Unsweetened Raspberry Puree Apple Cider

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drj

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Here is another raspberry cider recipe. The raspberry puree was the pure, de-seeded, unsweetened product from the local home brewing store's wine shelf and was suspended in cider before adding to the carboy. Yeast, pectic enzyme, and yeast nutrient were activated in warm filtered water before pitching. The Musselman's cider was from WalMart and has no additives (no ascorbic acid or sorbate). I use this as my preferred base for specialty ciders. The Splenda (what I had on hand in the cupboard) and priming sugar were added to priming bucket immediately before bottling, to cut tartness but avoid excess carbonation. Kinda pricey, but really good. Would probably try lactose instead of Splenda to reduce the cost.

Raspberry Cider

2 3lb cans Oregon Fruit Products unsweetened raspberry puree ($32)
4 gal Musselman's pasteurized apple cider ($16)
1 pck cote des blanc yeast ($.75)
5 tsp yeast nutrient ($.40)
2 tbl pectic enzyme ($.40)
3 c Splenda ($3)
2.8 oz priming sugar ($.75)
Total = $52.20
Pitched 21DEC2010
SG = 1.044 @ 84
FG=1.000 @ 68
abv = 6%
Bottled 07JAN2011

16 22oz, 2 500 mL = $2.90 / bottle
 
Wait a minute! Am I the only one who's done this? Anyone else with any experience? I started it yesterday, at the same time I did Ed's Apfelwine. Ed's is bubbling away like a champ. This is sitting sullenly. It uses Cotes de Blanc yeast which has been pretty quick starting for me before. Any experiences with this would be appreciated.
 
This turned out to be the most popular of my brews among my friends. Almost two years later and an amazing amount of bottle carbonation. definitely fits in the sparkling category.
 
How full was your carboy? I used 2cans of the raspberry purée and followed directions but it just comes to the top of the widest part of the carboy. Is this a problem? Or am I being a helicopter mom with my booze-to-be agin? :)
 
I use a 5 gal polycarbonate water carboy and it fills to the 4.5 gal mark just below the start of the diameter reduction. There is some headspace, but I like that as it allows for more initial oxygen content (yeast like it at the beginning for propagation, what you want) by vigorously swirling the "filled" carboy before attaching the air lock. I get better yeast reproduction/ net alcohol production since I started leaving the headspace and swirling it at the beginning (rocking the carboy back and forth until the "vortex" hits the bottom of the carboy). When transferring the net brew to my priming bucket, I use a fine mesh splatter guard as a filter for the raspberry "guts" (the cheap ones that are designed for use on frying pans to prevent grease splatter on the stove) as I siphon with the racking cane, avoiding the "trub" at the bottom as much as possible.
 
Once this is bottled, am I correct in thinking it can be stored at room/closet temp until ready to chill for serving, like a beer?
 
OK. It's been a month, the lees are impressive, to say the least, and I'm thinking it's time to do something with this. Did you rack it into a bottling bucket or did you put it into a carboy for further clearing? Looks pretty clear but this and my carboy of Ed's is the first time for me for cider. What do I do next?
 
Sorry for the delay in responding. After reaching a stable gravity (mine stabilized at %6 ABV), I siphoned the brew off the lees with a cane, and filtered the brew into a priming bucket as it came off the cane through a fine mesh screen in a bottling funnel to remove the remaining raspberry "guts". I suspect that the same could be done through a coffee filter in a standard funnel. I mixed in the priming sugar, then bottled from the priming bucket and left in a cool area. Waited a month before trying a bottle and the "fizz" was just right for my tastes (went for 2.0 volumes when calculating the priming sugar at http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html). It is best served in a frozen mug or glass, be certain to cool the bottles of brew before opening, as it is a sparkling cider and you won't want to miss a drop :).
 
Well, nuts. My OG was 1.046. Good, but after a month, the FG is 1.030!!! That does not sound good! I used Cotes de Blanc yeast per the OP instructions. The temp was between 72-75, everything else in the brewing closet is proceeding perfectly....

I'm thinking about adding some simple syrup on the off chance that the yeast simply ran out of food and needs more. Not in the original recipe, I know, but neither is this outcome!!!! Any insights or ideas would be most welcome!
 
Sorry for the apparent bump. I conferred with the hubster who brews beer, and we opted to try simply charging it with a dose of corn sugar after racking it to the bottling bucket. We then put it in three one-gallon carboys and two champagne bottles. As we are leaving for a 10-day vacation on Friday, we hope to find out if the yeast is still functioning or not. If not, this batch will probably go down the drain, as I can't imagine it contains enough alcohol to be safe at this point.

Input much appreciated!
 
I've found that you really have to watch for the yeast freshness. Wouldn't hurt to add more yeast if you are adding simple syrup. My only other guess is that there were no additives in the raspberries or the apple cider. That could have retarded the yeast action. I have had to repitch other brews on occasion and had the end product work out ok. A different yeast that has become my go to instead of CDB is premier cuvee. Seems to to be a hardier yeast and will go to a dryness in the range of CDB. PC is a little more temperature tolerant as well.
 
I rechecked the SG and there was no fermentation. None. A five gallon bottle of cider and raspberry that's been sitting for a month is a devils brew of bacteria. It went down the drain.

I used Oregon Farms raspberry purée and fresh cider with no additives. Sometimes you just get a bad batch of yeast. It bubbled some during its early days, certainly, but when the FG and the OG are the same, after a month, you have a fail. *shrug*. The Apfelwine looks awesome, though. Looking forward to that.
 
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