Cider from limited apple choice

[Liamwoolley]

Hi all,

Apples are out of season here in Norway and im real keen on making Cider for the summer. I have a juicer so am keen on using apples and not store brought juice.

Apple choice here isnt huge as it is but around October we get gravenstein which I've heard makes a good brew, that'll have to wait..

So question is if I have acess to royal gala, golden delicous and Granny Smith can I make some thing satisfactory? I've heard adding lime and earl grey tea can compensate for just using sweet apples. Any have any input or experience with the above resources?

 

[DaMonkey]

Hi all,

Apples are out of season here in Norway and im real keen on making Cider for the summer. I have a juicer so am keen on using apples and not store brought juice.

Apple choice here isnt huge as it is but around October we get gravenstein which I've heard makes a good brew, that'll have to wait..

So question is if I have acess to royal gala, golden delicous and Granny Smith can I make some thing satisfactory? I've heard adding lime and earl grey tea can compensate for just using sweet apples. Any have any input or experience with the above resources?

Golden Delicious are great for sugar content and I think they have a good flavor. Granny Smith are not considered a sweet apple, they are a tart apple.

Unless you have other apples you didn't state; 75% Golden Delicious, 25% Granny Smith + 25 Raisins per gallon (for tannin if you care) will give you a tart product. I am not very experienced on Granny Smiths so I would prefer a different apple. Both are good for making cider though and if you use Granny Smith you will sure as heck not need acid.

 

[SomersetRedstreak]

Hi
I would go with about 60% Golden Delicious, 40% Granny Smith and 1 cup of strong black tea per gallon for tannin.
I've used a juicer for making cider in the past. Be prepared to take a lot of time up with it! The juice will need straining, it will throw a thick sediment, and I burned out the motor on my juicer!

 

[Liamwoolley]

Great, thanks for the feedback. Confident now i can now knock up some thing good with whats on hand! Never heard of using raisins before.. interesting.

Ive read about adding yeast nutrient but i saw the m02 from mangrove jacks i picked up states it has yeast and yeast nutrient as ingredients. Is there still need to add the nutrient?

As far as process here is the plan, input welcome, as it takes so long and cost of apples want to nail this.

-Juice 75% golden and 25% granny smith as golden is cheaper to get 10L juice into a tub with a star san washed sheet ontop to filter the sediment

-Use the auto syphon to rack into fermenter with a star san washed finer sheet ontop leaving the scum behind, will be allot of headroom but guess the co2 will push out all oxygen?

-Add 1/2 teaspoon campden

-leave 24 hours

-give a good shake and sprinkle on yeast

-ferment out 2 weeks

-move to secondary and sanitize a pot, add 2 tea bags and boil for a few mins, let rest a few mins to infuse then cool to 18 degrees. Will make sure headspace is minimal.

-leave in for not sure here 1 month?

-Bottle adding 6G sugar per liter

-Condition 2-3 months

Will post progress....

 

[DaMonkey]

To minimize sediment from the juicer, let the juice settle for a few hours and then scoop off the foam that sits on top.

Cider doesn't 100% need nutrients so if you don't want to buy them I think you are fine.

You shouldn't use a sheet though, the fibers are too tight the juice will not go through without a lot of pressure. You will want to use cheese cloth. Its not a big deal if you get sediment in it, it will fall out. You just might have to rack twice.

I am not sure about tea bags but you put raisins in the primary. Raisins are very common in "New England" style cider. Because grape skins have ton of tannin.

 

[SomersetRedstreak]

I agree with DaMonkey. Using a juicer creates g lot of foam that can be skimmed off the rested juice.
I've never used raisins for tannin but I plan to try it at some point.
If you decide to use tea, add a separately brewed cup of black tea per gallon, to the primary. I wouldn't add bags to the secondary.
I've never used yeast nutrient and never had a problem without it.

 

[madscientist451]

I did some tests on various apples and yeasts this fall and have come to the conclusion that the yeast choice is just as important as the apple varieties. I've never used mangrove jack cider yeast, but if you have any WL 002 ale yeast, it ferments well but still leaves some apple flavor.
I'd skip the campden and yeast nutrient. I feel the campden leaves off flavors and the yeast nutrient speeds up your fermentation, and you get better flavor if you ferment extremely slow.
You are going to have a lot of time wrapped up in this, I wouldn't put in more than 60% delicious apples in your cider. It would be better to have less than 40% golden delicious, but you need to go with what you have. Perhaps there are some produce suppliers that will sell seconds at a discount.

 

[MarkKF]

I disagree on the nutrients. I think they make the yeast less stressed which means less odors. I control the speed of fermentation with temperature. The lower the slower.

 

[acemannw]

I have been using Yeast Nutrient and haven't noticed any real difference in flavor. I think the next batch I will skip it and see what it is like.

 

[Liamwoolley]

Thanks for all the advice, answered allot of uncertainties....

Regarding the juicer, that was a heck of allot of work... Cheers for the heads up on burning out SomersetRedstreak, i juiced 1.5L, whilst i let the jets cool the juice was settling and could siphon it out then hit up another 1.5L, issue was juicer needed a clean out between runs as the mesh kept clogging giving poor juice yield. Next time i think its store brought, the juicer even though letting it breathe and only ending up with 8L was real hot and the Mrs would not be impressed if it was game over for the juicer.

So ended up with 2L granny and 6L Golden, i added little under 1gram of Campden and left for 24 hours. I then boiled some water approx 300ml and added 2 earl grey tea bags and let boil for a few mins, stuck some foil over and put in a pan and run cold water to cool it. I shook the juice for about a minute then split the yeast into a little over 2 as it was for 23L, and sprinkled ontop like it said. I know i ended up over pitching a tad as it should have been split closer to 1/3 but we will see...

I have then in two 5L jugs so have some head room for fermentation, when its time for secondary will top up one of the 5L plastic jugs and pop the rest in a 2L coke bottle, guess i can account for losing some from sediment and yeast cake if its any thing like all grain. Drilled a 10mm hole in the cap of the coke bottle and sealed the airlock with food grade silicon.

Measured the OG and am at 1.044.

Will keep updates rolling in.

 

[SomersetRedstreak]

Well done for persevering with the juicer! It's certainly NOT the best way of obtaining some apple juice to ferment. I only managed to get 3L out before the juicer died, and that was after two complete cleans of the thing. Luckily it was a cheap item from a second-hand store, so my wife wasn't upset.
Your method sounds ok but I would top that jug up as soon as fermentation settles down. Don't wait until you rack to secondary. As soon as it settles, deal with that air space. S.R.