Christmas Spiced Cyser

[Ryue]

Hey guys, I am in the process of developing my own cyser recipe for this coming winter, as I have yet to find (though I have not looked THAT hard..) a recipe that screems my name. This is a simple recipe and I would love your opinions/critiques/suggestions on it. As well as any good recipes that you know, and what is the best yeast to use for this kind of mead?

1 gallon Apple Cider (or juice)
8 cups Honey (I will be using some local Red Clover)
1 cup packed Brown Sugar
6 Cinnamon sticks
1 - 1.5 teaspoon(s) Allspice
.25 teaspoon Nutmeg
Pinch of salt

Thanks in advance guys, Keep On Brewin!

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Ryue - much better to use weights rather than volumes in recipes. what is the weight of 8 cups of honey? What does 1 cup of packed brown sugar weigh. One pound of sugar added to a volume of water to make 1 gallon raises the gravity by 40 points. One pound of honey added to a volume of water to to make a gallon raises the gravity by about 35 points.
Why the sugar? Brown sugar will add molasses. Is that a flavor element that you want? Are you looking for a caramelized effect? You might consider caramelizing all or some of the honey (that would make this a bochet cyser)
Six cinnamon sticks seems to me a wee bit excessive. It may not be of course, depending on how cinammony you want this mead BUT you can always add cinnamon. I don't think that it is possible to remove it if what you have added overwhelms.
What is the salt doing? Is that to enhance the flavor of the spices?
What yeast are you planning to use? Yeast should not be an afterthought. It can enhance mouthfeel (or not), it can highlight flavors (or not), it can add its own character (or not) depending on your choice of yeast. 71B in my opinion is always great with cider. It has an affinity for the malic acid that is in apples. Champagne yeasts are sledge hammers (IMO) and blow out much flavor. DV10, on the other hand, enhances mouthfeel (I think it produces "glycerols" that gives you a perception of a more viscous wine that coats your mouth rather than pours down your throat like water..

 

[Ryue]

The honey in this case is roughly 0.62 pounds per cup, so 8 cups is around 4.96... Yeah I guess thats a bit high. So probably knock it back to 6 cups? Thats 3.72 pounds. I also wasn't considering the fact that the cider also adds sugar (I spent about 5 minutes adapting this recipe from a regular spiced cider recipe my mother used to make).
You have a point on the cinnamon sticks, easier to add some to secondary if its not as pronounced as it should be. As for the salt, it may be completely pointless, who knows, but I was always taught that when using store bought water it is best to do what you can to add at least SOME minerals back to the water like there should be.
I had no idea what yeast would work best, thats why i thought it would be best just to ask. First batch I did, the local supply shop guy told me to use a Champaign yeast, and for the second batch I was attempting to make a "small" mead amd they recommended the Nottingham yeast.. Which through further reading I am beginning to think both were bad suggestions. But that will be found out when both batches are done - live and learn, right?
I have seen that a lot of people prefer 71B, so I am leaning towards that, but am curious if there are any other good recommendations.

 

[robmartin113]

I would just do what I normally do but add 1.5 TBSP McCormick pumpkin pie spice (5 gallon recipe).
This spice is a good mix of what you are going for and when done fermenting you can secondary with a cinnamon stick if you want more spice.

I don't add any additional sugar. Its just the apple juice and Safale US04 beer yeast. My ciders have always come out nicely and are around 5.25 percent abv.

If you are only doing one gallon I would trim back the pumpkin spice.

 

[Ryue]

I would just do what I normally do but add 1.5 TBSP McCormick pumpkin pie spice (5 gallon recipe).

How much honey do you usually use? And are you going for sweet, semi-sweet..?

 

[robmartin113]

I don't use any honey as I just brew this as a cider and not a mead.

 

[bernardsmith]

But robmartin113, cyser is a very different drink. It's a mead not a cider. You expect a cider to be quaffed like a beer - by the pint. But while a cyser could be made like a cider , it is more likely to drunk like a wine or sipped like a liqueur. It could be 6 or 7% ABV or 12% or 15% or higher. You also want - I think - the particular honey flavors to be prominent and nicely balanced with the tartness of the apple. Doesn't have to be sweet but there should be some perception of sweetness. IMO... So it is more complex than a cider.

 

[robmartin113]

Oh I see. I was not familiar with the term cyser and honestly took it as a typo. Oops.

Anyway, I still think you should use apple juice as the base, then add enough honey to get the original gravity where you want it (around 12-15%). Then add the pumpkin spice as I suggested before. Let that ferment for a few weeks and check it.

I made a mead one time in the past and it was so harsh due to the alcohol that it took about 8 months of aging before it could be enjoyed. Just keep that in mind.

I would suggest you go over to the mead recipes section, find one you like and then ask about adding spices.

 

[bernardsmith]

Apologies - I don't want to hijack this thread but mead should not take any time to enjoy. You need to use the appropriate amount of yeast, the correct amount of nutrients and there is no need to make it rocket fuel by using a huge amount of honey per gallon. Indeed, you can make a cyser low alcohol, by using water to dilute the honey and blending this solution with the juice from the apples - so for example, a cyser could be made so that the potential ABV is as low as 6%. You can choose to make the honey flavor dominant, the apple dominant or you can make the cyser so that there is far more balance between both apple and honey...