Unicorn Blood

[thaymond]

Another round of UB for a friend. I'm going lighter this time to get a normal cider and not apple wine.

4.5 gal Indian Summer Apple Juice
.25 gal (1Qt) Indian Summer Tart Cherry Juice
.25 gal WLP002 washed Slurry

Measured OG 1.048
Estimated FG 1.010 to 1.00

4.99% to 6.1% ABV depending where it finishes.

View attachment 1465300225282.jpg

 

[thaymond]

I had to switch out the airlock for a blowoff tube. I haven't seen a cider behave this way with a vigorous fermentation before. I am not sure what is different, but this stuff is chugging away double time.

 

[ZebulonBrewer]

Anyone keg this stuff? I usually do a straight all-apple cider, then shock and kill the yeast, backsweeten with concentrate, and then keg. It's awesome.

I was thinking of fermenting the apple juice only, kill the yeast, and then rack the cider on to the black cherry in the keg as a combination flavorant/backsweetening. Any thoughts there?

 

[Trailrunner1]

Second time making a version of UB using a French Saison yeast with 2qts of black cherry juice. Tonight I put it in my oak bourbon barrel. I'll taste daily until I feel it's had enough - probably 1 wk or less as 5 gallon barrel imparts oak/ bourbon and subtle vanilla flavor quickly. It will go in the keg and on tap in time for November/ Turkey Day!

 

[PitRow]

I started a 1 gallon batch of this last friday (3/17/17) using 3 quarts of tree top and 1 quart of the Just Black Cherry. This is my first time ever making cider, so we'll see how it goes.

I was planning on adding a little brown sugar to get the OG up but I was surprised when I checked the gravity of just those two mixed it was already somewhere around 1.060 (I didn't look too closely at it) so I just let it go without adding anything.

Pitched a whole vial of WLP060 and it took almost 24 hours before any noticeable fermentation started, but then it took off. Without a whole lot of headspace in the 1 gallon carboy it pushed quite a bit of gunk out the blowoff tube. Monday I switched over to a regular airlock. It's still bubbling about 3 or 4 bubbles a minute.

I'm looking for a slightly sweet, lightly carb'ed, bottled cider so I'm planning to start checking the gravity once the bubbles slow to about once a minute, aiming to hit about 1.010ish. Then add slightly less priming sugar than I normally would for beer (maybe use honey instead) and letting it bottle carb for a couple days (4 maybe?) then stove top pasteurizing. I will definitely try one before pasteurizing to ensure no gushers and that the carb level is about where I want it.

Anybody see any flaws in my plan? Thanks!

 

[BlainD]

I started a 1 gallon batch of this last friday (3/17/17) using 3 quarts of tree top and 1 quart of the Just Black Cherry. This is my first time ever making cider, so we'll see how it goes.

I was planning on adding a little brown sugar to get the OG up but I was surprised when I checked the gravity of just those two mixed it was already somewhere around 1.060 (I didn't look too closely at it) so I just let it go without adding anything.

Pitched a whole vial of WLP060 and it took almost 24 hours before any noticeable fermentation started, but then it took off. Without a whole lot of headspace in the 1 gallon carboy it pushed quite a bit of gunk out the blowoff tube. Monday I switched over to a regular airlock. It's still bubbling about 3 or 4 bubbles a minute.

I'm looking for a slightly sweet, lightly carb'ed, bottled cider so I'm planning to start checking the gravity once the bubbles slow to about once a minute, aiming to hit about 1.010ish. Then add slightly less priming sugar than I normally would for beer (maybe use honey instead) and letting it bottle carb for a couple days (4 maybe?) then stove top pasteurizing. I will definitely try one before pasteurizing to ensure no gushers and that the carb level is about where I want it.

Anybody see any flaws in my plan? Thanks!

If you intend to drink them young, you can simply put them in the fridge when they are where you want them. That will greatly slow the conditioning and they won't burst. They also will age at a snail's pace. I think you will find that cellar ing a first batch to be impossible.

Notes
1) if you use honey at bottling, do not heat it above 140 or you will burn off all the delicate flavors. I usually sanitize a metal measuring cup and put it in water bath at about 140 for awhile, use my judgement.

2) stove top pasteurizing is a simple and effective method I have used several times. Man there are great tutorials on this board. Find a method that works for you. I will caution you, bottles do, can, and will burst while pasturizing. It's not really dangerous Becuase it is under water, but you might get 10 12oz bottles from a gallon. The loss of one is 10% of your batch.

