really basic, really cheap, really loving it.

[ExperimentalBrewer]

As I have mentioned before, I make 1 gallon batches. (I enjoy the process of brewing, it is only me drinking it, and I like the simplicity of small batches) . Here is the recipe I am using and have really enjoyed the results.

1 12oz frozen concentrate
1 gallon apple juice, cheapest I can find. (doesn't all fit in gallon jug)
1/2 tsp yeast nurtirents
1/4 tsp nottingham ale yeast.

OG 1.055 FG .995 7.8%

3 weeks in primary

1/4cup table sugar for priming
2 weeks in bottle.

Dry but flavorful, very clear, nice carbonation So easy, too good. if I made bigger batches I would drink too much.

 

[Pappers_]

Simple pleasures!

 

[Johan]

I do something similar but use bottle juice + 1 cup of sugar with a champagne yeast 1/2 tsp. This is for a 1 gallon batch. 2 to 3 weeks in primary depending on the temperature. Then add another cup of sugar & 1/4 tsp of yeast at bottling. I use bale & stopper bottles but you could cap. 2 weeks in the bottle and the cider is carbonated like champagne and more demi-sec (slightly sweet). It's pretty heady (alcohol content about 10 to 12%), too. More like Apfelwein.
Only 1 bottle bomb so far because I bottled too soon!
Experimenting with sugars and flavors now, but it take 4 to 5 weeks to get results.

 

[ExperimentalBrewer]

Interesting Johan. I was doing something similar, but for me switching from sugar to concentrate and switching from Red Star Pasteur yeast
to nottingham really improved the flavor of my cider. I actually did those changes in separate batches, the yeast change made the biggest improvement,

 

[Johan]

Sehr interessant! I must try this. I am using RedStar Premier Blanc presently.

 

[Evan55]

Ive found that the ratio of 1 can of AJC per gallon of juice is a nice ratio.

if you start with the 96oz jugs of apple juice then it all fits in a gallon carboy

 

[z-bob]

I have one that's ready to be racked to another carboy. I will add some gelatin to finish clearing it, then should be ready to bottle in about a week. 4 gallons Aldi brand apple juice, 1 pound sugar, yeast nutrient, Vintner's Harvest AW4 yeast. (never used that yeast before)

Very simple, and it fermented fast without any drama.

 

[DagoBrewer]

With the priming sugar, do you just mix it in or do you take a bit of the cider and heat it up and dissolve the sugar then add back in? Thanks!

 

[bernardsmith]

...Then add another cup of sugar & 1/4 tsp of yeast at bottling. ...
Only 1 bottle bomb so far because I bottled too soon!

I don't think the bottle bomb was because you bottled too soon. If you adding one cup of sugar to prime a gallon you are adding about 200 grams of sugar (just under 1/2 lb). If you prime beer you might add 20 grams of sugar per gallon. So what you may be doing is drinking the bottles before they erupt...

 

[ExperimentalBrewer]

With the priming sugar, do you just mix it in or do you take a bit of the cider and heat it up and dissolve the sugar then add back in? Thanks!

I mix 1:1 with water, heat it enough to dissolve, then add it to the bottling bucket.

 

[GeneDaniels1963]

ExperimentalBrewer, I use almost exactly the same recipe. I too love the process and simplicity. And like others mentioned, i use Notthingham yeast. I have not tried other kinds b/c I like Notty and I can get it near-by and cheap.

I have now started to experiment. For examples, I have done one with an addition home-pressed crab apple juice. And I just did a Graff, malted and dried hopped cider. It was amazing! Just finished it off last night. I am starting another batch today.

 

[dmtaylor]

To make simple cider even simpler, try skipping the yeast nutrients next time to see if they are even needed. I don't use nutrients and I love my results.

 

[z-bob]

To make simple cider even simpler, try skipping the yeast nutrients next time to see if they are even needed. I don't use nutrients and I love my results.

I just started 4 gallons of cider this morning. 2 gallons of Kirkland apple juice, 1.5 gallons of Aldi's AJ (Aldi was cheaper), a pound of sugar, and half a cup of S-33 yeast slurry from a beer I bottled a couple of weeks ago. I will add the other half gallon of Aldi's once I know it's not going to foam over; it's in a 4 gallon carboy. I added half the recommended amount of nutrients this time and no yeast energizer. If that works I'll back off even more next time, or try a gallon w/o any nutrients.

Edit: 12 hours later and it's looking pretty foamy. Glad I left a half gallon of headspace in the fermenter

 

[ExperimentalBrewer]

I find that without yeast nutrient, I get rhino farts. It's worth it to me to avoid that.

 

[z-bob]

I find that without yeast nutrient, I get rhino farts. It's worth it to me to avoid that.

A half teaspoon of nutrient per gallon seems to be plenty. My recent batch still foamed out the top of the airlock and made a mess even with a large headspace. (just for one day; it has settled down now but still bubbling about twice a second)