Sam's Choice Sparkling Cider

[1Mainebrew]

So it would be 24 oz of juice for priming a 3 gal batch, right? And why the difference in aging between this and Edworts Apfelwein? Edworts takes like 8 months to come into its own, whereas this is done wicked quick from the sounds of it. My first inclination is that its the yeast selection, but any other reasons? Have you waited for 6+ months to see how the results change? Thanks for the info.

 

[geoxman]

I have done both recipes and I have never waited more than 6 months for anything, other than my daughter. With this recipe you are adding more apple flavor at bottling, so you don't really have to wait for the apple flavors to develop. I am brewing both recipes, at present, but I prefer this one. You also add sugar in Edworts recipe and you don't in this one so it is not quite a strong, but it still packs a punch. Give it a try! If you don't like it you are only out about $15. BTW I use Aldi apple juice that is $1.19 for 64oz and not Sam's, which has gone up in price. good luck

 

[stltk65]

I used 5gal of indian summer juice. My OG was 1.050 and after 3 1/2 weeks its stuck at 1.020. Tastes great just needs to finish. Still a strong apple taste to it. Any idea what may have caused it to stop? I've had a steady 63-67 range for fermenting. Notty dry yeast. Should I repitch the yeast? Very little activity in the airlock. Could it have been poor airation? I shook the crap out of the jugs of juice. I'm not sure how much that affects this being all juice. I'd really like to avoid bottle bombs

 

[spacemanzero]

First time to ever try brewing at home and this is the recipe I choose after a lot of research into the art. I am happy to report that after collecting the necessary supplies and ingredients, it was very easy to put it all together and get the first batch going. The only two things that I changed from the original recipe was instead of using Sam's Choice Apple Juice, I used Walmart brand "Great Value". This was because it contained the Maltodextrin ingredient which no other shelf apple juice's had. Last, instead of the Nottingham Ale yeast, I used Cooper's Brewing yeast. This was due to my local supplier having no stock when I went to pick up supplies.

I am on day 3 of brewing and everything looks good inside. The fermentation process began within the first few hours of pitching, which surprised me since the recipe said it might take a couple days to start. This might have been due to the different yeast being used. The fermentation has been so vigorous that I have had to clean my airlock several times due to the rising foam into the airlock chamber. My initial/starting gravity reading I got was 1.045, which was a little lighter that the original recipe got but I am still optimistic it will turn out great. Hopefully I will post in a few weeks as to how things go.

 

[CollegeCider]

Hey, just started brewing and set my first batch this past weekend, pretty much with this recipe but with bread yeast. I was wondering if the carbonation you mentioned would be too much for a 2 liter soda bottle, as thats what I was planning on using for bottling. Is there any reasons that I should use glass instead?

 

[CollegeCider]

Thanks for the recipe, well instructions mostly. Got the basics down now. I added 2 cups of sugar to my 2 gallons to get an OG of 1.060. My batch fermented a little warm in my basement(at about 75 deg) and was reading 1.000 after a week! That might also be because I used bread yeast instead of nottingham. It still came out really nice with a slight carbonation after adding 1/2 t per bottle after 2 days and really enjoyed it. Throwing together my next batch today! This time I wil be trying it with nottingham instead of bread yeast though.

 

[spacemanzero]

First time to ever try brewing at home and this is the recipe I choose after a lot of research into the art. I am happy to report that after collecting the necessary supplies and ingredients, it was very easy to put it all together and get the first batch going. The only two things that I changed from the original recipe was instead of using Sam's Choice Apple Juice, I used Walmart brand "Great Value". This was because it contained the Maltodextrin ingredient which no other shelf apple juice's had. Last, instead of the Nottingham Ale yeast, I used Cooper's Brewing yeast. This was due to my local supplier having no stock when I went to pick up supplies.

I am on day 3 of brewing and everything looks good inside. The fermentation process began within the first few hours of pitching, which surprised me since the recipe said it might take a couple days to start. This might have been due to the different yeast being used. The fermentation has been so vigorous that I have had to clean my airlock several times due to the rising foam into the airlock chamber. My initial/starting gravity reading I got was 1.045, which was a little lighter that the original recipe got but I am still optimistic it will turn out great. Hopefully I will post in a few weeks as to how things go.

