Kit best way to start?

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kryznic

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Is the Mr. Beer kit a good way to start getting into ciders or do I not need to go that route? I have basic brewing equipment but have never done a cider and would love to try it since the season is coming. If anyone has any good tutorials too that would be great. Thanks!

-Chris
 
I bought some organic apple juice. It came in glass one-gallon jugs. It was pasteurized. I just dumped the yeast into the jugs, and used the appropriate sized stoppers/airlocks.
 
The best way to start is yeast + juice. After your first batch you can start using different sugars, temperatures, yeast strains, backsweeteners etc.
 
Nateo said:
I bought some organic apple juice. It came in glass one-gallon jugs. It was pasteurized. I just dumped the yeast into the jugs, and used the appropriate sized stoppers/airlocks.
Click to expand...

That is what I do. Can buy the empty gallon jugs for 8 bucks at the LHBS or full of apple juice from the grocery store for 7 bucks. Go figure.

I like the Mr. Beer kegs for fermenting. I buy them used when I find them. I am a small batch kinda guy and the Mr. Beer kegs are the perfect size for me.
 
In another thread, I posted this "recipe version" of how to make a cider. This is for what Ben Watson calls a 'draft-style' cider - light, carbonated, semi-dry (i.e. with some sweetness to it), and bottle conditioned. It makes a good quality cider and is astonishingly simple.


1. add 5 gallons of apple cider or juice to a sanitzed carboy

2. add 3 teaspoons pectic enzyme to the cider

3. add one packet of dry ale yeast such as Nottingham

4. put on a stopper and airlock, or loosely cover with sanitized aluminum foil

5. let ferment for approximately 1 - 2 weeks, until the cider is at the balance of sweetness /dryness you desire; if you use a hydrometer, a reading of 1.010 will be semi-dry

6. prepare a priming solution of 2/3 cups white sugar boiled in 2 cups of water; cool to room temperature

7. add priming solution and cider to bottling bucket

8. bottle and cap, using beer bottles

9. allow bottles to conditioned and carbonate in an area at least 70 F

10. wait one week and then begin occasionally testing bottles for carbonation process by opening one and tasting

11. when desired carbonation level is reached (but before bottles begin exploding), pasteurize the cider to kill the yeast and stop fermentation; prepare a hot water bath of 190 F water, carefully set the bottles in the bath for ten minutes and remove; repeat until all the bottles are pasteurized
Click to expand...

Hope this helps!
 
sweet! thanks for the instructions and tips! Does anyone know about how much alcohol by volume you can get from a 5 gallon batch? I purchased Shop Rite brand Apple Cider, ingredients says APPLE JUICE and APPLE JUICE CONCENTRATE. No preservative. I also bought some champagne yeast and some yeast nutrients just in case. I would like to get a decently high alcohol out of this for a Halloween party :)
 
well im not going to do the math for you but regular apple juice runs about 4.5% in my experience. adding sugars to bump up the gravity will make it taste less like cider the higher you go so think about using concentrate if you want to make it more potent. do you have and know how to use a hydrometer?
 
Also, the higher the abv, the longer it will take for the cider to taste good. If you have a target of Halloween and this is your first cider, I'd just make a regular old simple cider. Juice + pectic enzyme + yeast.
 
Just use champagne yeast? Or should I try the natural apple yeast?

I do have and know how to read a hyrdrometer :)

thanks
 
Pappers said:
Also, the higher the abv, the longer it will take for the cider to taste good.
Click to expand...

I have learned this from experience. I attempted a potent cider and my first sample tasted like a VERY strong wine, almost like strait up booze. Its been backsweetened and sitting since early july, hopefully ready by halloween.
 
That recipe looks super easy. I am just concerned with how dry it will turn out, I would prefer a tad of sweetness. I suppose I could just check the gravity and when it gets somewhere I like add in some potassium sorbate? I could be wrong on what it is actually called but its something that kills the yeast and stops fermentation.

Looks like the 4184 Sweet Mead by Wyeast might be a good option.

Has anyone tried the natural yeast found on organic apples to produce a starter?
 
Pappers said:
Also, the higher the abv, the longer it will take for the cider to taste good. If you have a target of Halloween and this is your first cider, I'd just make a regular old simple cider. Juice + pectic enzyme + yeast.
Click to expand...

What is the pectic enzyme used for? To clear the cider? When should this be added?


Also, will I have to rack to a secondary? I usually do with my brews but there won't be any trub with the cider right?

Thanks.
 
kryznic said:
What is the pectic enzyme used for? To clear the cider? When should this be added?


Also, will I have to rack to a secondary? I usually do with my brews but there won't be any trub with the cider right?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Yes the pectic enzyme is to help the cider clear. For a light semi-dry carbonated in the bottle cider, I do not use a secondary. Look on the previous page and the recipe I listed is pretty complete to what I do.

What I do is not the only way to make cider, of course. There are many types of ciders and many methods for making them. The process I use has the great advantage of simplicity.
 
thank you! I'm going to give this a run tomorrow, I just have to pick up some pectic enzyme. I have some champagne yeast, but I think I will pick up some Wyeast 4184 sweet mead yeast as well and split this up into separate batches. One with the champagne yeast, one with the Wyeast and one with natural/wild yeast and the other 2 gallons whatever I have left over. Should be a fun experiment :)
 
You don't have "Trub" -- the protein and cellulose muck with bottle Apple juice.... but you do end up with plenty of Yeast cake on the bottom...

