First Cider

[Sonesen]

288 floz of apple juice
1 lbs golden brown sugar
1 packet Safale us-05
1 tbsp yeast energizer

OG 1.070

Started fermenting withing hours.

Plan: rack into two 2 gallon jugs, one is reg hard cider, other, blood orange will be add along with pectic enzyme for clarity.

Will update at first rack with secondary gravity.

let me know what ya'll think of this

 

[Sonesen]

Update: racked the 2 gallons into (2) 1 gallon jugs with a infusers and only one having a bentonite slurry in it. will prime an bottle tomorrow night.

SG 1.004

 

[bernardsmith]

Sounds good but what is the "value added" of adding 1 lb of sugar to the fruit juice? If the juice is made for hard cider then adding sugar is a bit like guilding a rose, to use that old saw, and if the juice is pretty tasteless when all the sweetness has been removed and replaced with ethanol then how does increasing the alcohol level improve the cider? OK you are using brown sugar..so there may be some molasses flavor but fermented molasses tastes like crap. Is this true brown sugar or is it sugar colored with caramel or could it be the last runs from sugar processed for the manufacture of rum?

 

[Sonesen]

Sounds good but what is the "value added" of adding 1 lb of sugar to the fruit juice? If the juice is made for hard cider then adding sugar is a bit like guilding a rose, to use that old saw, and if the juice is pretty tasteless when all the sweetness has been removed and replaced with ethanol then how does increasing the alcohol level improve the cider? OK you are using brown sugar..so there may be some molasses flavor but fermented molasses tastes like crap. Is this true brown sugar or is it sugar colored with caramel or could it be the last runs from sugar processed for the manufacture of rum?

The added sugar is for a higher gravity, my starting OG was 1.036, i wanted a little higher. most juices in stores have added sugars, my juice was the no added sugar type, which I chose to control the gravity level.
I plan to back sweeten the cider, which will help with sweetness and and carbonation. Carbonation will also help with flavor.
I tried a sampling when i racked and i didn't have a problem with flavoring as it stood. (i like a less sweet cider)
Also note that i used golden brown sugar compared to the regular brown sugar, it is not heavy with the molasses, and i don't know the process/origin of the sugar.
the reason for the golden brown sugar than the regular brown sugar is i wanted an added flavor profile from the molasses and the not the "crap" flavor from too much molasses.

i hope i covered your questions

 

[bernardsmith]

You did... but a starting gravity of 1.036 has a potential ABV of almost 5%. Compare that to most beers... That's not chopped liver. It's a cider you are making..Presumably something to be quaffed by the pint and not sipped by the glass.

 

[Sonesen]

I figure after the back sweeten, it will raise the gravity, a 5-8 abv cider is a what i wanted. Its a higher abv cider but not as high as i see commercially

 

[MarkKF]

I didn’t know apple juice could be below 1.040 without adding water.

 

[Sonesen]

I didn’t know apple juice could be below 1.040 without adding water.

i will have to better record the brand of cider and the OG from the juice i used. i am starting another 3gallon batch this weekend.

 

[diyHardCider]

I didn’t know apple juice could be below 1.040 without adding water.

Agreed. I've been running a lot of small test batches with a lot of different store-bought juices.... OG is has always been 1.048 - 1.052. I have also not come across any juices with added sugar in my recent looking... perhaps we are spoiled here in central Washington.

 

[bernardsmith]

Agreed. I've been running a lot of small test batches with a lot of different store-bought juices.... OG is has always been 1.048 - 1.052. I have also not come across any juices with added sugar in my recent looking... perhaps we are spoiled here in central Washington.

Don't know that that means you are being spoiled. Apple juice that is about 1.036 sounds to me like it has been diluted somewhere in the pipeline... If before Sonenson bought it that smells like theft, if after Sonesen brought the juice home , then the lower gravity was perhaps an attempt to make the juice stretch further- but must ain't soup and if you add water then you thin the flavor and the sugar content. And if you add sugar to bring the gravity back up again then that sugar does not come with any additional flavor...