3) Champagne Bottles. You hip yet? Won't shatter under high pressure. Helps pasturizing (but takes a bigger vessel). You can also not pasteurize them; Which creates an almost air like beverage. Super high carbonation so dry. I have never shared it with anyone that didn't like it. One down side is: you have to open a larger bottle everytime.

4) Seems like you've done some reading. Try different things with different bottles. Pasteurize some, don't pasteurize others, age some and not others ect ect. I found I got a lot more edification out of each batch if I looked at them like science experiments. I have probably finished this cider a dozen different ways.

How do I like it? Not telling. If you are in Austin be friendly and I might let you sample some.

Enjoy the Cider!

 

[BlainD]

I have a bottle from the original batch in my "cellar". How long ago was that? Wow. I haven't even made a batch in two years!

 

[ThatITGuy]

I have a bottle from the original batch in my "cellar". How long ago was that? Wow. I haven't even made a batch in two years!

If you open one, share the feedback after a nice long age like that!

I'm going to try this recipe soon.

 

[Kalaloch]

Interested in making this but I don’t back sweeten. I’m wondering how dry this ends up? It should be similar to a dry hard cider correct? I did Ed Wort’s Alphenwein but used a cider yeast instead and carbonated it and it was dry but delicious.

• Would blueberry juice instead of black cherry be less tart?

• Should I wait a few days to add cherry or blueberry juice so I don’t lose that flavor from the fermentation

 

[Tarpon87]

this is the first cider Ive made. 3.5 gallon white house apple juice, 1/2 gallon Knudsen black cherry juice. Tossed in the fermenter with Mangrove Jack's M02 cider yeast at 68 degrees. Yeast had a small krausen going the next morning and then I left for work for 5 days. Came back and checked on it. No sign of the krausen getting any bigger than the little that was on top on day 1, took a sample and it was down from 1.050 to 1.005 after 5 days. Tasted pretty good, just a hint of sweetness left. It did have a faint sulfur smell that will hopefully clear up. Gonna leave a few more weeks to do its thing. Originally planned to stabilize and back sweeten as I was making this for my wife (she doesn't drink beer) but we just found out she is pregnant so looks like this batch is for me lol. I may skip the back sweeten step, I thought the sample tasted pretty good, we'll see if the yeast eat any more points off the FG.

 

[James0816]

Hecked the bottles today one has stopped bubbling and the other has drastically slowed. Is this typical for 10 days fermenting?

For the bottle that stopped, i'll let it sit a week and then rack to the secondary and add blackberries.

haha..this posted in wrong forum some how.

 

[CanadienBrewer]

I couldn't find cherry juice and in the moment saw whole pitted cherries in the store and figured i'd puree them and use them with this recipe.

I thought I was being smart. However the next day it occurred to be that these cherries weren't pasteurized and will likely contain wild yeast and other things.

Sure enough it's going "wild". Lots of clumps forming and floating around. Looks nothing like i've seen during my previous straight apple cider ferments.

1) Is it dangerous to drink?

2) I read it may contaminate my rubber equipment and can not be sterilized. True?


I understand the flavour could be unpredictable. If it's safe and won't ruin my equipment it may be worth a taste to see what happens.

 

[Tarpon87]

For those that have kegged this, what card level are you looking for. I've never done a cider before. I normally just set my beers to 12-13psi and leave them for a week or so, would that work for the cider as well?

 

[Tarpon87]

Just an update, entered this into the 3rd Annual Caribbean Cup, won 1st place in the cider category. First cider Ive made! Thanks for the great easy recipe.

 

[Immocles]

I couldn’t resist the pull of this thread. I tossed a 3gal batch of this into my bucket after bottling a couple small batches this afternoon.
2g store brand apple juice (hyvee)
3qrts Martinelli Apple juice
1qt knudson cherry juice
Pitched a jar of fresh s04 slurry
~1.054 OG

Didn’t add sugar of any type, just gonna let it ride.

 

[Immocles]

Well I pulled a sample of this batch already (9 days in) while I had all my gear out to bottle a cream ale, and whoa, it tastes good. I didn't pull a big enough sample, and had already re-closed the bucket, so I didn't get a solid gravity reading (definitely drier than 1.010, hydrometer SANK, I used slurry from s04, so I would think it will be left a bit on the sweet side?). There was a fair amount of dark foam/creaminess on the top. Is that a side effect from using ale yeast instead of actual wine yeast? But if it holds anywhere near where it is now, I am damn impressed.

