modification?

[ClimberRGM]

Just got myself a samsons west Country cider kit (40 pint) and have read, on the reviews, that it doesn't taste very apple'y.

So, can I mod it and replace some of the sugar and water with pure apple juice (preservative free)

And champagne yeast? Yes or no. Want a stronger cider than the approx 5% the kit is suppose to make.

Cheers.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi ClimberRGM - and welcome.
Any wine yeast and just about every beer yeast will ferment dry a starting gravity of about 1.090. Champagne yeasts , in my opinion, are like using a sledge hammer to open a peanut. I would pick a yeast that either enhances the apple flavors (say, 71B or D47) or adds more complex flavors (saison yeasts or Nottingham or US -05 or 04). BUT , are you aiming to make a wine or a cider? Cider is usually drunk at the same ABV as a beer and in the same quantities so 5% ABV is in the ball park. An ABV of about 5% means that there is about 1 lb of fermentable sugar in every gallon of juice and that, IMO, is a little low perhaps for pressed apples used for cider. You might aim for a starting gravity of about 1.050 (potential ABV of about 6.5%) or 1.055 but much above that and you are really talking about apple wine. not cider.

 

[ClimberRGM]

I'm looking to create a cider approx 7-8% (around the same % as old rosie and henry westons) nothing higher. It's an experiment to see what I can do and how it effects the results.

My ultimate goal, when it comes to the right season, is to create a proper west Country scrumpy, with a proper west Country kick.

 

[MindenMan]

If you used apple juice concentrate, you could swap out 12 oz of the water per gallon and increase your O.G. by 0.014 per gallon.
1.046= 6.04%
1.060= 7.88%
This is of course if you ferment down to at least 1.000.
I have made many ciders many ways and the best tasting way has always been with a non-aggressive yeast fermented at a cool temperature. Champagne yeasts are very aggressive and bubble off a lot of the wanted aromatics during fermentation. Some great tasting ciders have been made with ale yeasts throughout the years; I have used ale yeasts for ciders and have had no complaints about the flavor. I have also used non-aggressive red wine yeast and had great results. I currently am using a Sweet Mead yeast to ferment a batch of cider at 68*F and my samples so far have tasted more apple-y than any of the yeasts I have used before. This yeast is good to 12% and after that it is supposed to leave a little residual sweetness; some users of this yeast have been very happy and some have not; the general complaint was fermentation quit too early and left too much sugar behind. At that point those people added a different yeast to chew through the rest of the sugar and I am hoping to not have that issue occur myself.

 

[ClimberRGM]

It's brewing nicely now. Didn't use the champagne yeast in the end and kept with the cider yeast.

Put the 1.5kg of sugar that the kit required, but replaced 3L of total water requirement with 3L of fresh pressed apple juice (no preservatives).

It's currently sat in the only room in the house that has a constant temp and is very happily bubbling away at 18C.

My plan is once it's finished fermenting; rack it into demijohns and then placed in the garage (which has a constant temp of approx 12C) and leave it for 3 months to mature.

Guessing throwing some Campden tabs in whilst racking would be a good idea?

 

[MindenMan]

As long as the gravity is above 1.020, it would help fermentation along to give the must a good stir; stir out some of the CO2 and stir in some O2 to help feed the yeast. If you haven't done so yet, look up Yooper for successful ideas for making making better cider/wine.

 

[Kmoorman]

It's brewing nicely now. Didn't use the champagne yeast in the end and kept with the cider yeast.

Put the 1.5kg of sugar that the kit required, but replaced 3L of total water requirement with 3L of fresh pressed apple juice (no preservatives).

It's currently sat in the only room in the house that has a constant temp and is very happily bubbling away at 18C.

My plan is once it's finished fermenting; rack it into demijohns and then placed in the garage (which has a constant temp of approx 12C) and leave it for 3 months to mature.

Guessing throwing some Campden tabs in whilst racking would be a good idea?

Hi, how did the modified cider work out? The reason I ask, is that I have a Samson West Country Cider Kit (Xmas gift) and I've read accounts of it being a little weak in terms of flavour, so I am looking to 'turbo it up a bit', perhaps somewhere half way between the 2, and if your mods were good I'd like to copy it.

Thanks

K