Making cider with Kroger Honey Crisp juice

[Gunshowgreg]

Hey guys I'm sure something like this has been done before. But I'm curious to know how others experience went. I made a 1 gallon batch with this so I could experiment. I wasn't too scientific with it. I mixed 1 cup of brown sugar with some of the juice on the stove. Not too hot. Topped it off with the juice. Gave it a good shake. Im not looking for a high ABV or an overly sweet cider. Maybe medium sweet but I prefer dry, my wife likes sweet [emoji19]. Let it ferment for a week and half until fermentation stopped. I also added 1.5 teaspoons of yeast nutrients for the first 3 days. 1/2 a teaspoon each day. Once fermentation stopped I racked to secondary. And I'll probably leave it there at least till September or October (I'm overseas now and won't be home for a while. )

I have added pics of the juice/cider I used and also the type of yeast.

Right now it's a "rustic" cider. But idk how to clear it up if I want to later on.

If you've done this I'd like to know how it went for you.

Also wondering if adding about 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon is a good idea also while it's in the secondary? (My wife can do it while I'm gone so no worries there)

Also any tips for bottling are welcome (priming sugars to carbonite, or just drink flat like a wine)

I made this post longer than I wanted. Thanks everyone on this site who helps me. The experience here is invaluable and is greatly appreciated.

Greg
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[S-Met]

Time clears all brews...

Unless you stop it, it will ferment dry. Personally, I like a drinking cider thats lower abv so I rarely add sugar. Most store juice will get you around 1.055-1.060 range and will ferment to 0.995 depending on yeasts. Thats around 7%abv.

 

[Pappers_]

My experience is the same as @S-Met 's I use Nottingham beer yeast when I make grocery store juice cider. Sometimes, I'll backsweeten with a little more juice or a different kind of juice (like pomegranate or raspberry) to give a touch a sweetness if that's what we're looking for.

 

[thaymond]

Adding sugar is unnecessary for ciders unless you're looking for something that will put you on the floor after 2 pints. I use the generic Aldi Apple juice and yeast for all my ciders. For less than 20 bucks, I get 5 gallons of 6.5% hard cider.

I have been using WLP002 for my ciders, and they finish around 1.002 to 1.006. I keg, so I will back sweeten after using K sorbate and K meta. My wife likes it semi sweet.

I am curious to hear how the honey crisp juice experiment turns out. I may give it a whirl myself.

 

[Gunshowgreg]

Does anyone age their ciders in secondary? If so how long? Anyone use cinnamon either or just leave that crap out? Looking forward to a nice drink to start off the autum season [emoji260][emoji262][emoji260][emoji316][emoji316] I live in Louisiana so what ever colder temps I can get I embrace so it be nice to have something to pair with.

 

[Gunshowgreg]

I'll be sure to give you an update as we go along also.

 

[Maylar]

I age my ciders in secondary up to about a year. Cinnamon can be added during primary, but use whole spices not powdered. One stick per gallon usually works.

 

[madscientist451]

I've added cinnamon in cider and sometimes have added too much. More is not better.
You can make a tincture with cinnamon sticks, and either vodka or grain alcohol.
Put 3-4 sticks along with about 500ml vodka in a jar and let it sit 2-3 weeks. Discard the cinnamon sticks. Pour out a 1oz shot of cider and use a dropper to add drops of your tincture. When you get the flavor you like, do some math to figure how much to add per bottle or to the whole batch.
On a side note, if your cider doesn't taste perfect, don't toss it out. I make lots of cider, and some is better than others. Sometimes I'll drink it with beer, making an apple ale, or blend it with something else or use it when cooking chicken, fish or pork.

 

[Gunshowgreg]

Ok I'll probably just leave it as is for now. Thanks for your help. But I do like that tincture idea. Perhaps on the next batch. When back sweetening is there anything in particular (other than more juice) used by others to sweeten it?

 

[ebbelwoi]

Ok I'll probably just leave it as is for now. Thanks for your help. But I do like that tincture idea. Perhaps on the next batch. When back sweetening is there anything in particular (other than more juice) used by others to sweeten it?

You can backsweeten with nonfermentable sweeteners like Stevia, Truvia, etc. The yeast can't do anything with them. If you add juice, you have to drink it up before the yeast ferments it all away (adding more alcohol and CO2).

 

[Gunshowgreg]

Good call! I prefer the dry stuff anyway but I guess I'm making for my wife also.

 

[ebbelwoi]

Good call! I prefer the dry stuff anyway but I guess I'm making for my wife also.

Some of the folks here might cringe at the idea, but you could always add a shot of flavored syrup (like Torani) when you serve it. It's got about 10g of sugar per tablespoon, and she could even choose the flavor.