snowman_fs
Well-Known Member
I want to give some feedback on my first cider and encourage more home brewers to give it a try. It was super simple and turned out just as planned. A good sign was that tonight my wife wanted me to bring all the other bottles and cans of store bought cider out of the fridge and get just get rid of them.
Before I started I had a tasting session and we settled on an FG in the 1.008 range for sweetness. I also wanted it to be as easy as possible so I planned on using a beer yeast that due to normal attenuation would end at the desired sweetness.
So I came up with the following:
10x 64 Oz of Market Basket Apple Juice.
1/2 Gal of Zieglers pressed Cider.
1x S-04 Dry yeast packet.
1 Tsp Wyest nutrient.
Approx 2 Lbs Dark brown sugar.
I pasteurized the 1/2 Gal cider, sugar and nutrient by heating it up to 160F on the stove. Then I mixed in 2 bottles of juice to drop the temp before I poured everything into the fermenter, splashing to aerate. I was targeting 1.060 SG but had 1.064. Pitched the S-04 directly at 24-25C and set to ferment at 17C on 3/19/2014. By 4/12/2014 I racked to a keg with lots extra. I could have used 9 bottles vs 10 of juice because I filled a growler as well as sampling two pints straight from the carboy. Carbed the keg with CO2 and chilled.
Ended perfectly at 1.008 FH when I kegged, (7.35% abv). Its almost clear, just a slight haze due to the pressed cider at the start. Very strong apple flavor and easy to drink. The girls are calling it "truth cider". It will end up being the fastest keg consumed in my house. I'll have to make a new batch asap and put it on the regular schedule.
Before I started I had a tasting session and we settled on an FG in the 1.008 range for sweetness. I also wanted it to be as easy as possible so I planned on using a beer yeast that due to normal attenuation would end at the desired sweetness.
So I came up with the following:
10x 64 Oz of Market Basket Apple Juice.
1/2 Gal of Zieglers pressed Cider.
1x S-04 Dry yeast packet.
1 Tsp Wyest nutrient.
Approx 2 Lbs Dark brown sugar.
I pasteurized the 1/2 Gal cider, sugar and nutrient by heating it up to 160F on the stove. Then I mixed in 2 bottles of juice to drop the temp before I poured everything into the fermenter, splashing to aerate. I was targeting 1.060 SG but had 1.064. Pitched the S-04 directly at 24-25C and set to ferment at 17C on 3/19/2014. By 4/12/2014 I racked to a keg with lots extra. I could have used 9 bottles vs 10 of juice because I filled a growler as well as sampling two pints straight from the carboy. Carbed the keg with CO2 and chilled.
Ended perfectly at 1.008 FH when I kegged, (7.35% abv). Its almost clear, just a slight haze due to the pressed cider at the start. Very strong apple flavor and easy to drink. The girls are calling it "truth cider". It will end up being the fastest keg consumed in my house. I'll have to make a new batch asap and put it on the regular schedule.
