Frankenstein Cider recipe

[RippaBitta]

Hi All,

A friend of mine wants me to whip up a cider, only problem is I have never made cider only BEER!

I have seen numerous videos on youtube with people making hard cider using regular apple juice from the store.

I plan on stockpiling 30L of 99.9% Reconstituted Apple Juice, no additives or preservatives ofcourse.

I was thinking of combining with the juice some DME, around 1kg to be exact as I dont like the thinness of most ciders...would this work?

Another addition will be 500g of Blueberries and 500g of strawberries which I will simmer on the stove in some apple juice and than strain into the fermenter. I'm hoping this will impart some more flavour and give the cider an overall nice deep purple colour.

I also have some Wakatu hops in the freezer, I have heard of people adding hops to ciders but I think I may leave them out as this is all new to me and adding hops seems like an unnecessary risk.

If anyone could make recommendations on a suitable yeast, Ale or Wine yeast that would be much appreciated.

Another thing is, I enjoy ciders with a dry finish but my friend enjoys sweet ciders? What additives could I include to give either dry or sweet finishes?

Cheers,

RippaBitta

 

[phug]

If you have any s-04 you could use that. Dme berries and hops all sound fine. You don't really need to simmer the berries. Just freeze, then thaw, and add.

You may need to look into stovetop pasteurizing, unfermentable sweeteners, or kegging for the sweetness he wants

 

[Culbetron]

Cider from juice is super easy to make.

Adding DME will make it Graf. Look up the thread on HBT.

Boiling berries or fruit will give more of a jam character than a fresh fruit character. I wouldn't boil, just freeze like Phug said.

Adding hops isn't that risky, but I'd probably choose between either fruit/berries, or dry hops.

Any ale yeast will work. I've used everything from Belgians, American, English, and Hefeweizen yeasts. My favorite has been the Hefe, but I usually use s-04 or US-05.

To make the cider sweeter you could:
1. Add a non-fermentable sweetener (ugh!)
2. Sweeten the product before bottling and then pasteurize when the bottles hit the right level of carbonation (tricky)
3. Add a bit of applejuice when you pour it into your friend's glass (ezpz)

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Hi All,

A friend of mine wants me to whip up a cider, only problem is I have never made cider only BEER!

I have seen numerous videos on youtube with people making hard cider using regular apple juice from the store.

I plan on stockpiling 30L of 99.9% Reconstituted Apple Juice, no additives or preservatives ofcourse.

I was thinking of combining with the juice some DME, around 1kg to be exact as I dont like the thinness of most ciders...would this work?

Another addition will be 500g of Blueberries and 500g of strawberries which I will simmer on the stove in some apple juice and than strain into the fermenter. I'm hoping this will impart some more flavour and give the cider an overall nice deep purple colour.

I also have some Wakatu hops in the freezer, I have heard of people adding hops to ciders but I think I may leave them out as this is all new to me and adding hops seems like an unnecessary risk.

If anyone could make recommendations on a suitable yeast, Ale or Wine yeast that would be much appreciated.

Another thing is, I enjoy ciders with a dry finish but my friend enjoys sweet ciders? What additives could I include to give either dry or sweet finishes?

Cheers,

RippaBitta

I think your best bet is to start with this recipe:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/graff-malty-slightly-hopped-cider-117117/

Don't simmer the fruit or juice, chop or crush the fruit & contain it in a mesh sack. Pour the juice over it. Add the cooled wort, nutrients, DAP, let it come to pitching temps & pitch your yeast. I'd remove the fruit after a week or so.
Use an ale yeast, they don't strip out flavor as much as wine yeasts do. You can control your mash temps & use various grains to get some residual sweetness.
Hope that helps. Regards, GF.