KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) Sweet/Tart Cider

[Vox]

My batch is bubbling away! I hope only sweetening to 1.6 will still yield a good cider, just around 5% or so I'm guessing.

 

[Safa]

Looking good!

I'd love to hear back from the OP, this thread is very interesting!

I'm in the middle of an experiment myself, added sugar to hit 1.066 and Im going to bottle with coopers at 1.020 and pasteurize to see how it turns out. Just a 1 gal batch, didn't want to waste a whole bunch if it turned out badly.

 

[Vox]

Debating going and adding more dextrose a week later to get it to 1.08 per recipe.

 

[TomTwanks]

Hey, this might be the stupidest question asked on hbt but by dextrose do you mean just simple table sugar or what?

 

[Jenkins]

Hey, this might be the stupidest question asked on hbt but by dextrose do you mean just simple table sugar or what?

Dextrose is corn sugar. I've seen it labeled as 'priming sugar' also. You can get it at any homebrew shop.

 

[leftcontact]

The consistency is usually closer to confectioner's sugar than your regular table sugar... But don't use confectioners, as its not pure dextrose, get the stuff from the Homebrew shop.

 

[Vox]

Bottled version 1.0 last night. I did let it ferment for almost a month instead of the recommended 7-10 days and didn't use as much sugar when I made it as I ran out. It tasted pretty good as it was. I then added only 4 tsp's of malic acid instead of 6 to start with. When I then tasted it with the malic acid, it had a slightly tart, Sour Patch Kid tang to it. My first time using Malic acid so I'm not sure what to expect.
I'm hoping it will meld/mellow out in the bottle. Will bottle pasteurize one carbonated and update everyone. Attached are pics of my readings pre and post malic acid and a pic of the finished product.

 

[MarkKF]

that looks great? what was your potential ABV?

 

[Vox]

that looks great? what was your potential ABV?

1.06 to 1.002 so @ 7.8%? I attached pics of my starting and ending gravities. I wonder if taking too long to bottle caused me to lose a lot of natural sweetness. May have to try again and stop it in time once Upstate Mike gives us the kiss 2.0 recipe. I might skip the malic acid next time if it doesn't meld with the cider when I start drinking this batch. I don't care for the sour/tart finish.

 

[absoluthamm]

So mine is now finished and I also let mine go a little further than in the OP, mine is down to 1.010. The question I have is on kegging. This will be my first cider kegged, and I am wondering if I have to do anything special. I have kegged quite a few beers, so kegging isn't the issue, it's that you all are mentioning pasteurizing when bottling. How can you/would you want to do this with kegging?

Thanks

 

[mchrispen]

I have bottled from keg... But you will want to keep the bottles fridges. Left a couple out over the holiday, and they really dried out. I mean WAY dry. I carbed low, so they didn't bomb. I back sweeten in the keg, so the yeast woke up to a holiday feast.

Anyway, you might want to pasteurize the bottle after. I suggest taking them into cold water up to temp, rather than shocking already carbed cider. Or cracking the cap slightly while bringing up to temp and then recrowning after. Even with the low CO2 level, I have had crowns dome in the water bath.

 

[BadgerBrigade]

sounds tasty, i just saw AO in the store and have yet to try it.

The crisp apple is not nearly as good as the Traditional dry...

 

[BadgerBrigade]

Speaking of "Kiss Cider", has anyone tried the real "kiss Cider"?
Its a cider from Lithuania. And although I don't like sweet stuff I must say this Cider was wild! Very prominent flavors of the fruit! The strawberry smelled and tasted like I was eating one!

Even the snozz berries tasted like snozz berries... Lol

 

[absoluthamm]

I have bottled from keg... But you will want to keep the bottles fridges. Left a couple out over the holiday, and they really dried out. I mean WAY dry. I carbed low, so they didn't bomb. I back sweeten in the keg, so the yeast woke up to a holiday feast.

Anyway, you might want to pasteurize the bottle after. I suggest taking them into cold water up to temp, rather than shocking already carbed cider. Or cracking the cap slightly while bringing up to temp and then recrowning after. Even with the low CO2 level, I have had crowns dome in the water bath.

I actually wasn't even planning on bottling at all, just kegging the whole batch.

 

[dr_al]

The crisp apple is not nearly as good as the Traditional dry...

Agreed. I prefer the dry or the ginger now that I have tried the 3.

 

[BadgerBrigade]

Agreed. I prefer the dry or the ginger now that I have tried the 3.

There are 5 angry orchards....

I can't find that ginger batch around here
But that dry was not bad at all....
You want to try an AWESOME angry orchard.... Try the Strawman!
I here the iceman is good too but have not tried.

 

[mchrispen]

I think you should be fine without pasteurization as long as the keg temps are below 40F or so.

I tend toward lower ABV, and not over feeding yeasts... So pasteurizing bottled ciders are a necessity for me.

 

[Vox]

There are 5 angry orchards....

I can't find that ginger batch around here
But that dry was not bad at all....
You want to try an AWESOME angry orchard.... Try the Strawman!
I here the iceman is good too but have not tried.

Wtf. Never heard of strawman or iceman are they seasonal?

 

[aubiecat]

 

[UpstateMike]

Wtf. Never heard of strawman or iceman are they seasonal?

They are relatively new, and not available everywhere. I can not get them here in Upstate NY. I called Beers Of The World (they have everything), and they said it may be a month before they are able to get some.

 

[dr_al]

There are 5 angry orchards....

I can't find that ginger batch around here
But that dry was not bad at all....
You want to try an AWESOME angry orchard.... Try the Strawman!
I here the iceman is good too but have not tried.

Yup 5 but only 3 I can get my hands on. Ten a six pack except the dry its 8 over here.

 

[Vox]

I just tried to find it to have it shipped since they only distribute it to some states, of which AZ is not one. I found it on France44.com but it's 16.00 in shipping so I didn't order. My gf is from MN originally where they are based so I may have one of her friends ship it to me flat rate.

 

[bfinleyui]

Any sign of 2.0 yet?

Edit: err, found in another thread you said 2.0 has been laid to rest, any thoughts on 3.0?