First cider of 2014

[Apple_Jacker]

...is officially underway. Here's the recipe:

5 gallons Mott's Apple Juice
3 cans apple juice concentrate

Gravity before concentrate: 1.046
Gravity after concentrate addition: 1.054
Temperature: 66 degrees F

Yeast used: Côtes des Blancs

This is about the same recipe I made last year, but had to dump due to a lid with a bad seal ruining my cider. Here's hoping for positive results this time!

I may also have this my first kegged cider. That'll be a game-time decision.

 

[rekoob]

Nice, I'm on my fourth batch but I have been doing 1 gallon batches just cuz I'm new to this and still kind of working it out.
Hope this one works out for you.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

If nothing else, it is making my basement smell amazing! I kust started a separate 1 gallon cider experiment earlier using just 4 cans apple juice concentrate and 5 of the concentrate cans worth of water. I'm still waiting on this one to get a little warmer before taking any gravity readings and pitching the yeast. I haven't decided yet what flavor to experiment with. Perhaps cinnamon or cloves or allspice, or aome other kind of fruit juice. I'll play it by ear.

 

[bernardsmith]

You should be able to take a gravity reading straight away (unless , of course, your concentrate was frozen). Your hydrometer is probably calibrated to take a density reading at 60 C. You can also estimate the starting gravity by calculation if you know the sugar content of both the juice and the concentrate. One pound of sugar in one gallon of water will raise the gravity by (close enough) to 1.040.
Your juice and your concentrate should both indicate the sugar content by portion and the number of portions in each container so it should be fairly simple to estimate (with some accuracy) the total sugar content. Convert that to pounds and multiply that number by .040 and you have the total gravity. Divide that number by the volume of cider you are making and that will give you a good estimation of your starting gravity.
You can confirm this by measuring with your hydrometer.

 

[TahoeBBA]

I'm starting my first Cider tonight also. I'll be using the 1 Gallon Brooklyn BrewShop Kit to get my feet wet. But after reading a bit more tonight I wish I didn't limit myself to just the gallon jug.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

You should be able to take a gravity reading straight away (unless , of course, your concentrate was frozen). Your hydrometer is probably calibrated to take a density reading at 60 C. You can also estimate the starting gravity by calculation if you know the sugar content of both the juice and the concentrate. One pound of sugar in one gallon of water will raise the gravity by (close enough) to 1.040.
Your juice and your concentrate should both indicate the sugar content by portion and the number of portions in each container so it should be fairly simple to estimate (with some accuracy) the total sugar content. Convert that to pounds and multiply that number by .040 and you have the total gravity. Divide that number by the volume of cider you are making and that will give you a good estimation of your starting gravity.
You can confirm this by measuring with your hydrometer.

Yes, it was still partially frozen. I waited for everything to get up to 60 degrees before taking the reading and pitching the yeast. That's now 2 of the 4 testers I've planned on starting. I'll be getting a concord grape and blueberry wine going, as well as a blackberry & grape wine. I need to go buy some more apple juice to get more 1 gallon jugs!