Spiced apple cider advice please!

[Skylarg14]

So I’m making a 6 gallon batch of spiced apple cider. I didn’t have access to apples this year so I’m just using actual apple juice instead of pressing the juice myself. I usually like sweet wines with a higher alcohol content (like around 12-14%) so I don’t really have any experience making a cider with an alcohol content closer to 4-6%. I still want it to be sweet, with as bold of an apple taste as I can make. If anybody has a recipe or advice on getting the alcohol and sweetness level I want it would be greatly appreciated! Also how much of each spice to use and how long to keep it in the cider. Obviously that’s a bit up to personal taste but if anybody has a baseline that would be great!

 

[S-Met]

Check out this thread for info about sweetness and cider/wine.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/cider-for-beginners.508303/

Regarding "spicing" its a personal preference, but start small. You can add more.

 

[papz]

Use this yeast.
https://www.imperialyeast.com/organic-yeast-strains/yeast-types/ales/pub/

W-02 is supposedly the same yeast from White-Labs

I've done plenty ciders with it. Primary for 2 weeks (or 3, it won't hurt it) Pretty much always finished around 5% ABV and cleared on it's own. Dump new juice onto the yeast cake to save $$$ on your next batch. You do kind of want to drink this cider young. I've left some batches on the yeast for a few months and it started developing a wine like taste. Maybe go : ferment 2 weeks, spice 1 week, drink in the next 2-3 weeks.

If using cinnamon as your spice, 1 stick per gallon works well.
Other spices, as S-Met said, start small because you can add more if it's too little, but can't remove it if it's too much.

Hope this helps.

 

[Skylarg14]

Use this yeast.
https://www.imperialyeast.com/organic-yeast-strains/yeast-types/ales/pub/

W-02 is supposedly the same yeast from White-Labs

I've done plenty ciders with it. Primary for 2 weeks (or 3, it won't hurt it) Pretty much always finished around 5% ABV and cleared on it's own. Dump new juice onto the yeast cake to save $$$ on your next batch. You do kind of want to drink this cider young. I've left some batches on the yeast for a few months and it started developing a wine like taste. Maybe go : ferment 2 weeks, spice 1 week, drink in the next 2-3 weeks.

If using cinnamon as your spice, 1 stick per gallon works well.
Other spices, as S-Met said, start small because you can add more if it's too little, but can't remove it if it's too much.

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much for the information! When I looked at the info on the yeast you recommended it said it had an alcohol tolerance of about 10%, how do you keep yours down to 5? Also if I racked it off the yeast and stabilized it, do you think it would still develop the wine taste to it?

 

[bucketnative]

Thank you so much for the information! When I looked at the info on the yeast you recommended it said it had an alcohol tolerance of about 10%, how do you keep yours down to 5? Also if I racked it off the yeast and stabilized it, do you think it would still develop the wine taste to it?

Without an "exotic" process like pasteurization to stop the fermentation, the sugars in your apple juice will ferment 100 % with any yeast used. Apple juice typically comes in around 1.050 (+/- 0.005), which means that if it ferments to completion, it will be about 6.5 % alcohol (give or take). The amount of sugar in the apple juice will dictate the alcohol content. A dry cider can be compared to a dry wine (if still) or a champagne (if sparkling) in terms of sweetness. If you want a sweet cider, you will need to either pasteurize your cider to stop fermentation or look into multiple rackings (to remove as much yeast as possible) along with stabilization to inhibit what little yeast is left. Then you can sweeten with apple juice/concentrate or sugar.

Alternatively, you can add sweetener (either sugar or apple juice) at service time to yield a sweet cider at time of drinking.

 

[Skylarg14]

Without an "exotic" process like pasteurization to stop the fermentation, the sugars in your apple juice will ferment 100 % with any yeast used. Apple juice typically comes in around 1.050 (+/- 0.005), which means that if it ferments to completion, it will be about 6.5 % alcohol (give or take). The amount of sugar in the apple juice will dictate the alcohol content. A dry cider can be compared to a dry wine (if still) or a champagne (if sparkling) in terms of sweetness. If you want a sweet cider, you will need to either pasteurize your cider to stop fermentation or look into multiple rackings (to remove as much yeast as possible) along with stabilization to inhibit what little yeast is left. Then you can sweeten with apple juice/concentrate or sugar.

