Noob at cider

[mrshaund]

So I figured I would try my hand at hard cider using one of the recipes from byo so I put the 5.5 gal mixture of cider, honey and sugar yeast nutrient with 2 packs of red start yeast nothing for 3 days after research and looking at the gallon jugs it contained potassium Sorbate which I now know you do not want. So i guess my next question since I am adding sugar and honey would regular store bought apple juice yield the same results as cider.

 

[Yooper]

So I figured I would try my hand at hard cider using one of the recipes from byo so I put the 5.5 gal mixture of cider, honey and sugar yeast nutrient with 2 packs of red start yeast nothing for 3 days after research and looking at the gallon jugs it contained potassium Sorbate which I now know you do not want. So i guess my next question since I am adding sugar and honey would regular store bought apple juice yield the same results as cider.

In general, yes- but the hard cider is only as good as the juice you use. You can get a nice cider from commercial juices, but I love the cider that comes from fresh pressed apple juice with a variety of apples. Regular store bought apple juice is a good second choice, though!

 

[BrownBottle]

To add to what Yooper stated, you can certainly use store bought apple juice. Just make sure its 100% juice with NO preservatives. I just got done with a 5 gallon batch using Mott's from Sam's Club (Wal-Mart), Nottingham yeast, dextrose, and yeast nutrient. After 6 days it fermented out. 9 days later I'm sitting here, typing this, while drinking my 6.7% (ish) bottle carbed cider.

The advantage to using store bought apple juice rather than cider is you don't need to use pectin enzymes or wait too long for it to clear. If a little cloudiness from the yeast bothers you then just wait a little while longer for it to drop or simply bottle and cold crash and let the yeast drop to the bottom of the bottle.