Papaya Cider?

[ChefJoeR]

Has anyone messed around with something like this? We took a trip to Hawaii and my wife fell in love with the papaya there and now wants me to challenge myself with a papaya cider. Not sure exactly how to do, also since I have never done a cider before. I do steep/partial brewing if this means anything with cider making. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Golddiggie]

Why not just make a Papaya Melomel (mead with fruit in it)??

I would go with a 3 gallon batch to start with. You typically add a few pounds of fruit per gallon... You could add 1#/gallon during fermentation, then rack onto another 1-2#/gallon... You might need to do that a few times to get the flavor level you want... Just be sure to rack off the fruit after 5-7 days...

I would suggest actually not putting any in during primary fermentation. Put in 1#/gallon to start, adding more as you wish... Seems like 1-3#/gallon is the range most people use. Obviously the more fruit per gallon the more flavor you'll get.

 

[Nurmey]

Don't know why it wouldn't work just fine. I'm not sure the sugar content of papaya but there has to be some. I think it will be like making pear cider, lots of particulates to settle out. You might want to consider adding some apple juice to thin the juice out a bit. I found that out when using pear nectar, it's very thick.

 

[edmanster]

Papaya has a natural pectic enzyme in the layer just under the skin... Couldn't hurt to add some to secondary... Sounds good! Think maybe a island themed melomel and throw in sum guava also...

 

[ChefJoeR]

So from all the hard cider recipes out there, they seem to come down to (in simple terms, and please correct me if I am wrong) apple cider, champagne yeast and sugar. So if I were to take a basic recipe for a 5 gallon batch and maybe do it with a 60% apple cider, 30% papaya juice and 10% sanitized water mix, could this potentially work? When I take a hydrometer reading, what gravity would I be aiming for? Of course I would be adding the sugar to meet the required O.G.. Or on the other hand, I could make a weak hard apple cider (haha oxymoron!) and possibly add papaya pulp in the secondary. Getting close the right track?

 

[Pappers_]

I like the mix of apple and papaya juice idea, but don't think you should add any water. Also, I and many others use ale yeast when making cider, rather than champagne yeast. I like using Nottingham.

 

[ChefJoeR]

so a 60% apple cider to 40% papaya juice with an ale yeast sounds good. Should I add sugar to the primary batch and/or when it comes to bottling? What do you think about adding papaya pulp to the secondary? Could that help to contribute to the sugars for the yeast during bottle fermentation? Looking further, I keep hearing 1.080-1.090 for the O.G. and 1.040-1.050 for the F.G., is this correct?

 

[dinnerstick]

i like the idea of apple papaya mix since papaya totally lacks the acidity/sharpness that makes cider so tasty, and i agree on the ale yeast over champagne which for me strips too much flavor. for what my opinion is worth. to me it's worth a great deal. i wonder if papaya juice sugars are 100% fermentable like apple?? apple juice will ferment dry; below 1.000 dry. so if you start at 1.090 and it comes out nasty you can always run your lawnmower on it

 

[Pappers_]

The first time you try this, I would consider not adding any sugar to the batch (other than priming sugar if you want bottle carbonated cider), just go with the juices and a 'normal' gravity.

 

[dinnerstick]

the first time you try this, i would consider not adding any sugar to the batch (other than priming sugar if you want bottle carbonated cider), just go with the juices and a 'normal' gravity.

++++ !!

 

[ChefJoeR]

Ok, it's brew day! Here is what I have:

2 gallons trader joe's tropical papaya nectar (contains papaya puree, white grape and pinapple juice)

3 gallons trader joe's unfiltered apple juice

1 pkg. nottingham dry yeast

it's all in the fermenter and the O.G. is 1.060 at 70F. Let's see what happens now! Will be back in about 3 weeks, stay tuned.

 

[tribble222]

How'd this turn out?

 

[ftlstrings]

Yeah!

 

[ChefJoeR]

Well either something went wrong during the brewing process or the recipe was off. Popped one open this evening, not good. It was cloudy, but I knew that already since I did not filter it, but the flavor was sour and acidic. I think it may have become infected, because I also got about a second of bottle gushing. I am going to try it again, but do a higher percentage of apple juice. Also I think I am going to let it ferment only 2 weeks as opposed to 4 weeks and clear it for 2 weeks.

 

[oldmate]

How are you going to stop it fermenting at two weeks? Cold crashing? I would let it ferment out completely and then wait for it clear possibly use finings if it doesn't show any improvement. Maybe around 2 - 3 months bulk aging before thinking about bottling.

 

[ChefJoeR]

As for stopping fermentation, I actually meant transferring it to another bucket so it gets off the sediment and doesn't develop off flavors. When I left it in the clearing bucket for about a month, the airlock started to develop a funk look to it (dirty). I am guessing I should have changed to a new airlock at that time, this may have contributed to the off flavors as well. Would you consider using gelatin as a clearing agent in the secondary? Do I leave it in the clearing bucket for those 2-3 months or transfer it to a clean/sanitized bucket every 3-4 weeks?

 

[tribble222]

Well either something went wrong during the brewing process or the recipe was off. Popped one open this evening, not good. It was cloudy, but I knew that already since I did not filter it, but the flavor was sour and acidic. I think it may have become infected, because I also got about a second of bottle gushing. I am going to try it again, but do a higher percentage of apple juice. Also I think I am going to let it ferment only 2 weeks as opposed to 4 weeks and clear it for 2 weeks.

Ah, too bad. Did you taste it when you bottled? If the infection was introducing during bottling then maybe some other bottles are ok.

 

[oldmate]

I think it would naturally be more acidic than a normal cider, especially if you have ingredients such as pineapple fermenting. I've never used a fining agent, but I know a lot of people like to use gelatin and it works well. Be prepared for some flavour and aroma loss, but this doesn't always happen. Well, when I am aging I follow the rule of racking off 3/4 inch of lees. This might be a bit hard to do using a bucket though..

 

[ChefJoeR]

I am pretty sure it was infected going from the fermenter to the clearing bucket and then again in transfer from clearing to bottling. I am going to try a basic apple cider recipe so I can better understand the principles and then slowly over time, move to a papaya based cider. Good lesson for the first one, ever.

 

[BoomerCreek]

If you try a Nottingham yeast, try different yeast as well. The nottingham yeast will strip the flavor out if fermented to dryness, at least that is my experience. Champagne yeast will also strip flavor, though to a lesser extent. I've had some success preserving fruit flavors with either safale 04 or 05 and a wyeast english cider yeast. Post your results please.