Alternatively, you can add sweetener (either sugar or apple juice) at service time to yield a sweet cider at time of drinking.

That’s a great point thank you!! I didn’t even think about just fermenting without adding additional sugar. That alone should help boost the apple flavor right? From what I’ve read, the alcohol made from table sugar makes it taste more like a white wine and dilutes the apple flavor. I think 6% should be fine, I’ll probably sweeten (after stabilizing) with apple concentrate. I appreciate the helpful information! Do you have any spice combination recommendations?

 

[CKuhns]

I like:

Cinnamon, cloves snd vanilla. For a 5 gallon cut three vanilla beans length wise in half, 4 whole 4" cinnamon sticks and 3 whole cloves.

Drop them in a small bag or cheese cloth sack and wait 5 to 7 days. Taste at 5 days and each day after until you hit the flavor you like.

There are all kinds of spices, other than this. Just have fun and experiment a bit.

I recently did a red pepper flake with hops that turned out really well. 1 oz red pepper flakes and two ounces citra hops.

 

[papz]

I’ll probably sweeten (after stabilizing)

Using that yeast, you won't need to back sweeten at all as long as you drink it fairly young. Don't add sugar. primary for 2 weeks, age on cinnamon 1 week, and drink within 2 weeks after that. Works great.

 

[Skylarg14]

Oh okay gotcha! Thank you very much!

 

[Skylarg14]

I like:

Cinnamon, cloves snd vanilla. For a 5 gallon cut three vanilla beans length wise in half, 4 whole 4" cinnamon sticks and 3 whole cloves.

Drop them in a small bag or cheese cloth sack and wait 5 to 7 days. Taste at 5 days and each day after until you hit the flavor you like.

There are all kinds of spices, other than this. Just have fun and experiment a bit.

I recently did a red pepper flake with hops that turned out really well. 1 oz red pepper flakes and two ounces citra hops.

That’s exactly the flavor combo I was going for, so that should be great! I’ll probably play it safe with this batch just to get my cider technique down but I’ll definitely try experimenting with gallon batches soon!

 

[Thestarkmancometh]

The girlfriend and I are going to try our hands at cider in the next few weeks and are probably going to use this recipe. Would you be able to recommend a yeast to go with this? Or would any cider yeast work well.

Thanks in advance!

 

[CKuhns]

Most Cider yeasts or for that matter any yeast will do and everyone on this forum has their favorite and depends upon your fermentation practices and conditions. I prefer Safeale US-04 or 5. Original Gravity (OG) at 1.060 by adding Frozen Apple juice Concentrate (FAJC) vs raw sugar to bump the sugar level up almost always stops just short of dry at 1.004 to 1.008 if fermented at 62 Deg F.

 

[Skylarg14]

The girlfriend and I are going to try our hands at cider in the next few weeks and are probably going to use this recipe. Would you be able to recommend a yeast to go with this? Or would any cider yeast work well.

Thanks in advance!

I used Mangrove Jack’s cider yeast and it ended up AMAZING. Even as young as it is the apple notes came through and it was super clear. Probably the most solid lee I’ve had. It is true what they say, it’s a bottom fermenter so there won’t be anything on top, mine almost looked like it was simmering as bubbles were coming up from the bottom.

 

[AzOr]

I used Mangrove Jack’s cider yeast and it ended up AMAZING. Even as young as it is the apple notes came through and it was super clear. Probably the most solid lee I’ve had. It is true what they say, it’s a bottom fermenter so there won’t be anything on top, mine almost looked like it was simmering as bubbles were coming up from the bottom.

Mangrove Jack’s cider yeast is my favorite. Been my go to for 3 or 4 seasons now.

 

[MarkKF]

Most Cider yeasts or for that matter any yeast will do and everyone on this forum has their favorite and depends upon your fermentation practices and conditions. I prefer Safeale US-04 or 5. Original Gravity (OG) at 1.060 by adding Frozen Apple juice Concentrate (FAJC) vs raw sugar to bump the sugar level up almost always stops just short of dry at 1.004 to 1.008 if fermented at 62 Deg F.

Do you bump up the O.G. to hit a specific ABV? Just a preference or does it slow the yeast down?