forward looking - next batch, what went wrong and right

[divi2323]

Finished bottling up my first batch of cider made. It's VERY tart and the smell is awful (about 3-4 weeks in) but i'm told by the LHBS that it'll go away with age.

I ended up adding 2.25 teaspoons of Stevia to my 5.33 gallon batch. I then added 1 can of Apple juice concentrate with no preservatives to the mix after it was warmed to room temperature and melted. The can was 12oz, and contained 6 servings. The label read 29g sugar per serving, so I figured this was perfect for my batch to carbonate.

In all I got 51 bottles. Waiting 2 weeks to see how they carb up. Will crack one then and see how it tastes. Hoping that it's sweeter than the original. Had some friends try some of it dry and cold, it was very tart and the smell was overwhelming. It's to be expected I guess.

I was thinking for my next batch that I would try and stop fermentation before it's gone completely dry. anyone have any suggestions on a method? from what i've read there are a couple of options. Maybe some of you with experience can tell me your pros and cons of each:

1. use a yeast that can tolerate only 7% alcohol. get the OG up to 1.066 using cider and brown sugar. FG should come out around 1.02 until the yeast gives up. Have heard the 1.020 number a lot saying that it's very sweet at this stage? Apple should still shine through on this yes? After this is done aging, I thought I would try and force carb it into a keg (dont have a keg setup yet, but heard it's easy to force carb using one and i've got the means to secure kegging equipment)

2. (Method I used during first batch) ferment it out dry from 1.052 down to .0.998. Add nonfermentable sweetener (have stevia, not thrilled with its taste, not thrilled with splenda either), add 1 oz priming sugar per gallon and bottle.

3. use 7% yeast again. get OG to about 1.04 (if possible), ferment out to dry from original level without adding sugar to get it close to 5% ABV. add enough sugar to ferment out to around 1.02 mark and yeast will die and bottle (probably bottle bombing with this method?)

any other methods i'm definitely interested in. I'm looking for a sweet sparkling cider in the end. I like woodchuck amber, but it's a little on the sweet side and i'd like more alcohol content. somewhere in the 7% range. I like the apple flavor and i'd like it to be clear as well.

What yeasts would you guys recommend for my next batch? Premier Cuvee has a higher tolerance level than i'd like to use, as well as cote de blanc.

One last thing is that i'd like to remove as much residue of the leftover as possible, which during bottling might not be possible. how do you guys go about getting a finished product without the floaties?

 

[selfdestructed]

Time. That smell will go away. I find that with champagne yeast, the cider smells terrible at room temp.

I also find that after a week in a secondary, that smell is gone.

After back sweetening and carbing, no trace at all.

As for clearing, that also takes time. When we get ours done, the wife and I drink it way to fast, then we slow down. The last bottles that have been sitting for a a couple months, taste better that the first ones, and are crystal clear.

Just slow down. I wouldn't wait a year like some people here do, but 2-3 months should be doable. 6 if you make enough and have a lot back logged.

 

[divi2323]

What method do you use for carbonating your batches? I've kind of settled on the idea of using a less tolerant yeast (whatever ends up at 6-7% before it poops out) and jacking up the OG on it using apple juice concentrate. My second choice would be to ferment it out dry, add sorbate, kegg it and force carbonate it. more expensive of course but wondering what you use to sweeten and carbonate it to the bottle?

 

[ajbram]

Don't kid yourself.... Jacking up the OG with concentrate before bottling will make bombs. Less tolerant yeast can still surprise you. Pappers' sticky on bottle pasteurization works very well. Best to ferment dry, back sweeten and bottle carb.

 

[ditchbanker]

I'm new, so keep that in mind. Still, I think this should get you what you want.

Pick a yeast you want to use. I'd bring OG up to, let's say 1.060. I'm considering using concentrate to raise SG, but I'm using grocery store juice. I'd probably be more likely to use sugar/brown sugar if I were using fresh pressed cider. Ferment. Keep an eye on it 'til SG gets down to 1.02. Bottle. Use a little priming sugar if you're really concerned about loosing just a bit of sweetness. Fill a couple PET bottles, per papper's (awesome, btw) method. When the carbonation gets good (based on squeezing the PET bottles and, darn it, drinking a couple) pasteurize like pappers suggests.

Should leave you with a beverage in the area of 5% alcohol with carbonation and sweetness. Lots of sweetness. If you wanted to have a higher alcohol concentration, increase the OG. Personally, I like to be able to have a few without passing out (lightweight over here) so I don't shoot too much above 5%, just my preference. If I go above that I do wine and shoot for 13%. For whatever reason that's my preference. Make the drink you enjoy.

Just because I'm trying to learn more myself, anyone with more experience have any comments on this suggestion, for the original poster and myself?

 

[selfdestructed]

Sounds good. Personally, I use the champagne yeast. I also bottle carb. I use splenda to sweeten, use can ned apple juice concentrate to prime, 2 cans per 5 gallons. With the ec1118, out carbed in one day. With ale yeast, it took 1 week. Pappers is the man btw. You both are fine.

I have lost only 3 bottles out of out 124 using his technique.

 

[ajbram]

My last batch used EC1118 as well. Since I pretty much cleared my cider in secondary there weren't a lot of suspended yeasties in it when it was time to bottle. Carbing up took about 5 days and I had primed with 500mL of juice with about 1/4 cup of cane sugar dissolved in it. I had fermented dry prior to that, so that amount of sugar got it back where I wanted it sweetness wise. Personally, I don't like the taste of artificial sweeteners. Even cane sugar won't keep fermenting after you have killed the yeast in your bottles as per Pappers' method.

 

[divi2323]

Took AJBram's advice... took a few days to read and reread pappers sticky, and i've got to say that's a WEALTH of knowledge. Going to take my 2nd 5gal (really 4.25 gal after rackings) batch and use his method. going to back sweeten with frozen AJ concentrate to taste, then add priming sugar, bottle it up with a couple PET bottles. when carbonation seems right, crack one open every day until its confirmed, then pasturize when it's perfect.

On a side note, i'd been looking for 1gal glass jugs to experiment with. Whole foods has 1gal unfiltered apple juice for $8, and 3qt spiced cider for the holidays for $8 as well. I picked up 6 of the 3qt containers because they have wider mouths than the gallon jugs do. The best part... no preservatives, so i've got my next batch of cider ready to go