Raspberry Apple Cider

[Ooompa Loompa]

3 gallons Wal Mart Apple Juice
1 can apple/raspberry frozen juice concentrate (Wal Mart brand)
2 cans blueberry/pomegranate frozen juice concentrate (Wal Mart brand)
3/4 gallon of water
1 lb regular granulated table sugar
1 packet Red Star Champagne yeast

Mix all the above ingredients together, put them in a carboy, pitch the yeast, then wait 30 days and bottle. That's really all there is to it.

At bottling:
1/2 lb lactose
4 oz raspberry flavoring (sold at all major brew stores for flavoring beers)
4 oz priming sugar

This turned out soooooo nice. I only bottled it a week ago, so it's only very very lightly carbed, but I had to try one it tastes amazing. The lactose brings a nice sweetness to it, and the raspberry flavoring worked into it beautifully. I would compare this to malt beverages like Mikes, Smirnoff, Zima, ect, except I think it's tons better (and at around 7.5% abv it has a lot more of a kick). With all the ingredients included it only cost around $25 which yeilded me 41 bottles, so it only costs around .65/bottle (vs the previously mentioned malt beverages which cost around $8 for a 6 pack). If you're looking for something that the non beer drinkers will enjoy I would definately give this a shot.

 

[MikeFlynn74]

ooo Im def gonna try this-

Heard that the concentrates sometimes hinder fermentation due to preservatives.

 

[Ooompa Loompa]

ooo Im def gonna try this-

Heard that the concentrates sometimes hinder fermentation due to preservatives.

I made sure the only additives were ascorbic acid. Let me know if you do make it and how you like it. I can't stop "sampling" the ones I've got. Just drank one last night actually. It's almost fully carbed.

 

[warboss100]

was the walmart apple juice from concentrate or not from concentrate, the cans of concentrate how much roughly did they hold "liquid wise"

 

[scinerd3000]

any idea what i can backsweten with other than lactose? i have some freinds that are intolerant

 

[MikeFlynn74]

splenda?



110100111001

 

[EricCSU]

At bottling:
1/2 lb lactose
4 oz raspberry flavoring (sold at all major brew stores for flavoring beers)
4 oz priming sugar

How much water do you use to mix the priming sugars and flavoring?

Thanks,

Eric

 

[Ooompa Loompa]

The flavoring is added directly to the bottling bucket. The priming sugar is dissolved in about 1.5 cups of water.

 

[EricCSU]

Once my apfelwein is bottled I will have a secondary carboy available and this is definitely going into it. Thanks for the recipe.

Eric

 

[Ooompa Loompa]

I had 2 of these left and just popped one open. All I can say is wow. This stuff is plenty tastey young, but it has now aged 5 months, and is even better.

 

[MauiMaltMan]

did you use cork (Champagne) bottles or beer bottles?

 

[MauiMaltMan]

Update:

My batch of Hawaiian (Mango, Pineapple, Guava) Hard Apple Cider just bottled. I can't wait for them to get carbed. My store didn't have strawberry flavoring, so I used cranberry...it's very tart but we'll see how it ages.

One thing to note: my FG was .999. I think it's because the champagne yeast already started carbing the cider in the fermenter, and the carbonation (CO2 bubbles) were lighter than water and reduced the FG. Nothing I'm going to worry about, just something cool to share.

 

[PoorBoy]

hrm. and i was just wondering what i was going to with the primary i cleaned out yesterday...

if you used an ale yeast instead of a champagne yeast, would that yield sweeter results without the lactose?

 

[RugenBrau]

I have made a variation of this recipe and used Safale SO 4. It is sweeter but the raspberry flavoring is on the tart side. I split the batch and sweetened them with spleda and lactose. It still is a little on the tart side but I want it age a while longer before adding more. If I like it I'll post the recipe later

 

[bigfloppybunny]

So when you add the ingredients at bottling, how do you mix them in? Isn't there a layer of sediment at the bottom? Also, when I boil the priming sugar, can I put the lactose in with it so it is easier to mix?