Wyeast sweet mead is useful when you want to "Stick" a fermentation for a sweeter product.... Unfortunately, it runs a bit higher Alcohol tolerance than most Ciders -- so it will probably still run dry.... Remember -- most apple juice runs 10-13 brix or so... so you won't get much past 7% alcohol

It's not really a good idea to top out on Alcohol with Cider, though... Leaves too many weird flavors that take forever to age out... The easiest way to stop fermentation with Cider is to cold crash it in the fridge when it is at your target SG -- usually 1.01 to 1.02 range for sweet ciders.... then rack it off, put it back in the fridge for a few more days till it clears good, then rack it off again, then sorbate it or Bottle and stove top pasteurize.

Start out with a nice clean, neutral Ale yeast -- Nottingham is my personal favorite.... Most ale yeasts are also quite nicely behaved when it comes to speed of fermentation (Not too fast) and ability to cold crash (Champagne yeasts are famous for not crashing particularly well...)

Thanks

John
 
truckjohn said:
The easiest way to stop fermentation with Cider is to cold crash it in the fridge when it is at your target SG -- usually 1.01 to 1.02 range for sweet ciders.... then rack it off, put it back in the fridge for a few more days till it clears good, then rack it off again, then sorbate it or Bottle and stove top pasteurize.
Click to expand...

John (and everyone) - I don't cold crash so am not speaking from personal experience, but am wondering if those who do cold crash can speak to this. My understanding is that if you cold crash it and rack off the yeast, you are stopping the fermentation by removing the yeast. In other words, when you return the cider to room temperature (after cold crashing and racking) fermentation will not start up again - that's the point of it.

So that's great for still cider. And you don't need to use sorbate or pasteurizing. But, if you want to make sparkling cider (bottle conditioned not kegged), cold crashing doesn't help you.

Am I mistaken?
 
Personally, I don't trust cold crashing alone to stabilize Cider.... Yeast goes Dormant -- it doesn't die from cold temperatures... If you want some sweetness, you either gotta sorbate it or pasteurize it... Your choice. (I haven't fooled with Keeving, so I can't comment....)

Making sparkling cider without kegging or priming just depends on your timing.....

When I want a slightly sweet, sparkling drinking cider -- I cold crash when I hit my target SG and rack straight into bottles, cap, and immediately stove top pasteurize..... I honestly haven't ever needed to prime or keg -- they come out sparkling when I do it this way....

No de-gassing = plenty of carbonation for my tastes.... Now, it's not Champagne carbonation levels, but it is very nicely sparkling and makes a great drink on a hot day!

The down side is that you get a little trash in the bottom of the bottles after 2-weeks in the fridge.... but after a few weeks to a month - it stays put pretty nicely. Pour slow and all you get is a nice clear glass of carbonated cider.

Thanks

John

Pappers said:
John (and everyone) - I don't cold crash so am not speaking from personal experience, but am wondering if those who do cold crash can speak to this. My understanding is that if you cold crash it and rack off the yeast, you are stopping the fermentation by removing the yeast. In other words, when you return the cider to room temperature (after cold crashing and racking) fermentation will not start up again - that's the point of it.

So that's great for still cider. And you don't need to use sorbate or pasteurizing. But, if you want to make sparkling cider (bottle conditioned not kegged), cold crashing doesn't help you.

Am I mistaken?
Click to expand...
 
truckjohn said:
Personally, I don't trust cold crashing alone to stabilize Cider.... Yeast goes Dormant -- it doesn't die from cold temperatures... If you want some sweetness, you either gotta sorbate it or pasteurize it... Your choice. (I haven't fooled with Keeving, so I can't comment....)

Making sparkling cider without kegging or priming just depends on your timing.....

When I want a slightly sweet, sparkling drinking cider -- I cold crash when I hit my target SG and rack straight into bottles, cap, and immediately stove top pasteurize..... I honestly haven't ever needed to prime or keg -- they come out sparkling when I do it this way....

No de-gassing = plenty of carbonation for my tastes.... Now, it's not Champagne carbonation levels, but it is very nicely sparkling and makes a great drink on a hot day!

The down side is that you get a little trash in the bottom of the bottles after 2-weeks in the fridge.... but after a few weeks to a month - it stays put pretty nicely. Pour slow and all you get is a nice clear glass of carbonated cider.

Thanks

John
Click to expand...

So John, how long do you wait between bottling and drinking for it to be carbonated? Thanks
 
So I dunno, I tasted my cider today after about 8 days of fermentation and it currently have a gravity reading of 1.013 and it tastes and smells not so good. It's still cloudy even after adding peptic enzyme. It has this twang, sourness to it. I still taste some apple but I dunno I wouldn't serve it to guests.

Guess I should just let it go a few more days and see how it does? Or should I start over? Maybe its the yeast I used? I used Red Star champagne yeast. But it don't taste anything like champagne either. Maybe its still green.
 
My cider sat 6 weeks before I bottled it. When yeast ferments, it makes a lot of gross byproducts. It will eventually clean up after itself, so to speak, but that takes time. Like 4 weeks at least.
 
well the problem I have with that is I don't want the cider to be too dry which means I'll have to pasteurize it and then the yeast won't get a chance to clean it up. Unless I just let it go as far as it can and then add back some AJ before I bottle it to give it some sweetness.

Or can I add some table sugar now and maybe the yeast will feed on that instead of the AJ sugars?
 

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