1.011 so I racked it over into the keg this morning 3/19/13
Put it on the CO2

The flat and not yet back sweetened sample was pretty nice. Medium dry and fairly crisp. Good apple flavor. Light golden in color, fairly clear. Tasted much like a commercial Cider that I can not remember the name of. It did have a slightly yeasty aroma in the nose but it was from the bottom of the carboy right off the top of the lees so that may have been the cause of that.

Then I pulled a back sweetened sample. I purposely went light on the cinnamon since I am not a huge fan. I may have underdone it a little. They syrup darkened it up to a much deeper golden color. I actually looks similar to many quality pale ales in the glass. Obviously it is sweeter now and the caramel/brown sugar comes through well. A little cinnamon flavor and still a nice apple flavor of course. Lost a little of the crispness I liked from the non back sweetened sample but it not cloying. Clarity is not great but it was just racked to the keg so I imagine it will settle and clear in the next few days. If the cinnamon does not get a little stronger I may open the keg and throw in one short whole stick as a "Dry Hop".

Not bad for a first attempt. I think SWMBO will polish this keg off pretty quick.

 

[janson745]

Okay, so my quandry is that I would like to try this bad boy out in my keg. 1, because I am new to kegging and I want to put everything in there, and then 2, because my wife finds it much easier to pull the handle than find a bottle opener and pour to a glass .

My question is... Would 5 campden tabs be enough to thwart the self-carbonation that will be going on with the backsweetning? I'd like to put it on the gas for about a week and have it constant at serving pressure, and be good to go. What I dont want is for all of those little yeasties to keep doing their job and over-carbing my cider.

Any help/advise is appreciated!!

 

[Schott703]

If you keep the keg in the fridge, the yeast will stay dormant. Not a issue.

 

[Keith66]

This is an awesome thread; thanks for starting it USMike, and to all the other contributors! Before I found this thread today, I started a cider 12 days ago with 5.25 gallons of Safeway juice and Wyeast Cider 4766 at about 64 degrees. OG was 1.045; 7 days later it was 1.020. My plan is to let it go to about 1.000, back sweeten with the recommended 3 cans of concentrate, bottle/carb, pasteurize, and end up with a nice, crisp, sweet-but-not-too-sweet cider. At this point I think I'm going to forgo the syrup and shoot for a slightly sweeter version of Strongbow. What are anyone's thoughts on opting out of the syrup, or any other details of my attempt?

Update: My cider was 1.003 last night after work. Nice and dry, but still very appley and yummy and yellow with a decent cloudiness. I think I'll put 1 can of AJ concentrate in my bottling bucket and rack onto it, then give it a sip. If necessary I may use 2 or 3 or whatever it takes to get it where I want it (and make swmbo happy), then bottle. I'll fill one 12oz soda bottle and give it a daily squeeze, then pop a glass bottle when the plastic one firms up. When I get a nice pffft I'll pasteurize. Any thoughts? By the way, the full caramel recipe is definitely getting done this Fall!

 

[DougK]

I've got 5 gallons fermenting away. Should be ready to keg in a week.

Now I just have to clear a keg for it.

Bad news is after next week my Keezer won't have anything "ready to go" on tap. Everything will be conditioning.

 

[desrtdwller]

So I popped this recipe in the other night and now about 4 days later I am at 1.010

My fermentation room is usually pretty warm, around 74-76. Is this gonna cause me problems? The liquid in my carboy is very light colored but completely cloudy and opaque. I haven't tasted it yet but the speed at which it fermented concerns me though I am sure it is due to the temp of the room I am fermenting in.

I am going to build a son of fermentation chiller soon to slow down my fermentation times....

Thoughts?

~DD

 

[Fossey]

Mine fermented down to1014 in 4 days at about 24-25 C (75-77 F). I racked onto the concentrate and syrup and bottled. It carbed in about 2 days and I pasteurised. It has conditioned perfectly in the bottle since and is a quite clear, has a rich colour and tastes great (if you like it sweet).

 

[Keith66]

Swmbo said I should go with the syrup, so I did (of course), and 3 cans of concentrate, which brought me back up from 1.003 to 1.018. Bottled yesterday. Had almost a full bottle left over. OMGAWD is that stuff good!!! It had a little fizz to it already, so the plastic soda test bottle firmed up pretty quickly, not quite as firm as the unopened Coke next to it though (for comparison). Probably pasteurize tomorrow, after only 2 days. Before and during bottling I stirred the hell out of it to keep the syrup suspended; it wanted to settle. I think I got a pretty even mix, tiny bit of sediment and cinnamon in each bottle. Nice golden color! Can't wait!

 

[MisterWoody]

I am in the process of brewing my first cider. I wish I had seen this recipe before I started! I have a question about pasturizing. Can a cider be bottle carbed and pasteurized in plastic PET beer bottles or is there something inherently dangerous about heating plastic? I have not purchased bottles yet but I want to keep it cheap and easy and the liter PET bottles you can find on amazon are tempting. Any feedback or suggestions?

 

[HopHeaven]

I am in the process of brewing my first cider. I wish I had seen this recipe before I started! I have a question about pasturizing. Can a cider be bottle carbed and pasteurized in plastic PET beer bottles or is there something inherently dangerous about heating plastic? I have not purchased bottles yet but I want to keep it cheap and easy and the liter PET bottles you can find on amazon are tempting. Any feedback or suggestions?

I'm pretty sure heating the PET bottles to the necessary point for pasteurization would cause some pretty crazy deformations in the plastic and possibly even melt it.

 

[Channel66]

Excited to give this a try.

 

[UpstateMike]

I am in the process of brewing my first cider. I wish I had seen this recipe before I started! I have a question about pasturizing. Can a cider be bottle carbed and pasteurized in plastic PET beer bottles or is there something inherently dangerous about heating plastic? I have not purchased bottles yet but I want to keep it cheap and easy and the liter PET bottles you can find on amazon are tempting. Any feedback or suggestions?

I would not recommend using plastic PET bottles if you plan on heat pasteurizing.

Find a local bottle redemption center, you may be able to score used glass bottles cheap.

 

[MidTNJasonF]

Kegged my batch of this a little over a week ago. Finally took it around to some friends for an impromptu tasting tonight. Both of these guys have palates that are pretty well developed and one has extensive judging experience. Both thought it was outstanding, possibly the best cider they had ever had. It is also a huge hit with SWMBO and another lovely lady that sampled some. I think this one is an all around winner.