Sugar+Water+Yeast, Lather+Rinse+Repeat

[bodhisoma]

While researching how to make my first batch of hard cider, I read in some forum post that all that's needed is yeast, a sugar the yeast can digest, and water, and the yeast would convert the sugars to alcohol.

What prevents someone from just adding more and more sugar -- either all at once at the start or gradually as it's consumed -- and making a very high ABV and adding that to something flavored?

I ask because during this same research, someone wrote a post about using really expensive, high-quality cider and someone else replied that much of the character of the cider would be lost during the process, making the expense a wasted one. I decided to try a femto batch of blueberry pomegranate (whose first ingredient is apple juice) and thought of the above idea, adding the juice later for backsweetening and flavor.

Thoughts?

 

[phug]

I read a document from a uk government report were they tried to determine the actual juice content of commercials ciders for regulation. Apparently many commercial ciders in the uk may have as little as 33 percent juice derived alcohols. So yeah, you can do it



Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Texconsinite]

Regarding sugar and water, thats only kindof true. Yeast will be stressed (leading to off flavors) without also having nutrients during fermentation, such as those found in fruits and grains , so I would put the juice in right away, along with a little extra yeast nutrient (apple is less nutrient-rich than grape juice or malted barley) and sugar if you want. Storebought juice is already OG 1.050-1.055 and packed with natural sugars, so you can potentially make a 6% cider without any additional sugar.

How much of the flavor you lose during fermentation depends on what type of yeast you use, and how low you let it ferment before bottling (see stovetop pasteurization thread for more on bottling safely). Ive tried both wine and beer yeasts in cider, and the wine sucks ALL the flavor and sweetness out, leaving very tart beverage at end. Beer yeast (nottingham or US 05) leaves behind much more flavor and leaves finished cider tasting alot more like the juice you started with, IMO much better tasting.
Many recipes advise bottling at 1.010-1015 with priming sugar to achieve good amount of fruit flavor, but its a matter of taste.

So, I would not say using expensive ciders DOESNT matter, but Ive been able to make tasty ciders from inexpensive 100% juice from walmart, so I dont think the fancy stuff is neccesary. If you find that more of the flavor fermented out than you want, you can just backsweeten to taste with 100% Apple (or any other) Juice concentrate at bottling (again, this adds more sugar, so take steps to avoid bottle bombs)

Most juices have grape or apple juice as first ingredient, which caused me to wonder the same things as you were thinking. Blueberry pomegranate sounds good! I'm bottling a batch tomorrow made from Strawberry Banana Juicy Juice (apple juice 1st ingredient) and US 05, and even down at 1.003, it still has plenty of fruit flavor and very present strawberry aroma, and SWMBO likes it, so I'd call it a success.