So I gathered up a bunch of stuff today to start my first cider. I've got:
*1 gallon organic fresh pressed, not from concentrate, pasteurized apple juice (no preservatives, just pasteurized, pure, unfilterd juice from washed, select, ripe organic Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Gala apples)
*2 gallon primary fermenter, about to be empty after I rack out my gallon of mead and give it a good cleaning
*pectic enzyme
*light brown sugar
*tartaric acid and citric acid -- LHBS out of malic acid
*a couple of different yeast options -- Lalvin EC-1118, Red Star Montrachet, and Cooper's Ale yeast. I've read EC-1118 can make a good cider, and I believe EdWort's Apfelwein calls for Montrachet... I wanted to get Nottingham for this batch, but LHBS was out of stock, so I settled on Cooper's which I've read is similar to Notty, and has had good results with ciders. I'm currently leaning towards the Cooper's but I could be swayed.
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So I've read a bunch of recipes, and I'll probably just base the amount of brown sugar on my hydrometer readings, shooting for a ~6-7% ABV on this one.
I've also seen recommendations to include a can of frozen apple juice concentrate in lieu of some or all of the brown sugar. Interested to hear opinions on this.
Acid blend -- I didn't know which ones would be best, but I had a feeling since LHBS was out of malic, that's what I would need, some recipes seem to concur (sweet eating/drinking apples like gala, granny smith, golden delicious are lower in malic acid than traditional cider apples). Is there a good source of malic acid I could add from readily available ingredients in my fridge/pantry/local grocery? If malic is best, can I wait to add it after primary fermentation when LHBS is back in stock, or would this have an adverse effect? Would tartaric and/or citric be just as or nearly as good as malic?
Tannins -- LHBS was also out of grape tannin. Bad day to go shopping, I guess. I've read that steeping a black tea bag and tossing the tea into the primary can help here. Bad/good idea? Same question with malic acid -- do I need to add before primary ferment or can it be added later with same result?
In all responses, please bear in mind this is my second attempt at fermentation of anything, and my first cider. I'm not necessarily shooting for an award-winner, just a good learning experience and a drinkable product, but I'd rather start off with the best possibility of success.
Thanks, looking forward to starting this experiment tomorrow, I'll let you know how it goes.
*1 gallon organic fresh pressed, not from concentrate, pasteurized apple juice (no preservatives, just pasteurized, pure, unfilterd juice from washed, select, ripe organic Granny Smith, Golden Delicious and Gala apples)
*2 gallon primary fermenter, about to be empty after I rack out my gallon of mead and give it a good cleaning
*pectic enzyme
*light brown sugar
*tartaric acid and citric acid -- LHBS out of malic acid
*a couple of different yeast options -- Lalvin EC-1118, Red Star Montrachet, and Cooper's Ale yeast. I've read EC-1118 can make a good cider, and I believe EdWort's Apfelwein calls for Montrachet... I wanted to get Nottingham for this batch, but LHBS was out of stock, so I settled on Cooper's which I've read is similar to Notty, and has had good results with ciders. I'm currently leaning towards the Cooper's but I could be swayed.
---
So I've read a bunch of recipes, and I'll probably just base the amount of brown sugar on my hydrometer readings, shooting for a ~6-7% ABV on this one.
I've also seen recommendations to include a can of frozen apple juice concentrate in lieu of some or all of the brown sugar. Interested to hear opinions on this.
Acid blend -- I didn't know which ones would be best, but I had a feeling since LHBS was out of malic, that's what I would need, some recipes seem to concur (sweet eating/drinking apples like gala, granny smith, golden delicious are lower in malic acid than traditional cider apples). Is there a good source of malic acid I could add from readily available ingredients in my fridge/pantry/local grocery? If malic is best, can I wait to add it after primary fermentation when LHBS is back in stock, or would this have an adverse effect? Would tartaric and/or citric be just as or nearly as good as malic?
Tannins -- LHBS was also out of grape tannin. Bad day to go shopping, I guess. I've read that steeping a black tea bag and tossing the tea into the primary can help here. Bad/good idea? Same question with malic acid -- do I need to add before primary ferment or can it be added later with same result?
In all responses, please bear in mind this is my second attempt at fermentation of anything, and my first cider. I'm not necessarily shooting for an award-winner, just a good learning experience and a drinkable product, but I'd rather start off with the best possibility of success.
Thanks, looking forward to starting this experiment tomorrow, I'll let you know how it goes.