Crab Apple Cider

[Sir-Hops-A-Lot]

Hey guys.
My only experience similar to cider was Apfelwine. Apple juice with Lavalin 1118 yeast. I put it on tap and I like it even though it is very dry.
Today I collected apples from a local tree. I'm not sure what variety. I plan to press them and use them with about 50% commercial apple juice and some S-04 yeast and then keg it.
Do you guys have any input about how this would taste? Any other ideas? Pasteurizing? Adding different sugars for flavor? I would like this batch to have a little more sweetness and body/mouth feel. Any ideas would be appreciated.
thanks
G

 

[Maylar]

Without knowing what variety there's not much we can tell you.

 

[Chalkyt]

If you are chasing a bit of sweetness, I have found that adding pears (10%-20%) seems to work. I think it is because pears contain a fairly high level of sorbitol which is a non fermentable sweetener. Apples have about 0.5g of sorbitol per 100g of fruit, whereas pears are around 2.2g/100g, i.e. 4-5 times as much.

You do need a firm pear such as buerre bosc or nashi, and not too ripe otherwise you end up with mush when trying to press them.

 

[Sequoiacider]

You left out a lot of details that would be helpful in answering your questions:
- How do the apples currently taste when you bite into them? Sweet, Spicy, Bitter, Earthy, Bland? Are they starchy (like the feel of biting into a raw potato)? There are many kinds of crabs with all sorts of flavor profiles, so knowing how the apples taste to begin with will help determine what kind of cider they might produce.
- Have you pressed any of the juice yet? If so the same flavor questions apply. Also, if you have pressed the juice already you will want to get a Starting Gravity measurement. If possible, a starting pH is also useful info.
- You mentioned wanting the finished cider to have "a little more" Sweetness. Can you quantify that desired sweetness on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being Dry and 5 being Very Sweet?
- Same question on desired Mouthfeel. Scale of 1-5, with 1 being Tart/Astringent and 5 being Buttery.
- Are you wanting to make a Still (uncarbonated), or Sparkling (carbonated) cider?

 

[cidergoats]

The champagne yeasts will ferment to bone dry if left to and, in most cases, will strip away alot of the flavor. My first batch with generic commercial juice using 1118 seemed a bit thin/weak on the mouthfeel and taste. I added a French oak spiral with medium char, let it sit for a few more months and it improved. Chalkyt's right about adding some pear, especially with S-04. I've added pear to the base of quite a few different batches. Gravenstein with S-04 came out pretty well for me too, although I've been using Cotes de Blanc lately.
With foraged apples I'd be tempted to do at least a small batch as wild ferment.

 

[AzOr]

Give the crabs a taste. Most are known for being bitters (high in tannins) but some are also high in acid as well. You’ll know immediately.