Confirmed Cider Recipe

[benbradford]

I have made a few ciders and a bunch of beer, but finally decided to take a serious look at making a nice repeatable dry cider.

First I bought a bunch of juice and checked all the gravity(all were 1.052) and did a taste test to designate taste profile for each juice. Here is a view of all of the juices that I bought and a profile of all of the flavors.


TT 3 Apple/ Kroger Natural/Kroger 100% Apple/Motts/ TT 100%
TART 4 3 3 4 2
SWEET 3 3 4 3 3
FRESH 3 4 2 2 3
RICH 4 4 2 2 3

(This chart is kind of hard to read, format changes when I save the post)


The conclusion of the taste was that Tree Top 3 Apple blend and Kroger Natural were the most natural and tart of the juices and that Motts and Kroger 100% juice were the most artificial and sweet tasting with Tree Top 100% was somewhat neutral.

I made 2 ciders. One focused on the natural and tart and the other on the processed and sweet juice with the Tree Top 100% being a filler for both.

Recipe 1 was 4qt Tree Top 3 Apple Blend, 4qt Kroger Natural, and 3qt Tree Top 100%

Recipe 2 was 4qt motts, 4qt Kroger 100%, and 3qt Tree Top 100%

I used a wyeast champagne yeast on a 2 liter starter split for the two ciders.

OG was 1.052

I fermented at 63 for 6 days and checked gravity and it had dropped to 1.030.

I raised fermentation to 73 for 7 days and it had dropped to 1.0000

I kegged and crash cooled to 38 and then backsweetened with 1qt tree top 100%.

I feel like the first turned out to be somewhere in between a blackthorne dry English cider and a Strongbow. This is a new constant in the house...

The second is still an okay cider but somewhat thin and simple. Not enough complex flavors to dive it any depth.

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

Thanks for your insight. It's always nice to hear people's input on experiments.

Was the 3 Blend Juice more expensive than the other juices?

 

[EpicCider]

This is exactly the experiment I was hoping to start after my current one is completed. I appreciate the images and the juice feedback.

I am currently starting 10 - 1 gallon batches and really exploring different yeasts / nutrients / tannins / etc.. But at some point, I will really have to compare the cheaper juice alternatives (although long-term plan is press).

The amount of combinations is literally endless, but I have about 8-10 yeasts on the "to try" list.

 

[benbradford]

yes, it was interesting tasting all of the available juice. A press would be nice, but I don't think the apples in my area are inexpensive enough for me to switch. I like the dryness derived from the champagne yeast. even when back sweetened, it somehow still comes across dry.

 

[oregonbrew541]

Give langers cider and juice a try there in my opinion the best and I've tried the all