Happy to report that over the weekend I wanted to see how the cider was doing. I took a SG reading and the result I got was 1.010

Compared to the original reading I had which was 1.045, it looks as if the alcohol content I currently have is around 4.6%. Someone will need to correct me if I am wrong about that, but I am going by the measurements of my hydrometer. If all is correct, then 4.6% after only 1 week of fermentation seems pretty nice. The cider still had a very strong apple juice smell along with the alcohol odor which was pleasing to detect. The cider also had a good amount of carbonation to it, I was tempted to sample it but decided not to. I want to see if I can squeeze out that last remaining 1.3% of alcohol and will let it continue to ferment for a couple more weeks. I will also take another reading this weekend to see where it is at.

 

[drewfortrew]

Hello all, my first post here, just wanted to share my experience with this cider. I imagine this recipe appeals to first-timers because of its simplicity, so hopefully the below will be helpful. I do not claim that any of this is the best way or even an okay way to do things, but I'll tell you what I did, and what I got.

What I used:

*Part 1*
5.25 gallons Great Value apple juice
Nottingham yeast
Glass Carboy with stopper and water airlock
Funnel I made out of a two liter soda bottle
Easy Clean

*Part 2*
1 59oz bottle Simply Apple juice
~5.25 gallons worth of bottles, including crown top, twist top, Grolsch pop tops and .5-1 liter plastic soda bottles
Turkey baster
racking tube/wand
Plastic pasta spoon
Hydrometer
Easy Clean
Bottle capper

What I did:

*Part 1*
Cleaned the Carboy, hydrometer, funnel, stopper and water lock with Easy Clean, letting it sit for about 30 min, then letting dry for a couple of days (I had to leave town, could have let dry for an hour or so)

Poured the juice into the carboy using the funnel, then pitched in the whole packet of yeast.

Put in the stopper, shook that badboy up for about a minute until the yeast was kind of suspended throughout the mixture.

Got an OG reading of 1.050 with my hydrometer (my apartment temp was 70F), then added the stopper and water lock (I used some Easy Clean solution in the lock).

Put into the closet and let sit for 18 days until the bubbles in the water lock were 15 seconds apart. The cider was extremely clear with about 3/4" layer of yeast on the bottom.

*Part 2*

Filled bottling bucket with Easy Clean and used that to soak all the bottles, used my dishwasher as a drying rack. Also cleaned racking tube by priming with tapwater, then drawing Easy Clean into the tube and letting sit for a while in the bucket. Also cleaned spoon, turkey baster and hydrometer.

Took a baster-full of the cider and tasted, it was dry and champagney with a light apple flavor.

Racked the cider into bottling bucket and took reading with hydrometer, 1.010, approx. 5.25%. Added ~40oz of the Simply Apple and stirred with pasta spoon.

Primed the racking tube with tap water again to draw the cider from bottling bucket. Once full, added the "bottling button" (the thing that stops the flow from the tube unless you press down on the bottom of the bottle, no idea what it is called)

Filled up all the bottles including several soda bottles to periodically test carbonation. Put into closet to carb. It may take a few days for it to start, but when you start seeing a thin layer of yeast on the bottom, trust that it is carbing away. The plastic soda bottles are also easy to pinch and will become firmer.

Nice carbonation was reached 12 days after bottling. With a 16oz pour, there was a nice white head about an inch thick which quickly dissipated, but beverage remained sparkly and crisp until finished. Flavor was still dry, but had a more distinct apple flavor.

*FINAL NOTES*

I would have made this slightly sweeter, probably by putting in the entire bottle of Simply Apple. I prefer dry cider, but this could have done with just a tiny but more
Clear soda bottles worked well (though I wouldn't use larger than 1 liter) and were and easy way to test the carbonation as it progressed.
I capped twist tops with a standard bottle capper without any problems. I only recommend that you make sure cap was secure by comparing the "teeth" to a capped crown top bottle.
I used Pappers' method to pasteurize my bottles once they were finished. I found the cider to be just as nicely carbed as it was before, and I didn't have to cram my fridge or fear bottle bombs.
Thanks to BrewinJack for this slick and easy recipe!

