Apple Cider

[primusbrew]

Hi All,

Just got a new juicer for christmas. It has got me thinking about making a batch of apple cider from some freshly juiced apples. Back when I was brewing from kits I made an apple cider and was disappointed with the results. I have a few questions for those out there that have made there own apple ciders before

What type of apples should I use? I have heard that you should use a mixture of apples to achieve a well balanced cider.

What type of yeast is best?

What will the alcohol content of the cider be when the yeast has eaten all of the sugar in the juice? Some people on this forum have mentioned achieving an abv of 9% I am hoping to get something lower than this around the 5% mark. Does this mean that I will need to dilute the juice with water?

Does the juice need to be sanitised?

If anyone has tried the Little Creature apple cider, that is the type of cider that I am hoping to produce.

Thanks,

Jesse

 

[drsmurto]

Never tasted LC cider so cant help you there.

The average OG you get form juiced apples is ~1.048.

Depending on the yeast you finish around 1.000 altho i have had one batch finish at 1.008.

I use Wyeast 4766. Clean, consistent results, allows the apple flavour and aroma to really shine.

It produces a dry cider but that suits me fine.

Last batch was 1/3 sundowner, 1/3 fuji and 1/3 granny smith.

I find it has more depth of flavour than the batches i have made using berri apple juice.

If you are keen on taking this further have a read - Breton Cider

I lived in Rennes for 6 months and had plenty of the local cider, so much so i recently grafted my apple trees with french cider varieties!

 

[Tyred]

I've only made cider from juice and using S04. That went from 1.042 to 1.004 so that's around 5% which was around the mark you were looking for. Have a look at http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?t=64821 in regards to yeast to use. A large number of yeasts have been tried there.

I haven't tried LC cider so I don't know what it is like.

It would probably be a good idea to sanitise your juice as there is a possibility of wild yeast or other things on the apples. I think you can use campden tablets.

You should also consider using some yeast nutrient when you do it as apple juice doesn't have all the nutrients that yeast require.

 

[Bizier]

LC cider is crisp, very clean and pretty neutral, with a nice dry finish. I would suggest it is purely from eating apples, but that is just a guess. Better than all other ciders available here without spending 5-10 x the amount IMO.

I put down a Berri juice on Sat as per Dr S. using 4766 Cider yeast. I didn't have nutrient on hand, and wanted to just get the brew down. I have noticed that it is fermenting very slowly compared to a ordinary bitter that I put down and has gone off like a rocket. I will get nutrient with my next order and recommend using it.

It was interesting to see that CvilleKevin on Northern Brewer didn't recommend that yeast after side by sides. I might do something similar by bunging an airlock on some 3L juices and different yeasts to see. Would be much cheaper and easier to use Nottingham or SO4 if they produce good results. I might try fermenting using dry yeast in some 3L bottles to compare to 4766.

 

[drsmurto]

Read that thread, still prefer 4766.

yes, nutrients do help, i used DAP last time

And i forgot to mention that after juicing all the apples i left the resulting cloudy juice sit in the fermenter for 24h with one crushed campden tablet to kill any wild yeast present.

Traditional cider, particularly the breton variety, relies on wild yeast present on the apples.

Still early days for me so i am relying on the consistency you get with a know yeast!

 

[Pumpy]

The trick is to use 60% apple juice 40% apple juice aim for some residual sweetness uses some dry malt and some sultanas ,and a good quality cider yeast

Trust Me Pumpy

Hi All,

Just got a new juicer for christmas. It has got me thinking about making a batch of apple cider from some freshly juiced apples. Back when I was brewing from kits I made an apple cider and was disappointed with the results. I have a few questions for those out there that have made there own apple ciders before

What type of apples should I use? I have heard that you should use a mixture of apples to achieve a well balanced cider.

What type of yeast is best?

What will the alcohol content of the cider be when the yeast has eaten all of the sugar in the juice? Some people on this forum have mentioned achieving an abv of 9% I am hoping to get something lower than this around the 5% mark. Does this mean that I will need to dilute the juice with water?

Does the juice need to be sanitised?

If anyone has tried the Little Creature apple cider, that is the type of cider that I am hoping to produce.

Thanks,

Jesse

 

[mickoz]

The trick is to use 60% apple juice 40% apple juice aim for some residual sweetness uses some dry malt and some sultanas ,and a good quality cider yeast

Trust Me Pumpy

Don't you mean pear pumpy?

Mick

 

[reviled]

The trick is to use 60% apple juice 40% apple juice aim for some residual sweetness uses some dry malt and some sultanas ,and a good quality cider yeast

Trust Me Pumpy

So... Uh, was that 60/40 ratio supposed to be two different types of apple juice? :huh:

 

[Fents]

apple/pear im pretty sure he meant.

