Okay, I'm once-again being challenged by a Cider...

[ViperMan]

So I thought I'd be cute and calculating... I figured I'd start with a real high OG cider, add a LOW attenuation yeast, and finish with a still-sweet cider that I could bottle carb and enjoy without having to worry about pasturization...

I failed. Sorta...

I used 3 gallons of store-bought apple juice, 1 gallon of store-bought white grape juice, and one gallon of store-bought peach-mango juice - all "organic" and using vitamin C for preservatives. I then added 2 pounds of brown sugar and one pound of dark belgian candi sugar (I wanted a more dark, sinister-looking cider.) I ended with an OG of 1.08 :cross:

I used White Labs WLP002 English Ale yeast with a low, 70-75% attenuation. I used a starter.

Fermentation took over 2 weeks, and after the first week, had barely dropped to 1.05. Another week later I had 1.02 and barely any bubbling - I thought, "Mission Accomplished!" Well I just checked the cider last week, and it's 1.000!!! 10.25% alcohol!



So now I'm at a loss... Or at least, have a lot of work ahead of me. I want to add some sugar back into it - preferably using apple-juice concentrate, to get it back to a 1.016 or so. I want to bottle it, let it bottle carb, then either bottle-pasteurize right away, or cold crash it.

The other option is to add Lactose, which I have in-stock. But I've read that it doesn't add much in the way of sweetness... I don't want to add any artificial sweeteners - I tried that on a few test bottles from the last batch and I ended up dumping them out - they were absolutely awful.

I REALLY didn't want to bottle-pasteurize again. That was a stress that I didn't need, and at 20 minutes per 8 bottles or so, it's going to take FOREVER to do an entire 5-gallon batch...

Anyways, if anyone has a process-of-choice to add some sweetness back in, I'd appreciate hearing it. If nothing else I'm going to rack to secondary first, then start adding apple juice concentrate and making multiple hydrometer measurements until it's about where I want it - then bottling.

Thanks for reading.

Jeff

 

[ehedge20]

I added more apple juice and infact it helped the apple flavor carry through the profile as it had not fermented out.

 

[ViperMan]

Yeah I'm going to try that. On the topic however, IS there in fact any way to use a high OG and a low attenuation yeast to get a Cider to stop fermenting around 1.01 or .015? Or is that just never, ever gonna work....?

 

[smyrnaquince]

Yeah I'm going to try that. On the topic however, IS there in fact any way to use a high OG and a low attenuation yeast to get a Cider to stop fermenting around 1.01 or .015? Or is that just never, ever gonna work....?

I was told that the attenuation on beer yeasts is because beer wort contains non-fermentable sugars. If this is true, then with the juices you will ferment dry until you get enough alcohol for the yeast to give up.

 

[anengineer]

Check until you reach a couple points above where you think
you want it to end then cold crash.

I'm fairly new at this but following what I learned in the
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/results-juice-yeast-sugar-experiments-83060/
thread, I've been pretty much successful achieving the degree of sweetness
desired.

Thanks CvilleKevin for all the effort behind your posts.

 

[Heatherpedia]

anengineer, do you make still cider or sparkling cider? i'm looking for a way to make a semi-dry sparkling cider that's not complicated, but all i've found on the forum are complicated ways.

 

[oldmate]

Pasteurising is not a complicated method, and it's reliable.

 

[edmanster]

xylitol is not an artificial sweetener and stevia is another that add alot of sweetness without fermenting(sugar alcohol).. i have used both in my ciders/meads natural and force carbonated.. the best way is to dry it out, backsweeten with one of the 2 mentioned and then use the normal amount of priming sugar for bottle carbonating in champagne bottles..
Edit: i used to use splenda(sucralose) but all the maltodextrin/filler did not give a good mouth feel to me...

 

[anengineer]

anengineer, do you make still cider or sparkling cider? i'm looking for a way to make a semi-dry sparkling cider that's not complicated, but all i've found on the forum are complicated ways.

I cold crash at a SG of 1.007-1.010. I've found it will then drop a point
or two during cold crash to 1.005-1.008. This is the sweetness level preferred
in my house.

I rack into corny kegs and force carbonate for about a week at 15psi,
or not at all for our still ciders.

I dispense from the corny at about 2-5psi.

I've also grown to like a slightly caramel note to my cider's flavor so
I take 2-lbs table sugar and a cup of water and heat to 290F, cool
down to about 130F then thoroughly mix with 1 gallon apple juice before
then mixing that with 4 more gallons of juice. My beginning SG's are
about 1.060-1.065 depending on the brand of juice.

It takes 4 to 6 days fermenting in the primary at 70F using Nottingham
yeast to hit my target SG of about 1.008. Missing by a point or so is
not a big deal. I use off the shelf inexpensive apple juice paying about
$4 a gallon. I do like to add a couple cans of juice concentrate during
my initial mixing stage. So:

1 gallons juice mixed with 290F then cooled(130F) sugar syrup(2lb sugar/1-cup water)
4 gallons juice
2 cans juice concentrate
2 teaspoons yeast nutrient
Mix all the above thoroughly
Pitch yeast
Ferment 4to6-days at about 70F
Check SG for target of 1.007-1.010
Rack into corny
Cold crash about a week as near 35F as possible (I use a tub and ice)
Carbonate for a week at 15psi(or not for still)
Dispense from corny at 2-5psi

At about 3or4-weeks my cider has cleared and is mighty tasty.

 

[Pappers_]

anengineer, do you make still cider or sparkling cider? i'm looking for a way to make a semi-dry sparkling cider that's not complicated, but all i've found on the forum are complicated ways.

Check out www.makinghardcider.com She gives easy, straightforward instructions that are great for new cider makers.

And/or check out the pastuerizing thread at the top of this forum. Its easy and only requires a little bit of time.