 

[Hankhill11]

If one wanted to spice this with cinnamon sticks when would you add the sticks?

 

[Gonzo_Don]

Only changes I made were using Red Star Champagne yeast, adding a tablespoon of yeast nutrient, a tablespoon of pectic enzyme, 2 pounds of sugar (I wanted about 7%+ ABV), and the one stroke of genius: I added a can of frozen apple juice concentrate instead of the fresh apple juice at bottling time for carbonation. Bottled in sanitized 1 liter PET bottles (Canada Dry Club Soda), put them in the pantry for 2 weeks, and when the bottles felt tight, I cold-crashed them in the fridge--which is where they are now a month later waiting for Thanksgiving. Next time, I'll leave out the yeast nutrient and pectic enzyme. I think one of those ingredients make the final product take longer to clear--probably the yeast nutrient.

 

[galgasan]

New member here -- a few clarification questions. I've done some homebrew beer with success and want to try a cider.

1) Since the Apple Juice is already pasteurized, do you still have to pasteurize it once bottled? I see drew above did pasteurize it, but didn't see any mention in the OP.

2) Can you substitute part of the 5 gallons of juice for another kind of juice? I was interested in having a Cranberry Apple flavor for the fall, and am just looking for any experience and tips for doing this (e.g. 4 gallons apple, 1 gallon cranberry... does the acidity affect the process, etc.).

I appreciate any help with improving my beginner's knowledge!

 

[Gonzo_Don]

1-No, there is no need to pasteurize the apple juice unless you want to ensure the yeast are dead and will not carbonate the beverage beyond the capacity of the bottle to hold it. When I used to store my hard carbonated cider in the garage or in the pantry, I always pasteurized it; since I've started using plastic bottles, I simply wait until the bottles are hard and then move the cider to the refrigerator where it cold-crashes and stops additional fermentation. If you're making more than you can hold in the fridge, and you're making carbonated cider, I would definitely pasteurize, use glass bottles, and no worries. However--unless you're trying to keep the neighborhood in hard cider, once you get the rhythm down (brewing vs. drinking) you should be able to keep a constant supply going without the need for pasteurization (which also dulls the crispness of the taste). I've down-sized to a 2-1/2 gallon batch (brewdemon conical) and I find that keeps me in brew nicely with a batch always going--that's 12 to 15 plastic 740ML bottles per batch.
2-Yes, definitely experiment with different juices. I replace 1/2 gallon of apple juice with 1/2 gallon of cranberry or tart cherry juice. These juices mimic the taste you would expect from the tart apples originally used in cider making for centuries. In fact, making cider from strictly Sam's Club apple juice will give you a rather dull-tasting cider. Adding 1/2 gallon of cranberry juice makes it perfect--it's exactly the taste of a good Irish hard apple cider.

 

[galgasan]

Awesome! Thanks for the insight there.

So it's okay to use old 2L soda plastic bottles with the screw on plastic cap with cider? Obviously with my beer I just use glass bottles and a capper. How would you sanitize the old soda bottles - i'm thinking the dishwasher may warp them.

 

[Gonzo_Don]

Absolutely okay - old plastic 2L soda bottles, 1L bottles, even the little 8oz. club soda bottles. Wash them out with a bit of dish soap, rinse well, and then use Starsan on them prior to bottling. Fill a bottle, give it a shake, pour into the next bottle with a funnel, give it a shake, etc., etc., etc. Put the sanitized bottles upside down on your dishwasher rack and let them drain, but don't worry if they're not drained completely before bottling--the foam left over doesn't hurt a thing
Remember that the smaller bottles will carbonate much faster than the larger bottles, so give them a squeeze everyday after the first 3 or 4 days. The batch I'm drinking right now carbed up in only 5 days--it's important to keep an eye on it when you're "bottle carbonating" and cold crash them as soon as the bottles are "tight."
I've used every method to bottle carbonate and I still maintain that the addition of thawed frozen apple juice concentrate just prior to bottling is the best. 1/4 can per gallon. Pour it in, give it a gentle, little stir, wait 10-15 minutes, and then bottle. The yeast you stir up will sink to the bottom within 2 days after cold-crashing.
The tablets work well, too, but I can get concentrate at the grocery store and have to buy the tablets on-line.
Good luck!