I'm underway

[Farmerdude]

Wanting to make my own still cider with apples I pressed my self I chose 12 pounds of Galla, 6 pounds of mcntash, and 2 pounds green tart apples....and last night made some delicious juice...I put most of if in a one gallon carboy with part of a crushed campden tablet....so to night when I add my yeast (red star premium cuvée...it's all I could find) do I have to do anything else to the yeast before adding it? Dissolve it in water and brown sugar? I don't want a super high alcohol content and plan to back sweeten if needed.. Thanks

 

[NTXBrauer]

Without a sugar addition before fermentation, you may end up with a somewhat drier cider in the end. As you mention above, if the plan is to back sweeten, then you should be fine. Adding a sugar at the end will allow you to sweeten to your taste. Up to this point, I have normally made an Apfelwein type of cider recipe, and always add corn sugar prior to fermentation.

With the fresh pressed apples you are using, I am sure it will turn out great! Cheers!

 

[madscientist451]

You don't need the whole pack for 1 gallon. Some just throw the yeast in, I usually rehydrate the yeast according to the directions on the pkg. The rehydration water should be warm but not hot. I mix it up in a jar, put a lid on and let it sit for 20 minutes or so. You can add a little sugar to the
rehydration water if you want to. If you can get some yeast nutrient, you can add that. Keep your fermenting cider in a cool area, like about 60-65 degrees. If you let it get too warm, that wine yeast will throw off some harsh flavors that will take a while to age out.

 

[bernardsmith]

Without a sugar addition before fermentation, you may end up with a somewhat drier cider in the end. As you mention above, if the plan is to back sweeten, then you should be fine. Adding a sugar at the end will allow you to sweeten to your taste. Up to this point, I have normally made an Apfelwein type of cider recipe, and always add corn sugar prior to fermentation.

With the fresh pressed apples you are using, I am sure it will turn out great! Cheers!

Not sure I agree that there is any (necessary) relationship between a higher specific gravity at the start and a more sweet cider at the end. The dryness/sweetness of the cider is related only to the amount of residual sugar in the cider after fermentation has ended. That COULD be because the yeast could not tolerate the concentration of alcohol in the cider and they died of alcohol poisoning or because even if they were still eager to create more alcohol you removed the yeast and stabilized the remnants and back sweetened the cider. You can do this with a cider at 5% ABV or lower or 12% ABV or higher. It don't make any difference. If there is residual sugar the cider will be sweet. If there is no residual sugar it will be dry. And the more residual sugar in the cider the sweeter it will be.