First brew! kept it simple and would like some suggestions

[Boins]

Hi everyone,
I LOVE dry ciders. My hands down favorite is Strongbow. I like the low sugar (so I can drink a lot without the Gut-Bomb) and 5.5% alcohol content.

With that in mind I want to achieve a brew that is similar but doesn't have to exactly replicate Strongbow. I like dry and bubbly.

My first batch is 5 gallons of the attached image of local pasturized cider blend, 2 cups sugar and a packet of 5 star champagne yeast.

Any tips on the steps I should take to meet my taste goal throughout the fermentation process?

Also, any recipes you know that might replicate my taste would be greatly appreciated too!

Thanks!

 

[Boins]

Sorry,
Had some ciders tonight. Here's the attachment

 

[Randzor]

Sounds like your off to a good start. I've never had strongbow, so i don't know, but I generally follow your process and have very good ciders.

 

[MindenMan]

That is an amazing cider blend you have. It should make a great cider/perry.
By using champagne yeast, you can be quite certain your cider will finish dry. What was the O.G.?

 

[FortMillBrew]

Looks like you've got a great cider blend and your recipe is good. I would use light brown sugar. I also recently used Mangrove Jack's M02 cider yeast and it took my OG 1.060 below 1 in 10 days. I'm going to leave it in the secondary for a while but the hydrometer sample had great apple flavor left in it. I hear champagne yeast can leave very little apple flavor when you let it dry out. Best of luck and welcome to the club!

 

[Yooper]

That is an amazing cider blend you have. It should make a great cider/perry.
By using champagne yeast, you can be quite certain your cider will finish dry. What was the O.G.?

If you get a nice cider blend, next time use ale yeast. I just finished a batch with S04 ale yeast, and it finished pretty dry and tart, but not bone dry like champagne yeast will and champagne yeast strips out much of the "apple" flavor.

I don't add things like brown sugar to the fermentation, as fermented brown sugar doesn't taste good to me. I just let the cider ferment out, and then see if it needs anything. Normally, just 100% great apple cider + ale yeast = great hard cider.

Once it's done, as shown by gravity readings, and the cider is clear (or fairly clear), you can bottle. Using a bit of priming sugar to carb it up is a great way to get a dry sparkling cider.

 

[Boins]

If you get a nice cider blend, next time use ale yeast. I just finished a batch with S04 ale yeast, and it finished pretty dry and tart, but not bone dry like champagne yeast will and champagne yeast strips out much of the "apple" flavor.

I don't add things like brown sugar to the fermentation, as fermented brown sugar doesn't taste good to me. I just let the cider ferment out, and then see if it needs anything. Normally, just 100% great apple cider + ale yeast = great hard cider.

Once it's done, as shown by gravity readings, and the cider is clear (or fairly clear), you can bottle. Using a bit of priming sugar to carb it up is a great way to get a dry sparkling cider.

Thanks for the advice. So its been about 5 days now and appears to be fermenting well. My next step is to decide when to move it over to the carboy for a secondary ferment.

To know when to do the transfer is it okay for me to open my bucket to get a sample? Also, from everyone's experience with a 5 gallon brew, about how long before I should consider moving it to the carboy?

 

[Boins]

Just wrapped up my first batch! I back sweetened with 2 cans of concentrate and bottled. After 3 days carbonation was nice. Tried a bottle last night after chilling and it was great! Fresh, crisp with a light apple flavor and moderate carbonation.

Stove top pasteurized the rest of the batch tonight with no issues.

Being my first taste of home brewed small batch cider, the one thing I am most surprised with is the potency compared to the commercial varieties I've tired. Didn't take a reading but I'm sure this batch is at least 7%. I was certainly buzzed after 1 bottle!

I got 2 more 5 gallon batches going right now. One is EdWort's standard Apfelwein recipe and the other is Danbrewtan's apple-cherry recipe. I used Trader Joe's cider for the batch and will finish it off with Trader Joe's cherry juice to back sweeten and carbonate.

My next batch I'm gonna go with some Nottingham's yeast because of the popularity on this board. Any suggestions for a simple carbonated recipe to give it a whirl with?

Thanks for your help and suggestions guys!

 

[b-boy]

I've done cider with ale yeast and champagne yeast. I like the ale yeast. It gives it some character and you still get the apple taste. The champagne yeast pretty much stripped everything out. Felt like I was drinking a dry wine.

 

[Boins]

I've done cider with ale yeast and champagne yeast. I like the ale yeast. It gives it some character and you still get the apple taste. The champagne yeast pretty much stripped everything out. Felt like I was drinking a dry wine.

so basically follow the same rules but swap out for ale yeast?