New to Cider

[johnsonbrew]

I have been reading throught these threads and I am getting a lot of different opinions on the cider brewing process. I was hoping to have a hard cider for my Octobrewfest funtion near the end of October. I was going to give it around 3 to 4 weeks to complete but now it seems like that is no where near enough time to get a good cider completed. Does anyone have any ideas on if I can brew a quicker batch, I can get started immediately if necessary. I would like to brew a semi-sweet cider, but not so dry. Any suggestions on yeast would be great too. I plan on brewing a 5 gallon batch. My basic idea was to use 4 gallons fresh apple cider and maybe 1 gallon of organic pear juice and throw in a few spices towards the end of the secondary fermentation process and then force carbonate and serve in a keg. Thanks for any advie in advance.

 

[sa101]

Absolutely that's enough time! Just start her up and watch the gravity reading fall! My 5 gallon batches take about 10ish days to drop from 1.05 to 1.01. If you want the spices to be stronger then add them into the primary, otherwise let them mellow in a bag in the secondary for a couple of days after racking, which will give the cider time to clear out a bit and absorb the spices. I highly suggest Upstatemikes caramel cider recipe.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/caramel-apple-hard-cider-292770/

It's on the sweeter side, but you can just let it ferment for a little longer until you're happy with the dryness.

I use S-04 yeast. A lot of guys use Nottingham too. Pretty sure they're the standard yeasts used

 

[johnsonbrew]

Cool, thanks, if I let it go for 2 to 3 weeks will that turn into something less than desireable? I see where a lot of people let their ciders sit for months and sometimes up to a year?

 

[johnsonbrew]

On the carmel apple cider does it need to be pasturized? I planned on kegging my cider, so if it needs to be pasturized can I do that still?

 

[sa101]

those that let it ferment for longer periods of time are making sure all the sugars have been eaten up by the yeast (ussually starting from a higher OG, therefore a much stronger alcohol content), which means that time is required for the cider to mellow and taste drinkable. You could leave yours for 3 weeks if you wanted, but you'd need to backsweeten to your desired taste, which for me is a waste of time, all you're sacrificing is alcohol strength.

I pasteurise mine, only because I haven't got room in my fridge to store all my bottles. If you have room, then no need I suppose

 

[johnsonbrew]

I have a keezer that I built so I guess it will be well preserved in the 32 degree set up I have, it wont be sitting for too long, I am hoping it turns out as good as it sounds and it will be gone by nights end.

I have not seen the Wegeman's juice here in Washington, is there another brand that you would suggest that is easily found. I see 100% juice and the only preservative is asorbic acid wich I thought was Vitamin C, so if I use something like that, am I good to go? I need to check out some of the organic stores or sections of the grocery store to see what they carry as well.

 

[Kashue]

Whole Foods sells preservative free apple juice, as do some wal marts. If you have a grocery that sells local apple cider, some of those may be preservative free.

 

[smalone4839]

Costco and Walmart brands work great too.

 

[johnsonbrew]

Am I correct in thinking that as long as the only ingredients are apple juice (even from concentrate) and asorbic acid, it is something that can be used to make hard cider? For a better tasting cider I was thinking fresh pressed cider from our local growers would work best but that may not be available to me until later in Sept. early Oct. But from what was posted earlier, I can make a good cider in a two week time frame correct?

 

[johnsonbrew]

Another question, since I plan on kegging and force carbing my cider, do I still need the campden tablets? I dont know exactly what they do, I know it has something to do with aiding the cabonation process but it seems like I can skipp that step. Also, is the dextrose for body or for priming? Again I am kegging so I dont need to prime, do I need the dextrose too?

 

[smalone4839]

Am I correct in thinking that as long as the only ingredients are apple juice (even from concentrate) and asorbic acid, it is something that can be used to make hard cider? For a better tasting cider I was thinking fresh pressed cider from our local growers would work best but that may not be available to me until later in Sept. early Oct. But from what was posted earlier, I can make a good cider in a two week time frame correct?

Yes apple juice even from concentrate will work with asorbic acid. Fresh pressed is better but seasonal. Many people on here would say no about the 2 week thing. I say absolutely. Using motts you should start our with a little over 1.05 OG. Bump it up with some type of sugar if you want a high ABV%. I usually will disolve 2 lbs of table sugar in a quart of juice and add to the rest of the 5 gal of juice. Best to use a ale yeast like S04 or nottingham. Let it ferment until it gets to about 1.014 and rack onto pot sorbate to kill the yeast. Wait a week to clear and throw it into your keg. Carb it up and enjoy.

 

[sa101]

Another question, since I plan on kegging and force carbing my cider, do I still need the campden tablets? I dont know exactly what they do, I know it has something to do with aiding the cabonation process but it seems like I can skipp that step. Also, is the dextrose for body or for priming? Again I am kegging so I dont need to prime, do I need the dextrose too?

Have never kegged before, and don't know much about it, but Im presuming you still need to kill the yeasties off. The tablets stun the yeast for a short period of time, slowing down fermentation, allowing all the crap floating around in the cider to settle at the bottom and allowing for an easier rack. (quite sure that's correct, someone let me know if not). It's not necessary to do it, I just place my bucket in a cold room or basement overnight and it does the same thing.

Dextrose is for priming, so if you're force carbing then no need to use it

 

[johnsonbrew]

so cold crashing will do the same thing, get the yeast to fall out and rack to secondary for clarification or just cold crash and put in keg? I would love to get this to about 6% and maybe a little on the sweeter side than dry, but I dont wany apple syrup or apple dessert wine, I want a cider that will allow you to drink 2 or 6 and not feel like you just swallowed a candy factory.

 

[sa101]

so cold crashing will do the same thing, get the yeast to fall out and rack to secondary for clarification or just cold crash and put in keg? I would love to get this to about 6% and maybe a little on the sweeter side than dry, but I dont wany apple syrup or apple dessert wine, I want a cider that will allow you to drink 2 or 6 and not feel like you just swallowed a candy factory.

It won't get the yeast to fall out, it will just halt fermentation. Quite certain that if you added the tablets, then left it for a while, fermentation would resume. The only way to go is to regularly check the gravity, and taste it while you go. I generally check mine after a week to gauge how fast the process is coming along, then every second day after that. Once you're happy with the taste and alcohol level, crash it, and force carb

To a degree, it's trial and error. You're going to make mistakes that you'll fix the next time around, and your batches are only going to taste better and better the more you refine your process! I don't think you can go wrong with the caramel cider, just make sure you get your original gravity readings, check reading after a week, and keep check thereafter until you get your desired taste. Crash it when you're happy