Quick Cider Question

[howamidriving]

I've been looking around in the cider recipe section looking for a quick something to throw together and I've noticed that pretty much every recipe calls for apple juice instead of cider.

This just strikes me as kind of odd, it is hard CIDER after all, right? Plus the flavors of the two are pretty drastically different in my opinion.

So I guess the question is, what's the reasoning behind this? I was thinking the simple answer is just that apple juice tends to be a lot cheaper and available year round.

Anyone brew similar recipes using both cider and juice? Any noticeable difference?

 

[OswaldvW]

Well, this can get some people pretty worked up. Cider CAN mean the cloudy, brown oxidized juice squeezed from fresh apples. Apple juice is the cider that has been pasteurized, filtered, etc. and looks clear.

Cider for many people simply means an alcoholic beverage made from apples. Thus, you can make your cider from apple juice or cider. I personally prefer making Cider from cider. I have tried both, but so much of making good cider is about the yeast selection. Once you have established what kind of yeast you want to use, you need to get a reliable source of apple juice/cider.

 

[TipsySaint]

ya i like real cider (made from cider) too...Last year I did a big trial of yeast types and figured out that I like nottingham with no sugar added....It's seasonal and wonderful!

 

[Calder]

In the US, cider is unfiltered apple juice. In most other countries around the World, cider is fermented apple juice.

When a recipe calls for apple juice, you can use filtered apple juice, or unfiltered apple juice (cider in the US).

There are benefits to both.