making 5 gallons of cider for xmas!

[reltuc]

hey all,

my wife and i went down to a local cider squeeze and purchased 5 gallons with the intent of making a batch of hard cider for christmas.

questions:

- the cider is pasteurized (no sugar or preservatives), does this mean i'll need to use a campden tablet before fermenting or not?

- my plan is to place all 5 gallons into a 5gallon carboy and pitch one packet of red star montrachet wine yeast, then letting it ferment for a month before bottling. is this enough yeast and enough time to ferment out?

thanks!

 

[CA_Mouse]

It should be plenty of both space and time. Perhaps hold back 1/2 a gallon to use for back sweetening. The wine yeast will dry it out and you may want to use the unfermented cider to prime bottles/back sweeten it. I usually ferment 5 gallons and have a gallon in reserve.

 

[reltuc]

It should be plenty of both space and time. Perhaps hold back 1/2 a gallon to use for back sweetening. The wine yeast will dry it out and you may want to use the unfermented cider to prime bottles/back sweeten it. I usually ferment 5 gallons and have a gallon in reserve.

awesome! so my last question for you is, will i need to use campden tablets or can i just dump the 5 gallons in and pitch yeast? it's been pasteurized (not sure if hot or cold), and have no preservatives or sugar added.

 

[WIBrewer83]

I have a cider recipe that I've made 10+ times now. I use 5g of regular apple juice and add 2lbs of priming sugar before pitching the yeast. It normally ferments out in a week, but I don't keg for 2 weeks. I then back-sweeten with frozen concentrate and a caramel mixture. Since it stays in the kegorator at temps around 40, no need to add anything to stop the yeast. Will you keep it refrigerated?

 

[reltuc]

I have a cider recipe that I've made 10+ times now. I use 5g of regular apple juice and add 2lbs of priming sugar before pitching the yeast. It normally ferments out in a week, but I don't keg for 2 weeks. I then back-sweeten with frozen concentrate and a caramel mixture. Since it stays in the kegorator at temps around 40, no need to add anything to stop the yeast. Will you keep it refrigerated?

my plan was to keep it in a swamp cooler to maintain somewhere around mid-60's for fermentation. keep in mind i've only done beer brewing so far, and have no idea what temperature is appropriate for cider.

 

[CA_Mouse]

Mid 60*F to ferment. Campden tablets if you are planning on bottling will work, but I just stove top pasteurize after bottling. If I'm going to carbonate it, I'll keg it and bottle off the keg, then keep it chilled.

 

[reltuc]

Mid 60*F to ferment. Campden tablets if you are planning on bottling will work, but I just stove top pasteurize after bottling. If I'm going to carbonate it, I'll keg it and bottle off the keg, then keep it chilled.

ok, looks like i'll just be pitching yeast onto the cider tomorrow.

when its fermented out, is it acceptable to follow the same guidelines for batch priming 5 gallons of beer? i usually mix 2cups water and just under half a cup of honey into the wort, figured i'll do the same for the cider.

 

[Maylar]

Cider carbonates the same as beer.

 

[CA_Mouse]

ok, looks like i'll just be pitching yeast onto the cider tomorrow.

when its fermented out, is it acceptable to follow the same guidelines for batch priming 5 gallons of beer? i usually mix 2cups water and just under half a cup of honey into the wort, figured i'll do the same for the cider.

I only use a cup of water when I bottle condition any of mine.

 

[MindenMan]

Cider is much more temperature sensitive than beer is. The lower the temperature you ferment at the better for the cider and the less aggressive the yeast is the better for the cider's flavor.
If I may suggest for your next batch of cider, use Wyeast 4184 Sweet Mead Yeast; ferment at no warmer than 60*F and the stone fruit flavors generated during fermentationwill amaze you.