Will this recipe work?

[grobend]

Hey guys, I'm new to homebrewing and I've been lurking around these forums, but I haven't seen anyone ask this exact question, so I figured I'd make my first post.

I'm currently making my second batch of hard cider. I used 5 gallons of Musselman's Apple Cider (Not from concentrate), 2 pounds of brown sugar, 1 packet of Red Star Pasteur Blanc Champagne yeast, some pectic enzyme, and some dead bakers yeast that I boiled before adding for the nutrient (I had no real yeast nutrient). It's currently happily fermenting away in my primary fermenter and has been for a week.

However, I want to make spiced hard cider and I really want it to have an apple pie flavor to it. I'm planning to boil 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg and then adding that to the cider when I rack it to my carboy for secondary fermentation.

However, today when I was at the supermarket to buy the cinnamon and nutmeg, I came across this stuff called "Apple Pie Cocktail" by Nature's Nectar. It's apple juice from concentrate with a hint of vanilla and cinnamon. The ingredients of this stuff are: filtered water, sugar, apple juice concentrate, malic acid, caramel color, and "natural flavors". I bought a gallon of it. I was wondering if I could add this at bottling time for carbonation and sweetening, since it has that apple pie flavor that I'm looking for? I'm especially wondering about the malic acid; would that have a negative impact on the taste/carbonation/fermentation of the finished product?

Recipe:
Primary fermentation
-5 gallons Musselman's Apple Cider (Pasteurized apple cider, ascorbic acid)
-2 pounds brown sugar
-Yeast nutrient (dead baker's yeast)
-1 packet Red Star Pasteur Blanc Champagne Yeast
-Pectic enzyme
Secondary fermentation
-Cider racked into 6 gallon carboy
-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (boiled in water, cooled, then added)
-1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (boiled in water, cooled, then added)
Bottling
-1 gallon "Nature's Nectar" Limited Edition Apple Pie Cocktail (filtered water, sugar, apple juice concentrate, malic acid, caramel color, natural flavors)
-Bottled and allowed to sit for 4-5 days and then stove top pasteurized.

Thoughts?

 

[HoodedCrow]

Comments on this recipe, then advice going forward.

First, there seems to be no need to boiling the cinnamon and nutmeg, they should be fine just added to the secondary. All the nice smells of cinnamon and nutmeg you will smell throughout the house as you boil them will NOT end up in your cider. It seems a waste. If the heat is important to release flavors/aromas, I would just pour a cup of boiling water onto the spices and let it cool before adding to secondary.

The addition of the Apple Pie Cocktail at bottling time is tricky. Generally, you are looking to add a certain amount of corn sugar for carbonation. To get the equivalent amount of carbonation from this cocktail, you need to get the specific gravity of it, and do some math to determine the equivalent amount of sugar, and determine the amount to add accordingly. The malic acid is added to get the tartness to the level they want, because the apples used were not tart enough. It may or may not help your final product.

Why stove top pasteurized? If you sanitize and bottle cleanly, things will be good.

Going forward, I have found that the best flavor profiles I have gotten in my ciders is to buy fresh pressed cider from a local orchard in the fall, use champagne yeast (I like my cider dry), yeast energizer, and no added sugar. Simple can be very good.

 

[madcowbrewing]

I think he is pasteurizing to stop the carbonation. It is a pretty common technique.