Help needed on first batch

[azazel1024]

So I am relatively new to brewing (beer) with a few batches under my belt and an all grain one. I have a couple of back-to-back brews coming up in 3 weekends.

However, it is fall, I love my cider, dry, wet, whatever. I am also feeling my oats and I want to give brewing dry cider a try.

I've read some of the stuff on here and poked around the internet a bit more too.

I am shooting for a dry cider my first time out. I had a couple of questions and was hoping for a critique if my plan/recipe.

I plan on fermenting 2 gallons of cider. My local pick-your-own does cider and it is also unfermented (99% sure, my wife is checking and will pickup 2 gallons if that is the case when she is there this Friday).

I was planning on not trying to pasteurize and simply go for a very dry cider. Make sure it has fermented completely, add priming sugar and bottle. Is this going to be a disaster? I personally prefer my ciders dry, but is this going to be way too dry for even someone who likes them dry (IE do typical dry ciders really have more sugars left in them than I think they have?)? Another question is, is it possible to bottle with carbing? Or will this lead to oxidation/vinegar in short order if it isn't carbed? I'd be a little curious to try some bottled carbed and uncarbed, but not if it is likely to impact shelf life significantly (since I am looking at 2 gallons, minus sediment/yeast cake, I assume we are talking maybe 20 bottles max, so probably drunk in a month or two).

Okay, so here was my plan.

2 gallons of cider, check OG. I want to shoot for around 1.08 was my plan and let it ferment out completely. If under 1.08 I am planning on adding brown sugar to get to 1.08OG while cooking it at 190F to kill any wild yeast and bacteria, probably for 30 minutes. I also plan on adding 8 ounces of caramalized sugar (should be non-fermentable, right?) for some sweatness and caramel notes.

Cool, add 1/2tsp of peptic enzyme powder and a packet of S-05 ale yeast (should I pitch only half a packet? Would this be over doing it with a full packet and only 2 gallons?).

Let it go until the air lock is settling down a little. Check gravity every 3 days until I get the same gravity reading two days in a row. Rack to secondary for another 3 days to help clear it further. Then stick in the bottling bucket, pitch two ounces of brown sugar boiled and cooled in half a cup of water and bottle.

To play with some non-sparkling cider, I was thinking I might bottle a six pack first before adding the bottling sugar (and reduce sugar added appropriately).

Does this sound like a good first experiment in making hard, dry cider? Or am I looking at heart break here? Also, is there any methods of additional clarification that carry over from brewing? For instance once it has completely fermented out, can I cold crash instead of racking to secondary to clarify further? Or can I add Irish Moss while on the stove top (even though not boiling, but 190F is pretty close) to increase clarity?

Thanks!!!

 

[azazel1024]

One other question, fermenter size. Can I do this in a 3 gallon better bottle with a regular airlock, or would I need a blow off tube for something that size? Alternately I could use a 6 gallon better bottle if that would be safer with a regular airlock.

 

[Gitmoe]

You're going to need a lot of sugar if you want a 1.080 OG. Most ciders press at around 1.040 - 1.050. You'll end up adding almost 2lbs of sugar to 2 gallons of cider to get in the 1.080 ballpark. Also, getting that to ferment down to .996 - 1.005 (the range of what I'd call a "dry" cider) you'll need a pretty aggressive yeast strain. Champagne yeast will do the trick. Personally I'm not a huge fan of champagne yeast in ciders. I like a yeast that will impart a bit of character but that's up to you. You can certainly bottle condition a dry cider without any hassle. trying to bottle condition a sweet cider is where you run into pasteurizing and all that other craziness. There's no need to pectic enzyme unless you're fermenting crushed apples whole. If you're just getting fresh pressed cider from an orchard the pectic enzyme is pointless. I never boil my fresh cider, I just treat with a little sulfite to control wild yeast and then on the 2nd or 3rd day after pitching a cultured yeast add some yeast nutrient. Most cider guys use generic nutrient. Something with DAP ( diammonium phosphate). That's all I got for ya. You'll most likely get other people chiming in as well. Good luck with the cider....

 

[Wayneh]

Hello, I wouldn't go to crazy on your first cider especially if your new to brewing. Keep it simple and how dry or wet you want it, the finish is mostly in the yeast. I like using an ale yeast or a hard cider yeast. I think when you go really high in alcohol % it taste bad. Keep it simple. Apple juice a little sugar, yeast. Peace

 

[Wayneh]

Also careful with the brown sugar. It can become to much quickly.

 

[azazel1024]

Sounds good, thanks!

I was thinking that it would be more in the 1.06-1.07 range to start with. I deffinitely don't want to add 2lbs of brown sugar to 2 gallons of cider to get it up that high then. I'll shoot for 1.06 then, plus the half pound addition of caramel.

Any ideas on what the final gravity might be if starting around 1.06 (ignoring the contribution of the caramel, which should not be fermentable with ale yeast in my experience)? With something like ale yeast (specifically S-05 is anyone has experience with that strain and cider), what is it likely to ferment down to? I had assumed most of the cider sugars were going to be simple sugars and get to ~90% attenuation or so.

Or is my best bet simply to pitch the yeast and then take measurements every couple of days once fermentation slows down, then bottle with bottling sugar after I get two identical readings spaced 2 days apart?

Also, I assume no high krausen with cider? Or yes, still high krausen?

Thanks!