 

[primusbrew]

Had a read of those threads some good info there. In the Northern Brewer forum the guy mentions that he would not recommend the Wyeast 4766. Has anyone else had any negative experiences with this yeast? There seems to be a lot of variables to play around with so it might be worth doing a number of smaller batches using different yeasts and apples etc.

Last batch was 1/3 sundowner, 1/3 fuji and 1/3 granny smith.

DrSmurto, how many kilograms of apples do you think that I would need to produce 23 litres of juice?

The trick is to use 60% apple juice 40% apple juice aim for some residual sweetness uses some dry malt and some sultanas ,and a good quality cider yeast

Trust Me Pumpy

Pumpy, was that 60% apple and 40% pear? How much malt would you suggest?

 

[newguy]

DrSmurto, how many kilograms of apples do you think that I would need to produce 23 litres of juice?

To get 23l of juice, I find I need about 12 gallons of raw apples. This is based on my observation that I needed 2.5 full 5 gallon pails of fruit in order to produce enough juice to fill a carboy. Sorry I can't tell you the weight of the apples as I didn't weigh them, but I'd hazard a guess that you'd need about 30-35 kg total.

I get my apples from my mother in law's apple tree - that's why I don't weigh them.

 

[muckanic]

Generally, a spontaneous ferment will result in a more complex product. However, to keep airborne stuff at bay, it can still be a good idea to use a spontaneous starter so that the ferment hits the ground running and some of the more aerobic bugs are overwhelmed.

Cider apples have a lot of tannin in their juice. When using table apples, it can be an idea to ferment on the pulp as compensation. The sweetest juice will result in about 8% ABV, ie, a total gravity drop of 60.

Completely dry cider is a bit of an acquired taste. Raisins can help take the edge off a bit.

 

[drsmurto]

I used 1.5kg of each of the 3 varieties to get ~4.5L.

After that i lost interest as i had covered myself and the kitchen in juice.

If i was doing a 20L batch or bigger i would hire a press for the day and invite mates around to help.

Not sure why 4766 got such a bad rep on that forum. I have tried S-04 and champers yeast and didnt like the results. 4766 gives me clean and tasty results every time.

Just my 2 c (AUD indexed to inflation) :lol:

 

[muckanic]

I'd say a crusher is even more essential than a press. These are not much more than a spiked roller mill, so it's too bad most brewing kit could not be adapted.

 

[tyoung]

+ 1 on the Wyeast 4766

I put a brew down last weekend using 12L Berri juice (on special for $1 a litre) and then dumped the yeast on it. It was done in about 5 days, so I went and got more juice to top it up to 22L. From what I've read the 4766 smackers don't need added nutrient because it's already there in the pouch. I'll have to add some next time if I reuse the yeast.

It tastes bloody nice straight out of the fermenter.

I'll be careful to save the yeast cake for next time.

Cheers,

Tim

 

[Swinging Beef]

apple cider is nice, but a bad beer wins over a good cider any day.

Oztops will continue to suit me fine for any strange cider fetishes I might have from time to time.

 

[drsmurto]

apple cider is nice, but a bad beer wins over a good cider any day.

Oztops will continue to suit me fine for any strange cider fetishes I might have from time to time.

You have to love a blanket statement. :huh:

Never tasted a decent cider then SB.

Your loss.

 

[Kenny the plumber]

I used to be a big drinker of Magners, but now I can get Bulmers I'm converted I know its the same and its his brother but I can taste a difference

 

[randyrob]

Hey Guys,

just trying to kill some time before i get my drinking hat on this arvo and went to the markets and picked up a couple of kilo's of each variety of apple
available then juiced them separately so i could evaluate the different flavours each apple will attribute, here is the blend i've decided to go with:



crushed a camden tablet and added it last night and have just added some pectinol (this helps break down the cell walls and helps the cider to clear)

so in about 12 hours i'll have to pitch some yeast, just checking the fridge and i have us-05, nottingham and some lavlin ec-1118 (champagne)

still not sure which way to go, i know a champagne yeast will dry the bejesus out of it and have used nottingham before and it didnt come out too bad

also what are your guys thoughts on adding a pinch of grape tannin to the mix considering i'm not using cider or and crab apples?

Rob.

 

[Mercs Own]

Some great ciders coming out of Tassie including some Perry Cider. Pipsqueak is good (LC cider) and I also think 3 Oaks makes a good cider. Mercury Artisan is crap. Thorogoods is a very good cider also, their site is interesting. http://www.thorogoods.com.au/welcome