Strawberry Cider.... maybe? ;/

[w44dde]

Hi guy's.. I found a recipe online for a Perry/
pear cider which consisted of the following.. 3 cans of pear halves in syrup, 300g sugar, 1tsp cinnamon, blended and simmered in a pan topped up with 3 litres of cold water and a wine yeast starter, in a DJ.. hydro reading of 1044 (which was as the recipe stated thank God) NOW I thought.... could I make a strawberry cider using the same principles? So instead of asking I've just done it..oh dear :/ after searching about I found that instead of using water to top up the 'strawberries in syrup', I've used apple juice... after giving it a whirl about and testing it I've got a hydro reading of 1110? Now I'm very very new to this but I like to do my homework so if anybody can tell me if this is going to work or any advice on the matter, then please be gentle... thanks

 

[UpstateMike]

Well, what ABV are/were you looking to get? Currently you are looking at a potential 15 - 16 %.

 

[LandoAllen]

That is a pretty high SG... Which means its going to taste like wine and need to be aged for quite some time in order for it to taste drinkable because your wine yeast will eat up every bit of your sugar. That's not a bad thing if you are ok with that but just know that it will taste very wine-like. Also if you do decide to just ferment as is make sure you have some good step dosages of yeast nutrient and I suggest fermenting at a lower temp to help avoid the "got alcohol" taste.

If you don't want it to taste like wine and want more of a cider taste then my suggestion is to dilute it down with more apple juice and make a bigger batch. Don't dilute with water. Add more strawberry to the secondary to preserve the strawberry taste.

 

[hbrookie]

Also, fruit flavors are very dependent on the sugars to bring out their flavors. Just so that you know, strawberries might be the most dependent out of all of them. I'll be absolutely amazed if you can taste the strawberry at the end of this without some backsweetening.

If you don't dilute with more apple juice and make the bigger batch, you're probably going to want a higher gravity yeast. Something that can keep on working even in a high alcohol environment. Champagne yeast would probably best for making sure you get your fermentation completed, however, champagne yeast is known to do a pretty nice job of stripping fruit flavors out with it.

Personally, I'd dilute it down and use an English Cider yeast like wlp775 or maybe even a Hefe yeast like wlp300. The 300 will leave some banana notes, but banana pairs well with the berry flavor and both of those yeasts are known to do a nice job of leaving aromatics and fruit flavors behind that a lot of other yeasts with strip out.

You might also consider some very lightly toasted oak chips/cubes. The tannins released will impart a bit of a vanilla flavor, but they will also help to bring out the fruit flavors that disappeared during ferment.

 

[w44dde]

I was kind of expecting the same ABV as the pear but presumably this is not the case because of more sugars used with the apple juice? Im not so worried about leaving it longer its just how I go about doing it and how to bottle afterwards carbonation etc.. again I'll reiterate I'm completely new to this so sorry if this makes no sense haha.. would it taste better diluted with more apple/strawberry syrup into another DJ as I have another couple spare? I think I need to carry on as much research as possible..

 

[LandoAllen]

I think you should have taken a hydro test before adding the 300g of sugar...

 

[caseymac91]

Don't use ground cinnamon. It leaves gunk floating around in the brew that never settles. Use cinnamon sticks or extract.

Step for step, this is how I would save your batch:

1) Starting gravity of 1.110, ferment it down till it reaches 1.03-1.04.
2) Rack your cider off the yeast cake, and put it in the fridge. Make sure air can escape the container.
3) Eventually the yeast will go to sleep. It could take 3-5 days since it's wine yeast.
4) A yeast cake will form on the bottom, pour or rack the cider off of it. Leave as much behind as possible.
5) Dilute with apple juice to taste.
6) Bottle right away, while the cider is still cold. Also use a plastic soda bottle to keep track of how fast the batch is carbonating. Be careful and check pressure often. Carbonation can take anywhere from an hour to a few days with so much leftover sugar.
7)Stovetop pasteurize your beer bottles when the soda bottle gets stiff. Read Pappers sticky "Easy Stove-Top Pasteurizing - With Pics"
8)For a non carbonated cider that has no risk of bombs, pasteurize your beer bottles right away.

 

[w44dde]

Will I lose the strawberry taste diluting or will it not taste too strawberry anyway.. I guess I just keep feeling the say small cola bottle to test if it's carbonated enough? Rather than keep undoing it.. and after I've bottled the cold cider do I just keep them at room temp again? Sorry to sound so thick lol..

 

[caseymac91]

Take a sample and taste it yourself before you decide what kind of juice to dilute it with. If you decide it needs more strawberry flavour, dilute it with a strawberry flavoured juice instead of apple. Yes keep the bottles at room temp while carbonating. Keep in mind that the speed of carbonation will increase as the yeast warm up. So test it as often as possible, you don't want an overcarbonated batch or you may get exploding glass bottles. If you open the soda bottle and it's carbonated, but not gushing, it's time to pasteurize the bottles.

 

[w44dde]

OK thank-you I'll see how I get on

 

[w44dde]

Just an update.. after following CaseyMac91's step by step I am excited to announce that honestly the taste is amazing.. I've had numerous people taste test it and went through 6 bottles of it last night.. I bottled it into a load of old carlsberg bottles and crown capped them.. once the tester soda bottle got hard I put them straight into the fridge as testing one opening it fizzed out a bit so darent pasteurize them but I will next time.. after taking them out the fridge though now they are still fizzy but they don't overflow and just taste delicious.. if I was to give an example of taste I and others have said it tasted better than a Jacques.. bargain.. thanks guys I'm going to make another batch to try and master the pasteurization and if I do I'm going to do a 5gallon batch.. sweet!

 

[caseymac91]

Cheers

Just remember, since you didn't pasteurize they will continue to ferment and build pressure in the bottles. Even if kept in the fridge they could build pressure over time. Beware the bottle bomb.

 

[UpstateMike]

Cheers

Just remember, since you didn't pasteurize they will continue to ferment and build pressure in the bottles. Even if kept in the fridge they could build pressure over time. Beware the bottle bomb.

Translation: Throw a party and drink them all fast!

 

[w44dde]

Haha, Yeah they're all gone now.. No bombs.. pasteurization next batch..