Peach Cider / Strawberry Cider: What's a good OG?

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Evan!

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So I was out in Crozet this morning picking strawberries (damn, they look good) and I picked up a gallon each of their strawberry cider and peach cider. I haven't taken gravity readings yet, but what exactly should I be looking to start with, gravity wise? I know that 1.050-1.060 is good for apple ciders, but I know nothing about peach or strawberry. I'm going to be using Nottingham on both of them.

EDIT: The peach is 1.075, the strawberry is 1.072. I guess I'll go with that.
 
Well, that redstar Montrachet is crazy stuff. After 3 weeks, they're about finished. Checked the gravity on the strawberry...0.993 down from 1.072. I've never seen my hydrometer sink that low before. 10.5% ABV, baby! Yikes.
 
So, you ended up using the Montrachet instead of the Notty?

Did you do anything else besides just pitch yeast? Any other sugars or anything added?
 
So, you ended up using the Montrachet instead of the Notty?

Did you do anything else besides just pitch yeast? Any other sugars or anything added?

Yeah, the more I thought about it, the more I really wanted to go with the montrachet because of the way it tends to dry stuff out. I'm not big on sweet ciders, and I've never used Notty on 'em before...just seen other people do it. That, and I only had one packet of Notty left, and, well, you know me...when the spur-of-the-moment urge to brew strikes, and I don't have any starters going, Notty and US-05 are my best friends.

Nah, nothing else, just split the sachet of Montrachet between the two jugs. I was thinking I might need to add sugar until I took the OG readings and saw that they were both in the 1.070's.

I also took a reading on the peach, it's down to 0.995 from 1.075. 10.82% ABV. Good thing I only have a gallon of each, right? They both taste grrrreat though...
 
You probably did yourself a huge favor by keeping it simple and not jacking the OG. IIRC, strawberry WINE usually takes a LONG time before it tastes like anything other than paint thinner. I'm thinking about doing a strawberry melomel for someone's wedding next summer, but the plan will be to keep the gravity a bit on the low end both to make sure it's done in time, as well as to make it something you can drink a little bit of (and to keep the cost down ;)).
 
You probably did yourself a huge favor by keeping it simple and not jacking the OG. IIRC, strawberry WINE usually takes a LONG time before it tastes like anything other than paint thinner. I'm thinking about doing a strawberry melomel for someone's wedding next summer, but the plan will be to keep the gravity a bit on the low end both to make sure it's done in time, as well as to make it something you can drink a little bit of (and to keep the cost down ;)).

Yeah, I was only prepared to spike it if it had a disproportionately low OG, but I wasn't expecting 1.075 by any means. That's higher than I'd prefer, actually, but it's fine...
 
how much fruit "strawberry and peach" did you add to each batch compared to apple juice/water? im guessing their 1gallon each..

have you tried the strawberry cider yet, is it as good as the peach
 
how much fruit "strawberry and peach" did you add to each batch compared to apple juice/water? im guessing their 1gallon each..

have you tried the strawberry cider yet, is it as good as the peach

I didn't add fruit, juice or water or anything like that. These were 1-gallon fruit "ciders" from a local farm. Technically, "Cider" refers to apple pressings, but I made the reference to "strawberry cider" and "peach cider" simply because that's what the farm labels them as.

All I did was buy the jugs, add half a sachet of Montrachet yeast to each one, and popped an airlock on the jugs.

Yeah, I tried the strawberry too. It's really good as well, but I'll have to wait until the final carbonated product is ready before I pass judgment on which is better.
 
Add me to the list of people looking forward to the updates on this...
 
Add me to the list of people looking forward to the updates on this...

yeah, I think I'm gonna bottle it soon. There's only a gallon of each...but the stuff was expensive ($12/gal) so whateva. I'll let ya know.

I think it's just pure pressed fruit, but I'll check.
 
ZOMBIE THREAD!!!!

I made 5 gallons of apple cider at about 10.5%, I let it sit for 5 months to clear and age. It tasted like jet fuel, I think it could have ran my car. I diluted 50/50 with fresh juice, it turned out amazing. My question, why did yours taste good after such a short time?

I have another post about peach cider, to which no one has replied. But I plan on using a peach wine recipe, but only take it about 5-6%, stabilize, back-sweeten, keg, carb and imbibe. I don't know what yeast to use to get a quick turn around.

Anyway, Thanks :mug:
 
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