Making hard cider from store-bought apple juice

[vincentAlpha]

Good to know, I pretty much figured the actual juice would turn out a better result wrt the apple-ness of the cider. I am looking forward to seeing how it turns out, it has been in primary for about a week now and bubbling like mad for the last 5 days. Getting really clear with a nice compact yeast cake at the bottom. Thinking I'll grab some of the cake and start up another batch with better juice when I bottle or rack to secondary(debating the next bit).

 

[Jkalotai]

Unless you're in a hurry, I'd rack and let it settle for 10-14 days.


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[cmahar3]

My experience adding frozen concentrated apple juice has been good. It concentrates the apple flavor. But you can over-do it. I once added eight 12-oz frozen concentrates to a 1 gallon carboy, then topped it with apple juice. The initial SG was 1.15, almost as thick as maple syrup. When it finished fermenting it was over 18% ABV, but still sweet and super apple-tasting. It's too sweet for me, and I blend it down with a more dry cider before drinking it.

Recent discovery: At the grocery store Sprouts they sell an un-filtered apple juice in a 1 gallon clear carboy. You can ferment right in the container it comes in. I measured specific gravity and it was 1.050. I poured off just over 12 ounces, then added one 12-oz frozen concentrate apple juice, straight in, no added water. It brought the SG up to 1.060. Then I pitched in ale yeast, Coopers from diybeer.com.au and also I added a dozen little pieces of oak that I'd toasted in the toaster oven for 90 minutes.

Anyhow, you don't have to buy carboys at the brewing store. They cost me $8 each, and this one gallon bottle from Sprouts cost the same, $8 but came filled with unfiltered, & very cloudy apple cider, ready for fermenting. A #6 rubber stopper fits the bottle.

 

[zadam]

I have found that what makes a good tasting juice doesn't necessarily make a good tasting cider.

I have experimented with some really expensive organic top-shelf juices which taste amazing as juice, but the cider they give is actually not that great. Conversely I have also experimented with some cheap budget juices that are pretty bland as a juice, and although some of them are pretty nasty as cider, I have found that some of them are actually really good once you have it fermented.

 

[Randzor]

Zadam, that is probably because the fermentation brings out the apple varities they used... i.e never cook with honeycrisp, unless you like rubber.

 

[Jkalotai]

I make sure I buy juice and concentrate from US grown sources and use locally pressed cider. I'm lucky to live in CT as there are 5 mills less than 30 minutes away. Always look to see that potassium sorbate is NOT an ingredient.

 

[tomb1]

Don't use Market Pantry cider from Target. It develops a "brown" off flavor after primary fermentation. The stuff won't clear either, even with pectin. So far my batch made with Market Pantry apple juice is O.K.

I haven't liked three batches made with Musselman's cider until after six months of aging. They were very good afterwards.

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[Jkalotai]

I have had good luck with store bought juices. I look for juices with that just use absorbic acid as the preservative. I bring them home, toss in some dry yeast, put an air lock on and they go. Sometimes they are slow to ferment out but they will ferment; I have never had one not ferment. I have done apple, peach, rasberry, cranberry....It really so so much easier than beer and a great place for any new brewer to start. .

Ascorbic Acid is vitamin C, not a preservative.

 

[beernutz]

Ascorbic Acid is vitamin C, not a preservative.

Ascorbic acid is a preservative. It is added to neutralize oxygen which can cause foods/drinks to decay faster if not removed.

 

[Myke]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I've only done beer and mead in the past, but I'm about to do my first cider batch, either this weekend or the next. I appreciate the input. Here's to hoping it goes well.

 

[thaymond]

The Walmart Juice works very well...one of brew buddies has a great recipe. I have drank many of his batches....So I decided to make my own...will be back sweetening and bottling next weekend...then pasterurize a few days later...and we use the WL English Cider Yeast...the pic shows all the ingredients!

Wlp002 makes the perfect cider. I won't use anything else anymore.

I started using Indian Summer Michigan apple juice and blended 3.5 gallons with 1 gallon of Indian Summer Apple Cider. No absorbic acid, no preservatives, all whole apples or concentrate. I've made batches using the cheaper brands and they turn out subpar.

3.5 gallons IS michigan apple juice
1 gallon IS apple cider
2 lbs dark brown sugar (simmered until dissolved into 1qt of the IS michigan apple juice)
1L of Wlp002 (starter using 600ml of the IS michigan apple juice)

Ferment mid 60s.

In keg, add enough K meta and K sorbate for 5 gallons. Backsweeten at kegging with 2 cans of apple juice concentrate. (or one 1/2 gallon bottle of IS juice)

Keg at 40 degrees at 15 psi.

Once it's kegged I have to make another batch to keep up with demand.

