Making a simple cider, question.

[richlong8020]

Here's my plan for a Berry Cider

5 gal AJ
5 lb of frozen mix berries
2 lb brown sugar
An ale yeast
Yeast nutrient

Gonna heat up the berries in some AJ and then cool and strain it. Gonna push what I can through a SS mesh strainer and leave the seeds and junk out. With everything mixed well I'll pitch yeast and ferment at the proper temp. Lastly the plan was to ferm for about two weeks and toss into the keg. Maybe secondary if I really need to.

How does that sound to everyone? Am I on the right track? Thx for everything

 

[mikerlynch26]

Heat can activate pectin in fruit which will cause a haze in your finished cider that won't drop out with age. Also you can cause the fruit to have a "cooked" flavor rather than the pure fresh flavor most people want.

If you're worried about sterilization you can go the campden route, which is easily searched on this forum, with no heat. Also, a technique I've done in the past in order to have the fruit infuse better with the juice is to freeze the berries and then rough blend them with some of the juice. Essentially make a very chunky fruit smoothie. Then pitch that smoothie into the fermenter, add additional juice to top up, and wait until the temp drops enough to pitch yeast. This breaks down the cell walls of the berries and gets more surface area in contact with the juice. Also don't worry about straining, the skins of the berries are going to contribute a lot to the color of the cider and a tiny bit of tannin, which may be needed.

I'd still recommend pectic enzyme to ensure you don't get that haze. Also be aware the little bits of fruit can easily get stuck in an airlock, so you might want to think about a blowoff tube, at least initially. You're going to lose a good amount of volume to the fruit as well, so if you can cold crash your fermenter to get that sediment as compact as possible you'll get a better yield.

 

[richlong8020]

This is great info. Thank you.

I will blend them. Seems like the better way to go. I have a 8 gal bucket so I don't think I'll worry about blow offs.

When do I add the pectin enzyme and how much?

Cold crashing is a great idea. I have the ability to do that.

How long do you recommend the fermentation should be. Normal two weeks?

Any other info you feel would help would be great. Thx

 

[bernardsmith]

Pectic enzyme comes with instructions - but you want to add the enzyme about 12 hours or more before you pitch the yeast. Alcohol denatures the enzyme - so you want most of its work to be done before you begin fermenting.
How long should fermentation last? Until it is complete. That may be two weeks or it may be two months... Lots of factors are at play - from the amount of nutrients and minerals in the fruit to the type of yeast to the temperature of the fermentation to the amount of oxygen in the must.
The other thing is if you are making "cider" why are you fortifying it with molasses and sugar? Apple juice in and of itself will probably have a starting gravity close to 1.045 or even higher. The fruit probably has a similar amount of sugar per gallon of expressed juice so 5lbs of berries may raise the gravity by another 15 -20 points for an SG of around 1.065. Cider ain't beer and it will ferment bone dry so you are talking about a potential ABV of about 8.5%... Not really something the unknowing would want to drink by the pint.. if you know what I mean. Not really a cider - more like an apple -berry wine - to be sipped by the glass

 

[richlong8020]

Oh good call on the brown sugar. Thx for that heads up. I'm asking about the ferm because I was planning on doing a beer at the same time. This way the chamber isn't locked up for long periods of time. I live in SoCal so the heat during the day is climbing.