Cranberry Cider - Based on Ed's Apfelwein

[BrewFrick]

Posting this recipe for review, comment, and to get more recipes out there -
I've been doing cider experiments for the last two years and have now got around to trying out cranberry juice with the apple juice. So I put this recipe together yesterday in about 10 minutes and the total cost from the grocery store plus the dextrose & Montrachet at the brewshop was about $30.

• 4x 96 oz. Sam's Apple Juice Bottles (No preservatives)
• 2x 1 liter Ocean Spray Canberry Juice (Mix of Grape and Cran, no preservatives & no corn syrup)
• 2x Ocean Spray Frozen Cranberry Juice Can (Corn Syrup, no grape juice, no preservatives)
• 2x Great Value Limeade Frozen Concentrate Can (corn syrup, no preservative)
• 3 lbs. Dextrose Sugar from brewstore
• Packet of Montrachet Yeast

In a big pot I dumped one gallon of the apple juice, all the concentrate cans, and the 3 lbs. of sugar and mixed to thaw the concentrate and dissolve the sugar. Didn't even have to do this over heat, just mixed well. Poured this into a better bottle and added all the rest of the ingredients, making sure to pour the yeast into the funnel and have another gallon of juice left to wash it all into the bottle. Stuck it all in the closet and had an active ferment around 8 hours later. The Montrachet is nice, I have a big bunch of yeast on top but it has not made a big krausen, which would be a problem for me since I didn't leave much headspace in the bottle.

 

[wreckinball9]

an interesting mix for sure. i suspect it may be quite tart, from the limeade and cranberry. you will probably have to backsweeten and will probably have to age it more than simple ciders. good luck, hope it comes out unique and interesting in a good way. keep us updated!

 

[PAC762]

Did you add any water to that? It seems like a lot of fermentables for ~3.5 gallons of must. What was your SG?

 

[BrewFrick]

Added a little bit of water, washing out the concentrate cans and topped it up to the shoulder of the better bottle. I never use the hydrometer, it causes more trouble than I think it to be worth.

 

[Tusch]

How does it cause trouble, or do you mean the chances of infection or oxidation?

 

[pintocb]

I did a batch with cranberry and pomegranate juice added about a year ago. It ended up being really strong, and really tart. Its still close to undrinkable unless I add some sprite. The limeade might make it really good though. Good luck!

 

[PAC762]

I did a batch with cranberry and pomegranate juice added about a year ago. It ended up being really strong, and really tart. Its still close to undrinkable unless I add some sprite. The limeade might make it really good though. Good luck!

What was the ratio you used?

I have a batch clearing right now with a 2:3 ratio of cranberry cocktail to apple juice. I'm hoping it comes out drinkable.

 

[BrewFrick]

The smell coming out of the airlock is wonderful, little cranberry, green apple, and then the lime/citrus smell. It's all bubbling in there like it's a just opened 7-Up. I can't wait to try this stuff, should be the shizzle.

 

[Sully123]

I just started a Cranberry Apple Cider

My recipe was as follows

4 Gallons Fresh Pressed Cider
2 Qts Unblended Cranberry Juice
1 1/2# Light brown Sugar
12 oz. Honey
2 Campden Tablets
Wyeast Cider/ Mead Yeast

Me and my friend used chamagne yeast for our last few batches of cider but we've had good luck with the smack packs when brewing beer so we decided to try it here. It seems to be fermenting steadily with very little foam over. It was started 4/3/09 and i put the airlock on like 2 days later. If anybody has used this yeast before lemme know how it works. What is other people's opinions on air temperatures during fermenting?

 

[BrewFrick]

I just bottled this batch of stuff. Would almost more call it a wine than a cider. Beautiful rose color like you would see in a chardonnay wine. It almost, to me at least, also tastes like a chardonnay. Then you get the tart cranberry finish with the aftertaste. I am very happy with the way this one turned out and I would recommend it to anyone wanting to do something a little different. After I put it in the better bottle to ferment I never moved it until today, it was a one vessel ferment for this one and it had no ill effects on flavor or color.

 

[SteveBrewSD]

Sounds like the recipe I'm looking for BrewFrick! Is this for a ~5gallon batch? I don't think you mentioned what size better bottle you were using. Would love to try this just making sure I have all amounts correct. Thanks!