Apple & Blackcurrant Cider?

[blake2101]

Hey ladies and gentlemen,

I've seen all the recipes ofmaking cider with store bought preservative free juice, I'm keen to know if its possible to make a cider using the Apple & Blackcurrant variety?
A few questions:
Would it be a good idea to use lactose?
Would I need to use a combination of A&B, Apple Juice, Pear juice etc?
Which yeast would work the best?

Any help would be appreciated.
Does anyone know a good basic recipe to help get me started?

Thank you!

 

[pimpsqueak]

I did one of these about 6 weeks ago. 10L Apple & Blackcurrant juice (from an organic market in Marrickville), some manuka honey and some old Coopers BE2 I had lying around (about 250g)
OG1.060 FG 1.002 I used Nottingham ale yeast and it has come out crystal clear without needing cc'ing or any finings.

I knew it was going to ferment right out and I used it to experiment with back-sweetening. 1/3 of the batch I bottled slightly early with a view to pasteurizing it and the other 2/3 I split in half and bottled half with an artificial sweetener and half with Stevia.
The artificial sweetener is rubbish and leaves an unpleasant aftertaste, but the Stevia seems ok.
I never got around to pasteurizing the first batch and they're on the verge of being bottle bombs now. Super carbonated and dryer than a Nuns nasty but quite tasty all the same.

Next time I'm going to make a much higher OG batch and use a yeast with a low alcohol tolerance so it won't ferment all the way out.

 

[Gormand]

Next time I'm going to make a much higher OG batch and use a yeast with a low alcohol tolerance so it won't ferment all the way out.

How do you plan to get carbonation?

 

[pimpsqueak]

I'm going to bottle it before it hits FG

 

[_HOME_BREW_WALLACE_]

I'm going to bottle it before it hits FG

I hope your gonna keg it!

 

[pimpsqueak]

I could have a go with the converted Bitburger mini-kegs I'm toying with..
Otherwise, no. I will do a 2-4L test batch to see how the yeast behaves and what the FG is, then do a larger batch and bottle it.

 

[SuiCIDER]

Mine ended up tasting like a port. Didn't like it too much.

 

[blake2101]

What was your recipe?

I'm looking to keep it as simple as possible, ie juice and yeast only.

 

[manticle]

Could always do a test batch by pouring out a glass and adding some yeast to the bottle. Don't screw the lid back on tightly (or just cover with glad wrap and a rubber band).

Some yeast nutrient would help.

 

[Wolfy]

I've seen all the recipes ofmaking cider with store bought preservative free juice, I'm keen to know if its possible to make a cider using the Apple & Blackcurrant variety?
A few questions:
Would it be a good idea to use lactose?
Would I need to use a combination of A&B, Apple Juice, Pear juice etc?
Which yeast would work the best?

Any help would be appreciated.
Does anyone know a good basic recipe to help get me started?

I just decant a little of the juice (and drink it) to give some head-space in the juice-bottle, then pitch the yeast directly into the bottle, shake the crap out of it for a while, then seal it with cling-wrap and a rubber band, and throw it in the fermenting fridge.
No need for anything more complicated than that, but if you have them a little DAP and yeast nutrient does not hurt.

We've tried the apple, apple and berry, apple and black current and a few other apple-juice mixes that SWMBO has brought home from the super-market.

Since they are just small batches fermented in the bottle, a taste-test determines when it has fermented enough, and then the lid is screwed tight to carbonate, when the bottle is squeeze-tight, its put into the fridge to stop most of the yeast activity, and since its only 2-3L it is consumed fairly quickly.

With just plain apple juice, I like the S33 yeast since it turns out nice and sweet/fizzy, if you like it a little dryer, then DV10 is a good choice, I've found that US05 leaves a bit of a strange taste so it's not my first choice for yeast.

 

[Jazzafish]

I brewed one a little while ago:
16L Apple Juice
2L Apple & Black Current juice
1099 yeast @18*c

Was great. Alot of 100% apple juice drys out too much for me. The black current juice kept some sweetness and drank very well. I think it wise for you to try Wolfy's suggestion before you dedicate a whole batch to 100% Apple & Blackcurrent, may be too over the top?

 

[blake2101]

I brewed one a little while ago:
16L Apple Juice
2L Apple & Black Current juice
1099 yeast @18*c

Was great. Alot of 100% apple juice drys out too much for me. The black current juice kept some sweetness and drank very well. I think it wise for you to try Wolfy's suggestion before you dedicate a whole batch to 100% Apple & Blackcurrent, may be too over the top?

Was 2lt enough? Did it have enough of a blackcurrant taste to it?
Which yeast did you use?

 

[SuiCIDER]

My recipe was straight apple and blackcurrant juice from the orchard with some sugar thrown in there.

 

[brettprevans]

Hey ladies and gentlemen,

I've seen all the recipes ofmaking cider with store bought preservative free juice, I'm keen to know if its possible to make a cider using the Apple & Blackcurrant variety?
A few questions:
Would it be a good idea to use lactose?
Would I need to use a combination of A&B, Apple Juice, Pear juice etc?
Which yeast would work the best?

Any help would be appreciated.
Does anyone know a good basic recipe to help get me started?

Thank you!

If you've looked at all the recipes then you'd see lots of recipes using apple and blk current juice. Yes it works. I don't think u need more than 40 or 50%. keep it simple and use apple juice for the rest.

 

[blake2101]

Ok, so here's my plan.

16L apple juice
4L apple & Blackcurrant juice (not enough? Too much?)
500g Lactose (I'd like it sweet but not very sweet!)
Yeast (us-04, us-05, cider, champagne?)

Any feedback or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

 

[wynnum1]

Apple & Blackcurrant juice in supermarket is only 5 percent Blackcurrant how would using dried fruit go or change to grape juice

 

[calverley_matt]

Would it work if you decant into bottles and add jam or concentrate rather than sugar for a second fermentation?

 

[InCider]

I got 18l of apple & blackcurrent juice and a belgian yeast, Safbrew T-58 yesterday. Keen to see how it ends up.

A speciality yeast selected for its estery somewhat peppery and spicy flavour development.
Sedimentation: medium. Final gravity: high.
Also recommended for bottle-conditioning of beers. Excellent performance in beers with
alcohol contents of up to 8.5% v/v but can ferment up to 11.5% v/v.

 

[Screwtop]

I got 18l of apple & blackcurrent juice and a belgian yeast, Safbrew T-58 yesterday. Keen to see how it ends up.

Seems you're onto something Sean! Listened to a podcast of James Spencers on the way home today, they tasted a Ciser and interviewed the maker, he used Belgian Yeast plus fed it some Clover Honey and Brown Sugar too.

Screwy



Hmmmm...........food for thought

 

[InCider]

Seems you're onto something Sean! Listened to a podcast of James Spencers on the way home today, they tasted a Ciser and interviewed the maker, he used Belgian Yeast plus fed it some Clover Honey and Brown Sugar too.

Screwy



Hmmmm...........food for thought

And that is what I will do! Thanks for the heads up Mike. Are you still at Finbar's? :lol: Great session and beers.