# Smells Like Apple Pie Cider



## Helles (20/7/12)

This smelt great while cooking it up this afternoon 
Never made a cider let alone this one
A mix of 3-4 different recipes i have been looking at

21Lt Apple juice (just juice )
1Kg of honey
2 cups of brown sugar
juice of one lemon (i read somewhere use to add the tartness you can only get fresh pressed apples)
3 tsp vanilla bean extract
2 cinnamon sticks
.5 tsp yeast nutrient
1pkt Nottingham yeast

Took 3 lts of apple juice Boiled to reduce by half 
Added cinnamon and vanilla for last 10 min of boil
Added honey for 1 min or until it almost came back to the boil 

Also took 2 cups of brown sugar and 2 cups of water
Boiled and reduced by half Added lemon juice and yeast nutrient for last 5 min
Became a thin syrup when cooled

Pour the rest of apple juice into FV add boiled juice and sugar syrup
OG came out at 1070 :icon_drunk:  
Came out at just under 21 LT

Cant wait to try this one 
Already tastes and smells like Hot Apple Pie


----------



## brad81 (20/7/12)

That sounds amazing. Just showed the boss this post and she looks impressed :icon_cheers:


----------



## jivesucka (20/7/12)

just bear in mind cider takes much longer than beer to become mature


----------



## Jay Cee (20/7/12)

it also attenuates more than beer, so you may end up with a 10% skullcrusher.


----------



## brad81 (22/7/12)

Put this down this afternoon, and got an OG of 1064. Thinking of testing in 2 weeks...

It does smell fantastic by the way. Lots of honey coming through


----------



## brad81 (4/8/12)

Had a look tonight, still has a bit of yeast on top, but has come down to about 1004 tonight, still a LOT of yeast floating about. Can really taste the yeast, lemon and honey at this point. Would really love the cinnamon and vanilla to come through more.

Still early days


----------



## manticle (4/8/12)

jivesucka said:


> just bear in mind cider takes much longer than beer to become mature



Really?

Which beer? which cider?

Onions make much better hats than potatoes.


----------



## pk.sax (5/8/12)

lmao

I'm doing another one of my cider in bottle in fridge door ciders and it's yummy out of the bottle, straight off the 'lees'. I'd drink it by the time the bottle is done fermenting.

Bottled cider does continue to age and transform, all depends on what went in (no, not a combination of simple sugars doesn't count although honey is a funny one). And the yeast, of course. Not much cider under my belt to comment on the yeast but the juice/must profile has a big effect on suitability to age.


----------



## Helles (5/8/12)

Checked mine today OG 1012
Im getting the lemon and just a touch of spice and a hit of alcohol at the end :icon_drunk: 
Going to boil up some more cinnamon and vanilla and add the liquid to FV
Needs more spice


----------



## pk.sax (5/8/12)

Why not just spice into the keg/bottling bucket? The yeast isn't going to do anything good to the spices, is it?


----------



## Wolfy (5/8/12)

Why not make a tincture for the spices (soak the spices in vodka) and then you can add the exact amount you want (usually at bottling/kegging time), tasting as you go.


----------



## Helles (5/8/12)

Wolfy said:


> Why not make a tincture for the spices (soak the spices in vodka) and then you can add the exact amount you want (usually at bottling/kegging time), tasting as you go.



Already boiled the spices earlier today 
But yer sounds like a good idea
Will be kegging the lot
Will keep that in mind


----------



## tricache (6/8/12)

21LT of Juice!! Far out and how much did that cost :lol: tempted to try this but damn


----------



## brad81 (6/8/12)

Aldi has juice for $1p/l so not bad really


----------



## hsb (6/8/12)

I'm no cider expert :icon_cheers: but wouldn't boiling the apple juice set pectins. That would explain the cloudy look to a cider already down to 1.004? Boiling it with acid (lemon juice) even more so (thinks back to jam making days?) Spiced Apple Pie Jam Cider.

