Spice amounts

[jpcoote]

I'm looking to make 5 gallons of hard cider with cinnamon, nutmeg, and white oak (attempting to clone Woodchuck Fall cider). I've made beer and wine before, but this will be my first venture into cider, so I'm hoping that someone could give me a ballpark estimate of weight of spices per 5 gallons. Also, if anyone has an idea of a ratio of spices that would be awesome too

 

[Thomas007]

I haven't tried it myself, but I've heard that adding spices in primary is a bad idea (tastes like "old gym sock" were mentioned). I plan to add spices in secondary for my cider...

 

[jpcoote]

Yea that was the plan for me too. I just started primary today, trying to get the spices figured out before I start secondary.

 

[Thomas007]

I guess I'm in the same situation, then.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I'm looking to make 5 gallons of hard cider with cinnamon, nutmeg, and white oak (attempting to clone Woodchuck Fall cider). I've made beer and wine before, but this will be my first venture into cider, so I'm hoping that someone could give me a ballpark estimate of weight of spices per 5 gallons. Also, if anyone has an idea of a ratio of spices that would be awesome too

Use whole or slice/cracked spices. The powdered stuff makes a real mess & is next to impossible to remove without filtration. You could always make a sort of "teabag" for powdered spice, but teabags can fail.

As for amounts of spice go, that's really dependant upon which spice & how much spice flavour you want in your end product. What 1 person thinks is just right might be way too much (or too little) for another person.

I'd say use two 4" sticks of cinnamon in 5 gallons, but you'll have to taste it every couple of days to see when you think it's enough cinnamon flavour. Nutmeg can be pretty strong & alcohol seems to easily extract flavour from it. I'd start with about 1/4 of a whole nutmeg, sliced.

When I add spice, I just put them in a hopsack & toss it into the carbouy. If you feel the need to keep it submerged, you can add a couple of sanitized glass marbles to weigh it down. To keep it from sinking into the lees, either let it float, or weigh it down & use a length of fishing line to suspend it in the carbouy. Secure it by letting the other end drape over the carbouy mouth/neck & use the rubber stopper to secure it via friction, or tape it to the outside of the carbouy. The longer you leave it in the must, the stronger the spice flavour profile will be.

Hope this helps. Regards, GF.

 

[MarkKF]

I put two sticks of cinnamon in my 5 gal. secondary. After several week there is barely a hint of cinnamon flavor.