My attempt at Cider...

[pumpkinman2012]

After attempting to make a high octane hard cider last season that ended up needing to age 9 months before it started to mellow out and ultimately resulting in more of a semi sweet Pinot Grigio than an apple cider or even an apple wine.

I decided to try it again, this time changing the recipe and going back to basics.
I use 5 gallons of fresh pressed apple cider straight from a local apple farm, Regular table sugar to bring the SG to a nice mild 1.070, I fermented with Nottingham yeast, and used Fermaid K.

My thoughts were that the Notty would ferment to approx. 1.010 giving me an ABV of 7% and a little residual sugar without stripping the apple flavor, in theory, it looked great....

In reality, the Notty fermented down to .994 giving the cider an ABV of 10%, the higher alcohol made it have the typical young wine/green taste that will correct itself with aging.

Fast forward a few months, I decided to taste it, it wasn't bad, but the apple was not very strong, and since I didn't want to end up with another batch of lack luster apple wine, I decided to add more apple flavor by adding 2 cans off 100% apple concentrate and a 64 ounce bottle of 100% pure apple juice, neither had sorbate added, and I back sweetened with light brown sugar and fresh wildflower honey.

The cider actually tasted like cider, but I felt that it was lacking something, I tried a few different samples adding ginger to one, cinnamon to another and ground cloves to the third sample, unfortunately, they weren't was I was looking for, however, I took a half oak infusion spiral, medium toast french, and 2 ounces of untoasted oak (untoasted oak can help to tone down harsh flavors and strong vegetal characteristics in wine), I let it sit over night and tasted it today, PERFECT!

The cider is great, the oak actually added a slight bourbon like taste on the back of your tongue that stays with you.
I'm going to prime and bottle in beer bottles, when it is carbonated, I think just a mild carbonation will work with this cider, I'll pasteurize it to kill off the yeast and stop any further carbonation.

If I remember, i'll try to post an update.


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[Pickled_Pepper]

Yep. Since it's all simple sugars even notty will eat it down below 1.000 if you let it go. I would have thought the ale yeast would have retained a little more cider flavor though. If you are looking for a young cider, try omitting the extra sugar for a "basic" batch. It won't be as high an ABV as wine, but typically more than a can of commercial beer.

I've yet to try oak in my ciders. Based on your post. I need to pick some up at the LHBS next time in there. Thanks for sharing your experiments.

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Pickled_Pepper,
The oak was nice and light, you could pick up the light oak and vanilla on the back of your tongue, I'm really pleased with this batch.
I've bottled the cider today, I'll crack a bottle open in a week to test it.
I'd avoid using chips, unless you are adding it during fermentation, a very seasoned wine making expert brought this to my attention, the active yeast metabolizes and buffers the oak. much like a barrel ferment.

 

[Stauffbier]

I added homemade vanilla extract (Rum and vanilla beans) to an oak spiral for a couple months and then put a splash of it in my apple cider. I agree that it's what it was missing all along. I think aging an apple cider in an oak whiskey or rum barrel would be awesome!

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

Someone gave me a bottle of JK's Cuveé Winterruption Cider last year for Christmas and I never thought I would enjoy cinnamon, vanilla and maple syrup in a cider, but that was some of the most complex cider I've ever had commercially. Granted it was a bit sweet and a touch heavy, but on Christmas morning it hit the spot.

I usually just make straight up cider, I guess it's time to go a little further.

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Stauffbier, that is an interesting idea, I'm racking my Bourbon Barrel Ale to a carboy in order to cold crash it for a few days...hmmmmm....I may have to got get a few gallons of fresh pressed apple cider.
PickledPepper, you should really try a little oak in yours, it really gives it a subtle layer of complexity.