If you're kegging you can just drop the temperature to stop fermentation when its dry enough and keg it/keep cool. It'll stop it getting too dry (if there is such a thing with cider)


----------



## tricache (6/8/12)

brad81 said:


> Aldi has juice for $1p/l so not bad really



True that is pretty cheap :lol: would only using half juice half water affect the flavour too much?


----------



## Nick JD (6/8/12)

Cloves make anything taste like apple pie - even cigarettes.


----------



## brad81 (6/8/12)

tricache said:


> True that is pretty cheap :lol: would only using half juice half water affect the flavour too much?



Not sure mate, do a 6L batch and let me know


----------



## tricache (6/8/12)

brad81 said:


> Not sure mate, do a 6L batch and let me know



Might give that a try


----------



## Wolfy (6/8/12)

Nick JD said:


> Cloves make anything taste like apple pie - even cigarettes.


And other poisons too (you'd have to watch _Justified _to know what I mean though).


----------



## brad81 (6/8/12)

One mean hillbilly!


----------



## manticle (6/8/12)

tricache said:


> True that is pretty cheap :lol: would only using half juice half water affect the flavour too much?




Yes.


----------



## Helles (6/8/12)

tricache said:


> 21LT of Juice!! Far out and how much did that cost :lol: tempted to try this but damn


 It was on sale at Coles for $ 3-4 for 3 lt


----------



## Helles (6/8/12)

hsb said:


> I'm no cider expert :icon_cheers: but wouldn't boiling the apple juice set pectins. That would explain the cloudy look to a cider already down to 1.004? Boiling it with acid (lemon juice) even more so (thinks back to jam making days?) Spiced Apple Pie Jam Cider.
> 
> If you're kegging you can just drop the temperature to stop fermentation when its dry enough and keg it/keep cool. It'll stop it getting too dry (if there is such a thing with cider)



Lemon juice was boiled in the sugar syrup if that means anything to you
Dont know about the pectin / Cloudyness Will find out
Was going to age this for year or two so i will pasteurize in the keg if i feel it is to dry
By putting keg in HLT at what ever temp is needed
Dont think i will need to


----------



## Helles (6/8/12)

tricache said:


> True that is pretty cheap :lol: would only using half juice half water affect the flavour too much?


 
One of the reasons i reduced 3 lt of juice was to increase the OG
Up the alcohol a bit to help with aging Hopfully


----------



## Helles (12/8/12)

Ive taken another hydrometer reading today come down to 1006
Airlock started popping after i took reading I thought it stalled as i hadnt heard it for a week or so
Still got the lemon but has started to fade
Cinnamon coming through as bit of warmth
Vanilla is there i think not sure
And no hit of alcohol
This is looking to be very good


----------



## JaseH (12/8/12)

helles said:


> Ive taken another hydrometer reading today come down to 1006
> Airlock started popping after i took reading I thought it stalled as i hadnt heard it for a week or so
> Still got the lemon but has started to fade
> Cinnamon coming through as bit of warmth
> ...



Mine currently smells like the dog ate half a dozen hard boiled eggs and farted in my ferm fridge! :wacko: I'm assuming sulfur smells are normal when fermenting a cider?


----------



## manticle (12/8/12)

Not uncommon. Get some decent nutrient , boil up with a touch of water and add in. Lack of nitrogen is a main cause of sulphur stink in cider I'm led to believe.

Will dissipate with time but nutrient will help.


----------



## Helles (12/8/12)

Frothie said:


> Mine currently smells like the dog ate half a dozen hard boiled eggs and farted in my ferm fridge! :wacko: I'm assuming sulfur smells are normal when fermenting a cider?




My Munich Helles smelt and tasted like that last week
Kegged it today no hints of it now


----------



## Helles (26/8/12)

Kegged this one today @ 1002
Something like 8.8%AV :super:  
Tastes pretty good out of hydrometer tube
Cinnamon comes through as bit of warmth still
Vanilla not sure about
Lemon is still fading
Will put it away for at least 6 months
And see how it turns out
Might be a little thin @1002 But some CO2 should change how this feels


----------

