# Cider with "top shelf" type flavouring essences?



## Bribie G (7/5/13)

Anyone made ciders using the essences much favoured by that fine body of men and women in that other craft?

Just skimming through the list on Craftbrewer and a few stand out - I've got a crazy idea to try something.

Mango
Pina Colada
Cherry Brandy
Curacao
Pear Schnapps
Anything citrussy

Brew fairly over gravity, halt fermentation while still nicely sweetish by kegging and crash chilling, adding essence on kegging. Now I can't get it out of my head.
Maybe somebody could come and kill me right now?


----------



## Airgead (7/5/13)

Bribie G said:


> Anyone made ciders using the essences much favoured by that fine body of men and women in that other craft?
> 
> Just skimming through the list on Craftbrewer and a few stand out - I've got a crazy idea to try something.
> 
> ...


Your man card. Hand it over...

Seriously though I do similar things for the missus. Ciders brewed strong and fortified to prevent re-fermentation than sweetened and flavored with stuff. Works a treat. I don't use the essences but same principal.


----------



## Bribie G (7/5/13)

I wonder if the likes of Rekorderlig do such a thing.

And don't mention Passion Pop


----------



## Airgead (7/5/13)

Bribie G said:


> I wonder if the likes of Rekorderlig do such a thing.
> 
> And don't mention Passion Pop


I won't. I always picked you as more of a babycham guy anyway.

And yes. I'm betting that's exactly what that horrid Rekorderlig lolly water does.


----------



## iralosavic (7/5/13)

how do you fortify it?! I know they add a lot of sherry to wine to create port hehe


----------



## Airgead (7/5/13)

Usually with brandy. Or some other spirit depending on what flavour I'm looking for.

Port is fortified usually with 100% ethanol or some other distilled spirit.

There was a thread on this here somewhere...http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/70129-fortified-wines/

Cheers
Dave


----------



## iralosavic (7/5/13)

Thanks for the link! Some reading to do. And so how do you plan the fortification into the recipe? I mean you add a fair whallop of brandy to exceed the alcohol tolerance of the yeast, then your 5% cider is suddenly strong enough to fell a giant. Do you dilute it down when sweetening or what?


----------



## iralosavic (7/5/13)

Bribie G said:


> I wonder if the likes of Rekorderlig do such a thing.
> 
> And don't mention Passion Pop


I'm with you, Bribe Island; if I could clone Rekorderlig, I would be in the wife's good books, that's for sure.


----------



## Airgead (7/5/13)

iralosavic said:


> Thanks for the link! Some reading to do. And so how do you plan the fortification into the recipe? I mean you add a fair whallop of brandy to exceed the alcohol tolerance of the yeast, then your 5% cider is suddenly strong enough to fell a giant. Do you dilute it down when sweetening or what?


Nope. If you dilute down then it can re-ferment. You need to keep the alc % high enough to keep the yeast dead or dormant. Most of mine end up around 16-18%. There is a blending calculator in that thread.

They are drunk like a fortified wine (port/sherry/muscat) in small glasses rather than being quaffed in pints.

Cheers
Dave


----------



## iralosavic (7/5/13)

So how do the likes of Rekordelig etc create a sweet finish with low alcohol? Do they just filter the yeast out of it? Surely they can't rely on chilling as Bribie does, not that i have a problem with that method, just that I would probably bottle and I don't want explosions.


----------



## Airgead (7/5/13)

Sterile filtration. Pasturisation. Artificial sweetners. Preservatives.

Any or all of the above.

Cheers
Dave


----------



## Phoney (7/5/13)

Lactose?

It would be an interesting experiment to say, split a batch of a robust porter in two. Add bourbon to one and bourbon essence to another and taste the difference.


----------



## Bribie G (7/5/13)

Have you actually taken a teaspoon of lactose and tasted it? it tastes like slightly sweet chalk. I used to run a LHBS and can still remember the yecky taste. Probably half as sweet as Dextrose.

I once added a bottle of Penfolds Club Port (sorry, Penfolds Club Tawny) to a stout and it smelled like a wet sheepdog that you put in front of the fire to dry off.


----------



## manticle (7/5/13)

Lactose isn't that sweet and a lactose addition in cider of around 500g in ~20 L just holds it back from being bone dry. Any more and you can taste it.

If you are after rekordelig style (one drink I could never finish was their strawberry cider), then try mixing a cordial syrup of choice into a glass of your cider. If you can find a cordial that's sugar free and can work out the proportions, you might be able to dose a keg.

Your idea is worth an experiment* bribie but I'd start with the glass dosing idea to work out how much.

*when I say worth an experiment, I mean it's worth trying to see if it will give the results you are chasing. I like all apple, dry, slightly acidic and sometimes funky ciders.


----------



## talco92 (10/5/13)

You could use stevia - natural plant sweetener, although you can tell it's not sugar and some people don't like the aftertaste.

Or Maltodextrin (assuming you're using beer yeast as wine yeast WILL gobble it up) - "_Good for adding mouth feel and body to extract brews without affecting flavor. Maltodextrin is added to the wort at the same time as the extracts. Maltodextrin is a chain between 4 and 20 dextrose units in length making it only 3% fermentable by brewer's yeast. It is naturally present in finished beers, up to 6% by weight._" www.morebeer.com


----------