 

[ImpendingDisaster]

For a change I made a 20 liter batch (ca. 5 gallons) with 12 l of apple juice and 8 liters of apple-lime juice (Sunrype brand) and threw in a 2 cups of boiled up white sugar. After 2 weeks fermenting and 2 weeks kegged and cold it was OK, but the lime taste was a bit too much. Now after an additional month, the flavors have blended quite nicely and it has a nice bite to it. I used 1118 champaign yeast.

OG: 1.049 @ 21 C, 70 F.
FG: 1.002
ABV= 6.2%

I definitely would do this again although with a little less Apple Lime.

 

[jmScott]

I use the Wal-Mart cheap crash and corn syrup because I was too lazy to run back to three hbs to pick up the dextrose I had put in my recipe so far I love it and might not need to back sweeten. Also add some cinnamon and clone to you brown sugar or some pumpkin spice

 

[Brewer_Chad]

I made cider with motts juice SG 1.054, FG 1.004. It cleared after 10 days, and I racked into secondary for 10 days. No more yeast has fallen out and it's clear. I used English Cider Yeast. I put 1.5 tsp of potassium sorbate last night. I started to taste to back sweeten and it was sparkling. Is fermentation done? Can I back sweeten with out a bomb?


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[holydrunkmonk]

No preservatives is the main thing to look for. I'm on my 10th gallon right now, I make it in 1 gallon batches. I found some apple juice at the store for $1.29 per 1/2 gallon an it works great. As for the yeast I would say that the champagne yeast will do what you want but you should also try Nottingham it works good also. If I were you I would make a 1 gallon batch first to see if you like it with the champagne yeast or some other strain. In the pic from the left is a hard lemonade, apple wine, JAOM, and a cinnamon apple cider. Cheers

how do you make the cinnamon apple cider. Can i just buy persavative free apple juice , toss a cinamon stick into it and then toss the yeast and some extra sugar (for the one gallon batch)

thanks

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Wlp002 makes the perfect cider. I won't use anything else anymore.

I started using Indian Summer Michigan apple juice and blended 3.5 gallons with 1 gallon of Indian Summer Apple Cider. No absorbic acid, no preservatives, all whole apples or concentrate. I've made batches using the cheaper brands and they turn out subpar.

3.5 gallons IS michigan apple juice
1 gallon IS apple cider
2 lbs dark brown sugar (simmered until dissolved into 1qt of the IS michigan apple juice)
1L of Wlp002 (starter using 600ml of the IS michigan apple juice)

Ferment mid 60s.

In keg, add enough K meta and K sorbate for 5 gallons. Backsweeten at kegging with 2 cans of apple juice concentrate. (or one 1/2 gallon bottle of IS juice)

Keg at 40 degrees at 15 psi.

Once it's kegged I have to make another batch to keep up with demand.

For the Indian Summer brand, what is the difference between the 'juice' and the 'cider'. I sat and looked at the bottles for 15 minutes in the store and could *not* tell the difference, other than the font used, everything basically looked the same. The 'cider' was on sale for 25 cents cheaper so I got 4 of those (all they had on the shelf) and 1 of the 'juice'.

Tossed in 1lb of homemade golden/amber candi sugar and yeast nutrient and the T-58 yeasties are happily making little babies right now, but I was curious if you happened to know the difference cause they looked seriously 100% the same when I was in the store.

 

[stella_tigre]

I'm in the middle of a test with 4 bottles of juice/cider. Indian Summer juice and cider and Tree Top juice and cider. Cider House Select yeast which is a Beastie yeastie, so we shall see. I agree that there is no apparent difference in the two IS products.

 

[thaymond]

For the Indian Summer brand, what is the difference between the 'juice' and the 'cider'. I sat and looked at the bottles for 15 minutes in the store and could *not* tell the difference, other than the font used, everything basically looked the same. The 'cider' was on sale for 25 cents cheaper so I got 4 of those (all they had on the shelf) and 1 of the 'juice'.

Tossed in 1lb of homemade golden/amber candi sugar and yeast nutrient and the T-58 yeasties are happily making little babies right now, but I was curious if you happened to know the difference cause they looked seriously 100% the same when I was in the store.

The Cider and juice packaging look the same. One I think is labeled juice and the other Cider. The juice is a straight apple juice. I like it because there's no added preservatives or vitamin c, which I've found makes it sour. The Cider juice has a Cidery flavor to it. I usually mix 80/20 juice to Cider. My Last batch was 80/20 Cider to juice, and it had a strong tart flavor to it. Halfway through the keg, I tossed in some Indian summer cherry juice, which was a big hit with the wife. Next time I may dry "hop" with mulling spices.

 

[thaymond]

These are the two I've used. Packaging sometimes varies.
View attachment 1427415106947.jpg
View attachment 1427415197820.jpg

 

[stella_tigre]

Where I get it, both the Indian summer juice and cider have vit C added. The juice did *NOT* say "Natural" on it. Absolutely no difference in appearance. The Tree Top juice was clearer than the TT cider - there was a hint of sediment in the cider. Neither had vit C, both much darker than the Indian summer. I sweetened all of them slightly to a "standard" value of 1.060-1.062 just to compare "apples to apples" *sorry*

I found the IS with the Cider House Select yeast to be a bit thin, not unlike using the EC1118 - finding ale yeasts to be better - but the test was to see if the TT brands fared any better.

