First cyser started

[Tread82]

Tonight my brew buddy and I made 5 gallons of cyser. The recipe is:

1 gal Fiji apple cider
2 gal albertsons cider
4 lbs wildflower honey
1 gal random cider we found that I can't remember the name of
4 chopped up granny smith apples
Cotes de blanc yeast
We are planning on backsweetening with enough honeycrisp apple cider to bring the FG to 1.010.

I know we didn't use a lot of honey, but didn't want it to overwhelm the apple flavor. I'm going for a version of apfelwein with honey instead of sugar. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

 

[MedsenFey]

This batch will should finish dry, with a gravity less than 1.000. To get it back up to 1.010 with apple juice is going to require about a gallon of juice. You can calculate the exact amount once you know the final gravity and if you know the gravity of the juice. There's nothing wrong with adding a gallon, but it will dilute your ABV down from around 10.5% to 8.5%. That's not a bad thing, just something to be aware of in your planning. That's why most folks don't backsweeten with pure apple juice, but instead use some combination of sugar/honey as well.

Medsen

 

[HexKrak]

You can also back sweeten with apple juice concentrate which will add a lot of sweet without diluting the abv down much.

 

[Tread82]

Yeah, 8.5% with a gallon of juice is about what I was aiming for. But I'll probably just sweeten to taste, as I don't really know what the difference in taste between 1.005 vs. 1.010 will be, I'm just kinda guessing that 1.010 will give me something that I perceive as sweet but not too sweet. Adding some honey would be a great idea too. Something that would finish around 8.5-9.5% would be preferable.

I really like how the honeycrisp cider tastes and think it will go great with the recipe, or I would try the concentrate. I'll try it for my next honey apfelwein for sure!

 

[Rikadyn]

Um, Yer Cider didn't have preservatives in it did it? I ask, cause I haven't found a brand available in a store that doesn't yet...

 

[Tread82]

Um, Yer Cider didn't have preservatives in it did it? I ask, cause I haven't found a brand available in a store that doesn't yet...

Nope. It was just apples and vitamin C. I can't remember the names of them at the moment. I'll comment again later when I see the extra half gallon I have left.

 

[KevinM]

You should see quite a few brands Rikadyn. Hy's Apple Cider is pasturized, but has no preservatives, that's located in Romeo but is in many stores in michigan. There's a few cider mills that are still open too that you can get cider from, perhaps not even pasturized. If all else fails, you can go with apple juice since there are some stores that have that without preservatives.

 

[roadymi]

Um, Yer Cider didn't have preservatives in it did it? I ask, cause I haven't found a brand available in a store that doesn't yet...

Quality Dairy stores in the Lansing area sell preservative free cider.