My Woodchuck clone lost it's Apple flavor....

[Finchy]

I started the batch on Wednesday the 13th. OG was 1.052. Fermented like crazy then slowed to a screeching halt today (Sunday the 17th). SG reads 1.010. Taste test was a little tart and not very much apple flavor at all!! I racked it to a secondary and put it in my wine cellar which holds a temp of approx 40-45 degrees hoping the yeast will stop, and it will clear up. I planned to let it sit for about a month before bottling. Will the apple flavor pick back up as it conditions? or did i overpower the apple juice with the grains and DME. Is there any extract or additive that would help? This was more or less an experiment but prior to fermentation, it smelled like sweet apple and beer deliciousness and i was psyched! Wondering if anyone has any ideas or thoughts. Receipe i followed is below. THANKS!

Steeped 8oz crystal 60L at 154 degrees for 20 min in 1 qt water
Sparged grains with 1 qt water at 170 degrees for 5 minutes
Combined, brought to boil and stirred in 8 oz of light DME.
Boiled 10 minutes then cooled rapidly and stirred into 2 gal of applejuice (not from concentrate).
Aerated and then stirred in starter i made from previous batch of Ale (Muntons plain Ale yeast i believe).

 

[BrewinJack]

I have never heard of such a recipe for a wood chuck clone. The reason you lost your apple tast is that the vigor of your fermentation literally bubbled it all away. I am guess you haven't bottled yet, if i am wrong please say so. I would simply use some top notch apple juice to prime the stuff before bottleing, if you were looking to go still, well Add another gallon of high grade apple juice and slow your fermentation by keeping your temp as close to 60 degrees as possiable. (I have has success around 58 degrees).

Drink them in good health

 

[flyweed]

you'll get some apple flavor back with aging. It all takes time. Don't rush it. If you are kegging..you can cold crash, or sorbate and sulphite the thing....backsweeten with some cider and carbonate it. Other than that...just let it age 6 months or so and taste then.

 

[CandleWineProject]

Funny - wine doesn't taste like grapes, yet people expect cider to taste like apples.

 

[Teromous]

My cider tastes like apples...yours doesn't?

 

[Finchy]

I got the idea from a thread titled "Apple Bee (Woodchuck Clone)" and used what i had laying around. I skipped the chocolate grains all together and used crystal 60L instead of 10L cause i had that laying around. Originally just an experiment, but now a mission to do it properly! BrewinJack if you have a receipe or can link me to one, i'd greatly appreciate it. This was only 2.5 gallons, and i put it out in the cold to stop fermentation. After racking again (in the cold) will this illiminate the yeast and prevent me from future bottle carbinating? I dont have the means to force carb at this time and would like it to be carbed a little.

 

[flyweed]

I've made the apple bee (woodchuck clone) and it's nothing like woodchuck. It has a bit of sour apple flavor, but is dominated by the chocolate malty flavor...it wasn't my favorite. If you want to try a nice cider recipe. I suggest you try the Southern Sweet cider recipe..and add just a tsp of cinnamon extract at kegging time...you'll love it, I guarantee. My wife is a woodchuck lover, and she loves my southern sweet cider recipe.

HTH
Dan

 

[CandleWineProject]

This was only 2.5 gallons, and i put it out in the cold to stop fermentation. After racking again (in the cold) will this illiminate the yeast and prevent me from future bottle carbinating? I dont have the means to force carb at this time and would like it to be carbed a little.

Oye. For starters, cold does not kill yeast, only makes it go dormant. UK cider makers allow their stuff to ferment outside, where it freezes, thaws, and starts fermenting again. I've been told that a "cold crash" works (because I was arguing it doesn't) if you rack it off the dormant yeast.

I'm a little fuzzy if you want a still or a carbonated cider. Killed yeast or not, it is really hard without a kegging system to have a bottled sweet sparkling cider. I mean, you can stop the ferment, but then you are adding in more sugar and yeast to carb, and it sees all the other yummy sugars that were there originally. Read this link on carbonating cider: http://www.cider.org.uk/part4.htm

 

[Finchy]

I do know that cold does not "kill" yeast. Perhaps poor wording on my part.... If at 40 degrees the yeast goes dormant and settles out, and i rack the fluid out into a new container, have i eliminated the yeast to the point where it will no longer ferment if i bring it back up to warmer temp.... I guess was my question. If so, i guess bottle carbinating is out. I know very little about cider/beer brewing and am learning as i go. I'd prefer the final product to be carbinated, but i dont have kegging equipment....yet. Sounds like it would be hard to keep the cider sweet and still carbonate it. Maybe if i bottle with a little added sugar, sit bottles at room temp for a week, then store it very cold to avoid further ferment (and bottle bombs) ?? Feasible??
Next i think i will go with the Southern Sweet cider recipe. Thanks again for all the replys

 

[CvilleKevin]

Finchy - you can use outside cold temperatures for cold crashing cider but it is not as reliable as holding the temp at a steady 35 or so in a fridge or ice bath. Ideally, it would be lower than 40, but 40 would probably do OK. You can tell by whether the cider clears up and you get a nice layer of new sediment on the bottom.

Your recipe sounds a lot more like a graff recipe than a woodchuck clone, and they often dont get very clear during the crash. The yeast still drops, but it is harder to tell. You'll just have to watch it for a while after you bring it up to room temp to be sure. Graffs often need a month or two to mellow. US05 works better for graff.

good deals on kegging systems pop up on craigslist. if you want to bottle carbonate, dont crash. search the forum for 'bottle pasteurization' on how to do this method

For a woodchuck clone, you need to start with some decent juice. South Jersey has plenty of orchards. Its getting near the end of the season, but a few of them should still be pressing out of cold storage http://www.allaboutapples.com/orchard/nj02.htm

Use S04 or Nottingham yeast. You shouldnt need to add any sugar. This late in the season most fresh juice will hit at least 1.060. Cold crash it somewhere between 1.012 and 1.008 to taste. You can make cider that is easily better than Woodchuck if you use good juice to start

 

[flyweed]

agreed with Cville----I too wanted to make a woodchuck clone..but have found, quite quickly that I can make a much better flavored hard cider than the woodchuck.

dan