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Hard Apple Cider

Maine Homebrewer

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Just wondering if anyone here has any experience with cider.

I've tried a few batches in the past, and wasn't too impressed.

One I used champagne yeast and it was painfully dry, as is to be expected with that yeast.

A couple years ago I fortified five gallons of cider with a couple pounds of extract before fermenting with Safeale 05, and again wasn't that impressed.  I force carbonated in a keg.  Towards the end I would put a tablespoon of simple syrup in the glass before filling it, and that wasn't half bad.

I think it is a matter of residual sweetness.  I was considering steeping a pound of crystal malt in a gallon or two of cider on the stove to boost the flavor and final gravity. Maybe find a low attenuating yeast.

I have read of people bottling, testing a bottle every day after a week or two, then pasteurizing once desired carbonation is achieved, leaving sugar in the bottle.  That doesn't appeal to me at all.  Especially since I plan to put it in a keg.

My idea of an "ideal" cider would be comparable to K.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_%28cider%29

That stuff rocks!

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
We did our first cider, a few months back, and the wives love it.

5 Gallons of local, UV pasteurized cider (not heat)
2lbs of brown sugar
7 sticks of cinnamon
1/2 lb of local dark maple syrup.

Pasteurized all ingredients at 160º-165º for 20 minutes, put in 5 gallon plastic carboy, with the cinnamon sticks, for 5 weeks with WLP775 (English cider yeast) and fermented it at 60º-70º

Got an OG of 1.076 and FG of 1.008 (9% ABV)

I wish I had added some of the maple in, during late ferm, or kegging.  I have two more 5 gallon batches in the basement now.  I'm planning on adding 4oz of maple back in, at kegging.

It actively bubbled for a whole month, then slowed after that.  I'd like to start aging for several months, but demand prevents it.  Gotta make more!
 
I made my first hard cider.  I was experimenting, so I decided to only do a 1 gallon batch.  I used 1 gallon apple juice, 1 cup of brown sugar and household bread yeast.  It fermented for 2 weeks and I carbonated with a tablespoons worth of priming sugar.  I tested my f.g. At 1.000 it was dry like champaign.  It didn't taste much like apples at all.  It was strong though 9% with my calculations.  I don't think I will be making this again with the current recipe unless there is a huge difference in taste by carbonating it.  I will wait 4 weeks and try it again.

What does the standard hard cider taste like?  Could I add something to the finished 1 gallon to sweeten it up or make it taste more like apple cider with a kick?

I think I will try a 5 gallon batch of RGWilder's recipe... It sounds good and it's obviously in demand.  I hope it tastes like cider and not dry and champaign like!
 
My favorite method is to run one naturally sweet batch dry. Run another batch sweetened so the total SG is above the yeast's alcohol tolerance by 2-3%. Sorbate and blend.

Narbonne is my favorite yeast for cider.

This leaves you either with still or force carbing, the later shouldn't be a problem since you plan on kegging. I've grown to like still.
 
Thank you all for the replies.

I think for my next batch of cider I will use cider yeast. It must be labeled "cider" yeast for a reason.
 
I made a really good batch of Cider.  I started with 6 gallons of local unpasteurized cider, added 10lbs of Domino's sugar, some Wyeast Labs 5526 Brettanomyces Lambicus, which is a Belgium Lambic yeast.  I fermented in the primary for a month, racked it into the secondary for 10 days.  I added a bag of sweet orange peel and heather tips into the secondary.  Let that sit for 10 days, then racked it again and let it age for 3 months.  What I was left with was an awesome Sour Apple Wine.  It won second place in the specialty cider category at War of the Worts competition.  That Lambic yeast did it's thing.
 
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