I’m still pretty new to the home cider brewing. I have been given cranberry concentrate. If I wanted to try it in a hard apple cider, would it be best to use it before or after fermentation?
I’m still pretty new to the home cider brewing. I have been given cranberry concentrate. If I wanted to try it in a hard apple cider, would it be best to use it before or after fermentation?
It depends what taste you want your Cider to come out with. I believe that the earlier you add the cranberry concentrate into your Cider (before pitching yeast, for instance) you probably won't come out with a Cider that tastes like cranberry. Fermentation brings about so many surprises, for instance: adding Barth Hass Citra Hops to my Cider gave me a Cider that tastes like passion-fruit (and this was also even later in the process).
If you want to aim for a cranberry taste, I would say add a little bit before bottling. But bear in mind that you have to know exactly when to pasteurize those bottles as the sugar in the cranberry concentrate can lead to bottle bombs. So if you have no issues with surprises, add that in early. If you are looking for a cranberry taste, I would say add it later in the process.
Is this yeast cloud viable as a starter liquid?