 

[Calaeb]

Just did a version of this, did 4.5 gallons of walmart brand apple juice, .5 gallon of crancherry juice, then 1 qt of tart cherry juice. pitched a pkt of belle saison and it was already chugging along nicely this morning. Didn't add any other sugar so started at 1.045 which is fine with me. Will give it 2 weeks and see where im at.

 

[user 269082]

3 1/2 gallons Tree Top 3 Apple Blend
1/2 gallon R.W. Knudsen Just Black Cherry Juice

WLP060

It's young now but already delightful. Fruity and slightly sweet. It tastes enough like a jolly rancher to appeal to your sweet tooth; Not so sweet you feel like a girl drink drunk. I'm pleased. If I decide to make this again (and probably will next spring) I think I'll add brown sugar to deepen the color and dry it out a little more.

First Recipe post let me know if I need to change anything up!

PROST!

View attachment 77180

3 1/2 gallons Tree Top 3 Apple Blend
1/2 gallon R.W. Knudsen Just Black Cherry Juice

WLP060

It's young now but already delightful. Fruity and slightly sweet. It tastes enough like a jolly rancher to appeal to your sweet tooth; Not so sweet you feel like a girl drink drunk. I'm pleased. If I decide to make this again (and probably will next spring) I think I'll add brown sugar to deepen the color and dry it out a little more.

First Recipe post let me know if I need to change anything up!

PROST!

View attachment 77180

Hello new to the site here my name is Mike. I've only made six batches of beer which have been going pretty well for me but I'd like to make a batch of cider for my girlfriend .she picked this one on the list and I'm seeking help.

How exactly do I go about making unicorn blood? Is it just like making beer or is there other equipment and procedures that I need to follow? Any and all help will be much appreciated and I eagerly await your reply!

 

[tmendick]

Its basically the same process you do once you move your beer to the fermenter. I like to add some yeast nutrient to the fermenter when I add the yeast. Make sure you pitch enough healthy yeast and that the fermentation doesn't get too hot just like you would for beer. This should give you a final gravity of 0.998ish so if you want it sweet you may need to look into backsweetening.

 

[Immocles]

Hello new to the site here my name is Mike. I've only made six batches of beer which have been going pretty well for me but I'd like to make a batch of cider for my girlfriend .she picked this one on the list and I'm seeking help.

How exactly do I go about making unicorn blood? Is it just like making beer or is there other equipment and procedures that I need to follow? Any and all help will be much appreciated and I eagerly await your reply!

When I made this recipe, I had dumped 3 gallons of store bought apple juice (make sure no preservatives, just apple juice) and one bottle of the Knudsens cherry juice to my bucket fermenter. I had just finished bottling a small, single gallon batch of beer using S04 yeast, and poured the entire yeast cake into the bucket after thoroughly agitating the juices. It fermented down to about 1.004 I believe. It was quite tasty, I'd make it again.

 

[cmac62]

I may have to stop by the store before they close tonight and get the ingredients for this. Sounds outstanding. I was thinking I can use my MT with the false bottom to pasteurize. It can hold more bottles that anything else I have. Either that for Camden or kmeta to stabilize and carb in the keg.

 

[tmendick]

I may have to stop by the store before they close tonight and get the ingredients for this. Sounds outstanding. I was thinking I can use my MT with the false bottom to pasteurize. It can hold more bottles that anything else I have. Either that for Camden or kmeta to stabilize and carb in the keg.

Do you plan on backsweetening? If not there’s no reason to bottle pasteurize. You can either bottle it still, add priming sugar or force carb in the keg like you would for beer, once fermentation is done.

 

[cmac62]

Yea, I'm guessing this one will get super dry, I would like to back sweeten it a little with FCA. Thanks for the reply.

 

[tmendick]

Yea, I'm guessing this one will get super dry, I would like to back sweeten it a little with FCA. Thanks for the reply.

Do you keg and have space to keep it in the fridge? You can backsweeten while you are carbonating and leave it in the fridge until the keg kicks without chemical or heat pasteurization as well.

 

[cmac62]

Do you keg and have space to keep it in the fridge? You can backsweeten while you are carbonating and leave it in the fridge until the keg kicks without chemical or heat pasteurization as well.

Yes I keg, but don't have the ability to keep it cold until it kicks, my ferm fridge kicked recently and need to get a new one. Thanks for the reply.