How difficult is cider brewing?

[sportscrazed2]

I was talking to someone at work today and he said he just poured five gallons in a sanitized bucket and pitched the yeast. then added some lactiose at the end. is it really this easy. i would love to brew some but the apple orchard near here closes at end of month and i would need to hurry out there

 

[jamesnsw]

Yup! It's that easy. It can be harder if you want- picking just the right yeast, watching fermentation closely, temp control.

 

[shuf]

I've only made 30 gallons of cider, but so far I have found the process a lot simpler than making beer. I would recommend checking out the stickys at the top and the recipe database.

 

[sportscrazed2]

sweet sounds super easy. i am going to brew a pale ale this weekend should pick up another bucket to do a cider. the orchard closes on the 31st and hard cider is delicious

 

[sportscrazed2]

1 more question can i experiment to see what it would end up tasting like by pitching a dry ale directly into milk jug containing the cider?

 

[Hex]

Yup, no problem, just make sure the juice doesn't have preservatives in it or it will stop the yeast from doing their work. You can even stretch a balloon over the top of the jug with a pin hole in it to allow the escaping co2 to vent. You can even drink the yeast cloudy young cider after a week if you want a taste.

 

[Fletch78]

Another good practice is to pick up cambden tablets and treat the cider a day or two in advance before pitching the yeast, just to knock out wild yeasts and bacteria. It's not necessary, but skipping that step will eventually lead to a funky batch at some point. Some people prefer the funky wild fermentations.

 

[sportscrazed2]

alright I am thinking of picking up a gallon or so of cider and using a few oberweis bottles i have laying around to ferment in. any reccomendation of yeast? I like my cider a little on the sweet side with low to medium carbonation. I would prefer not to have to add sugar at the end. also should i even bother transfering cider to the milk jugs or should i just pitch it into the plastic jugs it came in? good idea on the balloon btw

 

[Fletch78]

I like my cider a little on the sweet side with low to medium carbonation. I would prefer not to have to add sugar at the end.

That's where "easy" gets complicated.

 

[sportscrazed2]

I think i will just pick up a gallon pitch some dry yeast and put balloon on top with a pin hole and see how it comes out. then i can make adjustments depending on how it tastes. should i aim for pasteurized no preservative beer? that way it's already sanitized?

 

[Fletch78]

If you wanted pasteurized cider, why would you make a trip to the orchard? You can get no-additive pasteurized juice at the grocery store (which, by the way, there's nothing wrong with). If you are going to an orchard for your juice, get it raw. And if you don't have or want cambden tabs, that's OK too. Your orchard may have a policy that everything is pasteurized because of local ordinance (like every orchard in my state) or liability. What if a lawyer makes a crappy batch of cider and his wife always wanted to live on a farm... see?

You are overthinking it. Make hard cider. Age half of it in the bottle, and sweeten the other half for quick drinking.

 

[sportscrazed2]

allright cool I work at a grocery store so I will probably pick up some cider after work. will probably pick up 2 gallons and use half a dry yeast pack on both. if it doesn't taste as well as i would like i will then try another batch adding sugar. can you carbonate in the milk jug? oh i was thinking of going to orchard because the stuff there is delicious. but the orchard is a long drive on the county line. i really don't feel like driving that far.

 

[CvilleKevin]

I like my cider a little on the sweet side with low to medium carbonation. I would prefer not to have to add sugar at the end.

If you are just doing gallon batches, then this is not as difficult because you can stop the fermentation by using ale yeast and chilling the cider when it has the amount of natural apple sugar that you like. The hard part is keep the cider stable with the residual sugar, but if its a small enough number of bottles that you can keep in the fridge, it gets a whole lot easier.

Also, if there is a cider mill with good cider, chances are its going to make better hard cider than what you can get in the store (unless you are lucky to work in a store where they have a good local supplier). UV pasteurization does not effect the taste as much as heat and most mills are going to UV

 

[sportscrazed2]

I bought a gallon of Langers Apple Juice today and some balloons. all i need is a packet of yeast to get going. do i need to pour any out before adding yeast so i have some headroom in the bottle?

 

[CvilleKevin]

Yes, depends on yeast but 4-6 oz out of a gallon is usually enough

 

[sportscrazed2]

allright cool what is a good yeast? i know i can get s-04 at the local liquor store that also sells brewing supplies

 

[iambetacloud]

You are overthinking it. Make hard cider. Age half of it in the bottle, and sweeten the other half for quick drinking.

:rockin:
true. and get an airlock if you can... $1.50 in most stores.
and cider is just like sex... when it's bad... it's still pretty good!

 

[lumpher]

pour the cider. add the yeast. put in the airlock. wait 2 months

 

[iambetacloud]

allright cool what is a good yeast? i know i can get s-04 at the local liquor store that also sells brewing supplies

made a few batches of cider that came out great, but not a master cider brewer at all... but i know this-

ale yeasts are great for me; they retain some sweetness and have a great final flavor.
champagne yeast is cool too; but a dry cider is the result.
sugars are also a factor; i like using honey, (cyser is the term for apple/honey brew), or brown sugar.
experiment and good luck!