 

[RobBug]

I have made this recipe and it was quite nice! SWMBO loves it and now I get to purchase a kegging system with the potential savings LOL. No more 'malt beverage' purchases anymore. I did modify the 3rd and 4th batches I made by adding some oregon raspberry puree in the primary. Now the hard part - waiting.

 

[PBRmeASAP]

anyone know if I could substitute a package of Mutons active brewing yeast (6 oz) for the package of Red Star Champagne yeast? Just got a kit today and upgraded the yeast and this is a spare package and wondered if I can use it. If not, where would I find the Red Star? It's not at my local grocery store, would I have to go to my LHBS?

 

[MikeFlynn74]

anyone know if I could substitute a package of Mutons active brewing yeast (6 oz) for the package of Red Star Champagne yeast? Just got a kit today and upgraded the yeast and this is a spare package and wondered if I can use it. If not, where would I find the Red Star? It's not at my local grocery store, would I have to go to my LHBS?

Use the RedStar Montrachet or Curvee

LHBS-

 

[CrazyBrew]

Here's a video of the OP's raspberry apple cider fermenting. It went into the carboy on 02/16. To the right is an American Amber Ale that went into primary on 02/13.

Raspberry Apple Cider Video

 

[darkestdays]

Made a batch of this a few weeks ago, but I made it five gallons, and added an extra LB of corn sugar, and about a half LB of table sugar. I'll let you know how it turns out!

 

[Ooompa Loompa]

Haven't been on HBT lately. Glad to hear that some others are enjoying this recipe.

 

[Ooompa Loompa]

did you use cork (Champagne) bottles or beer bottles?

I used beer bottles

 

[jcobbs]

The SWMBO in my house likes Seagram's Strawberry Daiquiri malt beverage, so I used this recipe as a jumping off point to try something similar. Used:
1 gallon apple juice (no K-sorbate)
1 can Welch's strawberry cocktail (strawberry & other fruit juice mixture)
1/2 tsp raspberry concentrate (McCormick's, from the grocery store)
2 cups organic sugar (like a very light brown sugar)
1 pk Red Star Montrachet

Just started it today. The game plan is to ferment till the bubbling dies down, tweak the sweetness with Splenda if necessary, then prime and bottle. SWMBO tasted it just before pitching the yeast and pronounced it delicious, but a little too sweet, which should be perfect. Depending on how it looks after fermenting I may think about a few drops of food coloring if it looks too different from what she's used to. I'm a noob, so I'm open to suggestions.

 

[JSomps6]

So mixed this up on Saturday the 27th, fermintation is not looking as active as the video... There is quite sediment layer on the bottom as well. I get a bubble about every 10 seconds... should I be worried?

 

[basfords]

I would like to try this, but I would like to make 1 gallon. I can do the math, but my question is will it hurt to still use the full cans of concentrate?

Will it add flavor or overpower everything?

Thank you,

Sean

 

[jaeg1]

I followed the original recipe with two minor exceptions:
1. I used Cherry/Pomegranate juice concentrate since I could not find the Blueberry.
2. I used one pound of light DME instead of sugar since I had some in the brew closet.

Any thoughts on how the changes might affect the final product?

Thanks,

 

[dracus]

Id like to hear how it turned out?

P.S. Anyone have the recipe for 5 gallons, might as well make a bit more..

 

[HOP-HEAD]

Anybody tried this with Notty Yeast? I want to throw this together tomorrow for the little lady, but the only yeasts I have on hand are Notty and Windsor. As clean as the Notty finishes in beer, I'm guessing it'd be just fine.

 

[corexcore]

Seems like an ale yeast might give trouble getting it to bottle carb. Probably fine if you take that into consideration and don't add too many fermentable sugars though, I'd expect.

 

[jaeg1]

Bottled this last week. I am trying real hard to wait for New Years eve to bust one open. One concern though, I'm not real sure I got the lactose mixed well enough. I heated 1.5 cups of water for the sugar and fruit flavoring, then added the lactose. It did not mix very well. I kept stirring gently to try and keep the lactose suspended but when I was done bottling , there was a thin layer of lactose on the bottom of the bucket. I have since found several posts on this site about boiling 1.5 cups of water just for the lactose to dissolve in. Anyone else have additional suggestions?

Thanks,