Have some cider with IS sour cherry in secondary - we will see if it's better with Notty yeast than with CHS.

 

[fosaisu]

Tree Top Apple Juice is on sale through tomorrow (8/4/15) at Safeway, $1 per 64oz bottle when you buy four or more. Cheapest I've seen it ($10 for a five gallon batch!)
http://plan.safeway.com/Circular/Safeway-1248/785774417/Weekly/2/2

Did a bit of research and the shelf life (for optimum taste) for apple juice in plastic jugs is 12-18 months if stored in pantry conditions. So I'll probably be spinning by Safeway tonight to buy another batch or two worth of cider!

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

Just made some applejack with Indian Summer brand cider/juice. Added 1lb of gold candi sugar(5 gallons of juice). Let it age for almost 3 months, then iced 3 gallons down to 1.25 gallons. Tastes oaky and burboun-y. I need to make more now and with enough candi sugar to get it to the 8-9% range(if I'm gonna ice it, gotta make it worth while).

 

[thaymond]

Just made some applejack with Indian Summer brand cider/juice. Added 1lb of gold candi sugar(5 gallons of juice). Let it age for almost 3 months, then iced 3 gallons down to 1.25 gallons. Tastes oaky and burboun-y. I need to make more now and with enough candi sugar to get it to the 8-9% range(if I'm gonna ice it, gotta make it worth while).

I use IS with 1 lb of corn sugar, and 2 lbs of brown. It gets the base up in the 8 to 9% range. I like using wlp002 and get good results.

 

[djonesax]

I've done this a few times with store bought murry's apple cider which is not bad but usually pretty dry and needs some sweetening. I may try brown sugar in it next time. I just bought 5 gallons of it and dumped it into a freshly emptied fermenter, right on top of the yeast from a previous beer. It has enough SG to finish at aout 5% ABV.

The best tasting one I did was with a 50/50 mix of concentrated frozen white grape juice and apple juice but I only did one gallon.

 

[jtratcliff]

Tree Top Apple Juice is on sale through tomorrow (8/4/15) at Safeway, $1 per 64oz bottle when you buy four or more. Cheapest I've seen it ($10 for a five gallon batch!)
http://plan.safeway.com/Circular/Safeway-1248/785774417/Weekly/2/2

Same deal at Vons/Pavilions in SoCal. I think they are owned by Safeway.

I scored TT for $0.88/64oz. a couple weeks ago at Ralphs (owned by Kroger) in a similar deal... @$1.88 , $1 off each when you buy 4.

 

[sdenue57]

After djonesax reply, I'm thinking about throwing a bunch of apple juice on a Conan cake. Will let you know how it works out.

 

[slym2none]

I have small batch going, one half Martinelli's and one half some high-end, locally-made stuff that is unfiltererd (yes, it is pasteurized). It cost me $13 for a gallon, so it better make some good apfelwein!

 

[MNFirefly]

I have been making all of my apple cider batches out of the Whole Foods organic apple cider in a 1-gallon jug. If you use this, I highly recommend pouring some out in a highly sanitized container (if you plan to use it) or just drink it (but not straight from the jug. :smack

You will need to add sugar to the mix either in the form of a homemade syrup (1 cup freshly boiled water to 1 cups of your choice of sugar) or thawed frozen apple cider concentrate or you will have a very low ABV hard cider. I learned this from experience.

I have also used the other Whole Foods apple ciders in both Honeycrisp or Gravenstein apples with great results as long as you add additional sugar.

Cheers!

 

[franzy]

Would this be the 365 cider? I just did a 6g fermentation with this. Used champagne yeast with no additives and it came out a but funky/farmhouse. Could be other factors cuz its different than the 1 gallon test batches I did with this.

I have been making all of my apple cider batches out of the Whole Foods organic apple cider in a 1-gallon jug. If you use this, I highly recommend pouring some out in a highly sanitized container (if you plan to use it) or just drink it (but not straight from the jug. :smack

You will need to add sugar to the mix either in the form of a homemade syrup (1 cup freshly boiled water to 1 cups of your choice of sugar) or thawed frozen apple cider concentrate or you will have a very low ABV hard cider. I learned this from experience.

I have also used the other Whole Foods apple ciders in both Honeycrisp or Gravenstein apples with great results as long as you add additional sugar.

Cheers!

 

[MNFirefly]

Would this be the 365 cider? I just did a 6g fermentation with this. Used champagne yeast with no additives and it came out a but funky/farmhouse. Could be other factors cuz its different than the 1 gallon test batches I did with this.

Yes! I have been very satisfied with what I had come out with it because it has a lot great stuff on the bottom of the jug. I need to remind myself to shake it up before pouring it into a clean jug after my ingredients.