Glenn C Keller
CiderMakingGuy
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2018
- Messages
- 11
- Reaction score
- 1
Last year, I misread the potassium bimetasulfite and used the sanitizer concentration (2 oz/ gal.) instead of the 1/4 tsp/6 gal. I'm an idiot. At least I was more conservative and only got 1/2 bin of apples, instead of the full 800 pounds.
It took almost a month to get the musts to begin to ferment and that was after pitching additional wine yeasts that I had in the fridge. Assume that this was because it took a while for the potassium BMSF to dissipate. But the good news is that nothing else was growing in the carboys. I had some grandiose plans of trying a variety of different yeasts recommended from the HomeBrewTalk cider forums to preserve some apple flavor even when fermented completely to dryness and other yeasts that would slow fermentation down towards the end of the process. All this was to prep for cold crashing. But once the fermentation process kickstarted, everything went completely dry and the must became light yellow in color. So much for the best laid plans.
I racked everything a couple times and let everything settle and become clear. For the past 8 months, 28 gals have been mellowing in a number of 4 or 5 gal carboys (with bubblers) filled all the way to the top leaving a scant 1/2" to minimize any air in the carboy. It all smells good and now it is time to finish everything off and let the drinking begin.
One option is to add some mulling spice combinations (I'll skip the vanilla bean this year since the prices are out of sight) and some brown sugar. I intend to heat up to 160 degrees F, place the mulling spices in a paint sock or cheesecloth, and keep tasting until the right concentration of spice has been reached (once I left the spices in overnight and the result was bitterly undrinkable; the longer you leave the mulling spice in the warmed up cider, the stronger the spice becomes). One question - so long as the mixture is greater than 160 degrees F for > 10 minutes, will this pasteurize the cider, killing off any yeasts so I don't have to worry about the yeast restarting and eating the brown sugar?
Since I'll be working with dry cider, I have purchased several nonfermentable sugars (xylitol, erythritol, stevia, and some of the more commonly used sugars like maltodextrin) but I'm not overjoyed with the flavor which is why I wanted to try different yeasts and cold crashing. I even tried adding some sweet cider but the result is mucky instead of clear but tastes good. Anybody else produce a good result with back sweetening using nonfermentable sugars?
And now for something really different. I purchased 4 5 gallon whiskey barrels - rye, bourbon oak and bourbon wheat. I put some of the prior year's leftover cider in the barrels and let it sit. The result still needed back sweetening. The oak and the rye were better but the bourbon barrels didn't have as good of a taste. Will try again this year by first back sweetening the cider with nonfermentable sugars. Anyone have any experience barrel aging hard cider in order to add different "notes"?
Lastly, a colleague has been experimenting with a distillery apparatus. I'm going to give him 5 gals and let him try and make apple brandy. This is an entirely new area for me. Anybody have any suggestions to help this along?
It took almost a month to get the musts to begin to ferment and that was after pitching additional wine yeasts that I had in the fridge. Assume that this was because it took a while for the potassium BMSF to dissipate. But the good news is that nothing else was growing in the carboys. I had some grandiose plans of trying a variety of different yeasts recommended from the HomeBrewTalk cider forums to preserve some apple flavor even when fermented completely to dryness and other yeasts that would slow fermentation down towards the end of the process. All this was to prep for cold crashing. But once the fermentation process kickstarted, everything went completely dry and the must became light yellow in color. So much for the best laid plans.
I racked everything a couple times and let everything settle and become clear. For the past 8 months, 28 gals have been mellowing in a number of 4 or 5 gal carboys (with bubblers) filled all the way to the top leaving a scant 1/2" to minimize any air in the carboy. It all smells good and now it is time to finish everything off and let the drinking begin.
One option is to add some mulling spice combinations (I'll skip the vanilla bean this year since the prices are out of sight) and some brown sugar. I intend to heat up to 160 degrees F, place the mulling spices in a paint sock or cheesecloth, and keep tasting until the right concentration of spice has been reached (once I left the spices in overnight and the result was bitterly undrinkable; the longer you leave the mulling spice in the warmed up cider, the stronger the spice becomes). One question - so long as the mixture is greater than 160 degrees F for > 10 minutes, will this pasteurize the cider, killing off any yeasts so I don't have to worry about the yeast restarting and eating the brown sugar?
Since I'll be working with dry cider, I have purchased several nonfermentable sugars (xylitol, erythritol, stevia, and some of the more commonly used sugars like maltodextrin) but I'm not overjoyed with the flavor which is why I wanted to try different yeasts and cold crashing. I even tried adding some sweet cider but the result is mucky instead of clear but tastes good. Anybody else produce a good result with back sweetening using nonfermentable sugars?
And now for something really different. I purchased 4 5 gallon whiskey barrels - rye, bourbon oak and bourbon wheat. I put some of the prior year's leftover cider in the barrels and let it sit. The result still needed back sweetening. The oak and the rye were better but the bourbon barrels didn't have as good of a taste. Will try again this year by first back sweetening the cider with nonfermentable sugars. Anyone have any experience barrel aging hard cider in order to add different "notes"?
Lastly, a colleague has been experimenting with a distillery apparatus. I'm going to give him 5 gals and let him try and make apple brandy. This is an entirely new area for me. Anybody have any suggestions to help this along?
