English-Style Cider?

[Wingy]

So I've made a few batches of Apfelwein before, but never anything I'd really call a cider. For my first attempt I'd like to try an English-style cider.

What I have:
Wyeast Cider Yeast
Carboys

Things I need:
Apple juice/cider (sadly no access to orchards, but any grocery store varieties that will work?)
Things to add to make it more traditional English-style

I'm not against having a sweet final product, but I'd prefer on the drier end (vs. the wine cooler end).

I'm also planning to age a gallon of the finished product on yellow birch (because why not) and mix in another gallon with some type of fruit or spice. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help!

 

[caseymac91]

Most store bought apple juices will work, Potassium Sorbate would stop fermentation but I have yet to find apple juice that has it. Adding unsweetened black tea would give you more tannin that's lacking in store bought apple juice. Using approx 1 teabag per gallon. My only other suggestion is keeping it cool to prevent off flavors, say 65f.

 

[Wingy]

Thanks for the suggestions - I finally got around to making this. Went with natural/pressed apple juice and Nottingham yeast. Added 3 cups of water with lime juice (for acid) and steeped two tea bags (for tannins). Happily bubbling away, I'll post back with how it turns out!

 

[dinnerstick]

you can't really make english style cider without the raw ingredients- cider apples. you NEED some bitter or bittersweet tannic varieties. cider made from all sweet eating apples will never have that tannin bite to it that is a hallmark of english ciders, no matter how well you control the other variables. since cider varieties are pretty hard to find outside of the west country, normandy, asturias, a few other places, you can try adding tannin in other ways, my tried method (as i also can't get cider apples) is with sweet, bitter crabapples. they have the bitterness you need but you won't know how much until you try the finished product. i would suggest making a batch using a blend of sweet and tart apples; you want some malic acid in there either from sharper eating apples like cox orange pippin or from a small percentage of full on sharp apples like granny smith, and adding something like 5% fully ripe large crabapples, or perhaps making a smaller batch with a high percentage of crabapples that you blend in to the main batch to taste, after fermentation. the sugar in the unfermented juice will mask some of the sour and bitter flavors present, so it's hard to know what it will taste like at the end the first few times.