Will this work? (First time graf/cider thingy)

[Pookapoo]

Okay, so I found an old growler in storage around the house and I got it all cleaned and got a stopper and an airlock ready for it, and it just looks sad sitting there all empty so....
I have never made cider before or anything more complex than partial extract beer with specialty grains but I want to try my hand at cider making. I was looking through some recipes and came up with this.

1 gallon of apple juice (no preservatives)
1/4pound light DME
1 half gallon of water
dash of hops (whatever I have lying around) Just a pinch of rabbit food style.

I'm thinking mix the DME with just enough water to get it into solution. (estimating a quart or so)

Then bring that to a boil and sprinkle in a (very very) few hop pellets and boil for about 30 minutes, adding water as needed to keep the the amount to about a quart.

Cool the mixture to about 65F then combine the DME "wort" (1 quart) with dry yeast and pour it into a flask and stir overnight with an airlock on like I would do for a starter.

Pitch the starter into the growler and top off with apple juice, leaving enough headroom for foam.

Ferment 2 weeks in growler, then bottle.
(or as long as it takes the sg to bottom out)

Give it two weeks in the bottles before sampling.

Ideas?
For yeast I got muntons and coopers, for hops I got fuggle and cascade.
This is just a quick messing around kinda project so I'm not gonna buy anything else other than the apple juice. Just looking for a review of the process really. All opinions are appreciated. Thanks in advance!
P.S.- If I want a sparkling cider can I prime the bottles with sugar just as I would with beer or would I need to use less or is that just a bad idea?

 

[CandleWineProject]

You should probably look at the Wort recipes on this forum a bit. My husband is the beer maker, and I'm the cider maker, so I'm not that familiar with exactly what you are doing, but I'll tell you what I observe as a cider maker.

Normally, cider takes a year, like wine, to be really good, but there are some who rush it, which is 2 weeks in primary, 2 weeks in secondary and another 2 weeks in bottles. You have a lot of water there, so that is going to dilute the apple flavor, and the DME is going to bump up the alcohol, further masking the flavor. I would try to reduce the amount of water you are going to use, and maybe even get some concentrate apple juice to mix up with that water after you boil, so you don't get a cooked taste and extra haze. I would then test the SG and figure out if DME is really necessary for what you want. Most ciders come in around 6%-8%, with 8% being high. FYI - regular sugar works just as well in cider, and you could add it at flame out to get it to dissolve, so you can use that unless you have some DME you are looking to get rid of. I usually don't add sugar, but this is your recipe, not mine.

Cider has a tenancy to go below 1.000, so keep that in mind when you get ready to bottle. Priming is okay as long as you are okay with a dry cider. If you go for a sweet cider, priming is dangerous, and you are better off to leave it as a still cider.

A few other notes - pectic enzyme, added 12 hours before the yeast, does help clear cider later. Cider should also be at a pH between 3.2 and 3.8 to reduce chances of getting sick, but I'm not sure how that will react with the hops since beer likes a milder pH. A tad bit of fresh lemon juice is all you need. Potatisum metasulfite isn't needed at the beginning because you are probably dealing with pasteurized juice and boiled water, but you might add it when you rack, and definitely when you bottle. Again, keeps the cider healthy, and it helps prevent oxidization. Oh, and do not shake it when you pitch the yeast! Beer making cousin did that to one of my batches, and it turned an icky brown. Kind of like biting into an apple and then leaving it out and it turns brown.

I wonder if I'm missing anything.

 

[Pookapoo]

Wow thanks for the reply, I think I need to do some more reading before I pull the trigger on this one. I wasn't planning on using the full half gallon of water, just a quart but I figured that the "recipe" would take about half a gallon due to boil-off in the DME re-hydration phase. As far additives go, are they really required in cider? I mean I was under the impression that the yeast would just metabolize the sugars and yield alcohol. With the whole package under airlock. As for contamination in bottling, my intention was to use the same method I use with beer, and I wasn't really planning on racking to a secondary.
Anyway, back to the internet for more learning. And thanks again=)

 

[CandleWineProject]

Don't get discouraged! You are on the right track, and I am probably making things complicated.

No, the additives are not really required. The pectic enzyme is for clearing, especially since you are not really letting it age, but not necessary. The lemon juice would help fend of infections via pH, but not necessary. And the metasulfite also keep down infections, but not necessary. They are all just recommendations.

I will, however, still fight you a bit about bottling. You can do it exactly the same as for beer (I am the bottler for my husband's beer), but you need to make sure it is finished fermenting by taking a SG reading one or two days apart and not seeing any change. That might mean two weeks aren't enough, but it might be. Just trust your hydrometer before bottling to be safe.

 

[Pookapoo]

No problem! I don't mind doing research lol. Thanks for the info about the additives. I think I'm just gonna play around with the formula a bit more before brewing this stuff.