Yes, you would need to add water, and probably a little sugar too. I haven't made cider from concentrate since I was in college, so I don't really remember how many cans for a 5 gallon batch. You could just follow the directions on the can, and scale it to 5 gallons based on those specs, and add a pound of two of sugar.
Last batch I did out of concentrate I bought 14 or 15 if I recall and 3 were for back sweetening, the rest made the juice, added 1 can of concentrate without the water to. Bump the og... ended up around 9%...
Questions:
How many cans would you need for a 5 gallon batch and do you add water? If not, wouldn't the concentrate be too sweet? Anyone ever do it this way and how did it turn out?
I will need to get the correct OG (looking for 1.130 - 1.140).
Buying the 3 qt bottles of house brand apple juice at Wally World for $2.79 each, puts 5 gallons just a shade under $20.00. I don't remember what I paid last trip for FAJC, I am thinking $1.50 or so. If that price is correct, it's a 50/50 deal price wise.
you are looking at 17% - 18.5% ABV if this goes down to 1.000. Plan on waiting 18 months before drinking it, because it will be absolute paint thinner until that time.
Do you ever add Acid Blend or Tannin to make it a bit more complex?
Just bought 16 cans of frozen concentrate at Walmart. $1.47 each! Now I'm just waiting for my Acid Blend, Tannin & Pectic Enzyme to show up tomorrow so I can start it all in my new FastFerment!Easy Hard cider made the way the big guys do it a save money
The easy way to make hard cider is from frozen juice concentrate. The big guys use juice from concentrate; just read the ingredients label on the store bought ciders. This Allows for year around production at a very reasonable price.
How much concentrate is needed for five gallons depends on the alcohol content desired. I found 16 can of apple juice concentrate gave me the OG of 1.058 or potential alcohol of 7.88 ABV and my total cost to make 5 gallons of store bought cider was $30.70. I ended up with 2.5 cases bottled and at the store cost of 9.00 a six pack or $90.00 total that is quite savings just under $60.00.
The sugar in the apple juice concentrate ferments very dry and potential alcohol is closely accurate to what is produced.
To get body and sweetness in the cider one must add complex sugar the yeast cannot eat.
I have had good success using apple juice concentrate for cider in gallon batches and five gallon batches.
Here is a link to my five gallon video http://youtu.be/SkLcCJ-hew4
Here is a link to my 1 gallon video http://youtu.be/gLBHNAPbkJ4
Yes. Both.
How much Tannin & Acid Blend for a five gallon batch? Should I use Pectic Enzyme as well?
Thanks
I use all three. 2-1/2 tsp. Acid Blend, 2-1/2 tsp. pectin Enzyme. 1tsp. Tannin.
Crap... You just reminded me that I forgot to add the enzymes to my last batch in the fermenter....
Oh well... it still tastes good...
Did you happen to take a gravity reading on the undiluted concentrate?
I'm going to be making an "ice" cider soon and I'm trying to figure out what ratio of cider/juice to concentrate I will need to get the correct OG (looking for 1.130 - 1.140).
I use all three. 2-1/2 tsp. Acid Blend, 2-1/2 tsp. pectin Enzyme. 1tsp. Tannin.
Add it when you're starting primary?
pitched some EC-1118.... I'm gonna try to stop it around 1.010 or 1.012
I don't think youre gonna have a very easy time stopping 1118 from fermenting to dry.
Just reconstitute the cans and use like normal juice. You'd have to check the gravity but I'd guess it would come out close to standard apple juice (Mott's bottled apple juice is 1.05, for reference). So the easiest thing to do would be to make 5 gallons of reconstituted juice and just pitch your yeast into it.
As to whether you should add some extra cans of undiluted concentrate (or add additional sugar) before fermentation to pump up the ABV, that just depends on how strong you want your cider to be. The only cider I've made I intentionally stopped fermentation before it was complete, but if you let it go all the way I've read it will reach an FG near 1.00, which would give you an ABV of 6.7% assuming you started at 1.05. If you want more alcohol than that, add more concentrate (undiluted) or sugar up front. If you're trying to approximate commerical hard ciders available in the USA, I think you'd want 5% - 6% ABV.
If you're planning to add concentrate (undiluted) or sugar for sweetness after fermentation is complete, just remember that will cause additional fermentation, leading to more alcohol and carbonation and less sweetness, unless you take steps to prevent fermentation (refrigeration, kegging + refrigeration, bottle pasteurizing). Just something to be aware of given the risk of bottle bombs. Because I wanted to make semi-sweet, carbonated ciders and was nervous about bottle pasteurizing, I waited until I got a kegging setup to make my first cider.
Left-click on a member's name or avatar space in the left sidebar to see their profile.how would you recommend carbonating at home? If I have a a couple of sixtels that I want to carbonate into?
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