Help with 'hobo cider' recipe

[TheBlackAdder]

Hi guys,

To keep the missus happy and accepting of the hobby I have made one apple cider from the brewcraft strongbow clone kit. This turned out OK but nothing special. I have been doing some reading around here and for my next attempt am keen to try the 'hobo cider' method using store bought juice.

I am also toying with the idea of adding some mandarin to the secondary as I tried some apple mardarin cider (kirin) recently and liked the addition (as did the misses).

So, my thoughts on the recipe are (and this is where I need help):

• ~15L Apple Juice (no preservatives) - any brand recommendations?
• ~3L Apple + Pear Juice - for some sweetness as recommended in other threads
• Safale S04
• Yeast nutrient
• Optional 500g lactose (this was in the strongbow recipe to retain sweetness - is it needed?)
• Optional 1kg brew booster 2 (this was in the strongbow recipe to improve mouthfeel and head - is it needed?)
• Add ~500g mardarin to secondary

For fruit additions, ive seen the process as freeze to breakdown then sterilise in 80C water for 2 mins then add to fermenter?

From what Ive read about cooking apples vs. juice apples, would it be beneficial to get some granny smiths and juice them to add to the primary? if so what would be the best way to go about this?

So is there anything im missing? Sorry that theres lots of questions, but I'm pretty new

Cheers

 

[Bribie G]

I wouldn't use the brew booster as cider doesn't need a head. I'd just put in a kilo of dex if you want it hobo strength. Remember that cider ferments out to zero so an Original Gravity that would make a full strength beer will make you a rocket fuel cider. My last one was about 8%.

Aldi apple juice is ok, a dollar a litre. Using whole fruits might be a bit ambitious on your first go.

Also no need for secondary, you will end up with a fairly thin yeast sediment at the bottom so when fermentation is finished the brew should be quite clear. I even pour a fresh lot of juice and dex straight onto the yeast and go again, something I wouldn't do with beer.

Also I wouldn't use lactose, doesn't do anything much and if you want a sweeter drink, just add some apple juice in the glass.

Happy brewing.

 

[TheBlackAdder]

Thanks,

I'm not chasing rocket fuel so no need for the extra dex then

Guess I will forego the lactose and brew booster as well. I take it the pear juice gives some residual sweetness anyway?

My thoughts re the secondary were twofold:

• The kit and kilo strogbow i did ended up very cloudy and I wanted to clear that up some - although this may have been my fault for not mixing the concentrate well enough, so might not be so applicable
• Ive read that this method is meant to improve a lot with ageing. I though the secondary would be a good way to do this

That said, if my samples come out really clear I guess ill skip that

Do I need to be mucking around with tannis, citric acid etc. or is that another case of too much too soon?

 

[_HOME_BREW_WALLACE_]

I have just made 66L this arvo. Theres enough there for a hobo to bathe in.........

 

[beercus]

Do the 2x tea bag in about 200ml of boiling water for the tannins,

Beercus

 

[TheBlackAdder]

Do the 2x tea bag in about 200ml of boiling water for the tannins,

Beercus

Plain black tea?

 

[MetalDan]

Yep just your plain black tea

 

[beercus]

As strong as you have....
Cover and let it sit....
Beercus

 

[indica86]

Why S04?
Use a wine or cider yeast.
Blackrock do a very good kit, concentrated apple juice is all it is.
Wife is drinking one with 1kg raspberries and one with a bag of apples. Both had 1kg sugar added.
Both are very nice.
No lactose, no brew booster no secondary.
Both tasty and crystal clear.

 

[lael]

Why S04?
Use a wine or cider yeast.
Blackrock do a very good kit, concentrated apple juice is all it is.
Wife is drinking one with 1kg raspberries and one with a bag of apples. Both had 1kg sugar added.
Both are very nice.
No lactose, no brew booster no secondary.
Both tasty and crystal clear.

Is that in a keg?

 

[indica86]

Nope, bottled. Not sweet but they both don't taste overly dry.

 

[lael]

Definitely do the tea. It rounds out the appley flavour significantly. I'm tempted to find some malic acid for my next one to add as well as the tannins from the tea.

Also definitely do the yeast nutrient. I did a tsp at the start and then another half way through the batch last time around. It was a much cleaner ferment and threw less sulphur smells. Boiled in a 1/4 cup of water for 5-10mins (be careful not to boil off all the water) and then pitched into the fermenter hot (couldn't be bothered waiting for it to cool and it disperses and cools in there).

When it is done (probably 1.000), cols crash and condition for 4weeks min. Then bottle ( unless you keg). I back sweeten with a third apple juice and pastuerise when SG is 1.011/12. Only use coopers or champagne bottles for that if you want to do it and be careful!

Last batch I did 5 tea bags in 500ml and did that twice and threw it into 25L of cider and then added 1/3rd fresh juice in priming. Worked brilliantly. I used a yeast called Conan, which did a cracking job. I've got some cr71b and some icv ok to try for next batch. Cr71b has very high recommendations as keeping the fruit/appley taste.

 

[lael]

Nope, bottled. Not sweet but they both don't taste overly dry.

Sounds good!

 

[lael]

Oh, just a warning - DON'T prime with that much juice (1/3rd) if you aren't going to pasteurise. It WILL result in bottle bombs! ( and the yeast will ferment all the way down to 1.000 again and I'm not sure whether it will retain more apple flavour or not.) Definitely the safer and easier way is sweetening in the glass.

 

[Not For Horses]

Why S04?

Why not?

I regularly use S04 in my cider. It works really well and retains good fruit flavour.
Last year's batch was well received by a couple of local cider/wine makers.
If that is what you have, use it.

 

[TheBlackAdder]

Alright, lots of good advice in this thread

@indica86 - I've used the blackrock kit once before and found that the concentrate didnt disolve well and got syrup in the bottom of bottles so it didnt end up that appley - did you find this at all using concentrate?

I might try to get something down this weekend before I go away. I have a stout on at the moment which should be done, but the SG is concerningly high 1.033 :S so either Ive done the reading wrong or its stalled...put it on the heat pad today for a d-rest so hopefully that sorts it out

Ill definately keep this thread updated with what I end up doing

 

[indica86]

Why not?

I regularly use S04 in my cider. It works really well and retains good fruit flavour.
Last year's batch was well received by a couple of local cider/wine makers.
If that is what you have, use it.

I was wondering was all.

@indica86 - I've used the blackrock kit once before and found that the concentrate didnt disolve well and got syrup in the bottom of bottles so it didnt end up that appley - did you find this at all using concentrate?

Never had an issue and have used it many times.

 

[TheBlackAdder]

With the S04, I've heard it works well and happened to have some on hand
With the blackrock, I guess that I just didnt mix it well enough :unsure:



I last question before I put it down: if I'm using apple juice, do I need to add extra brewing sugar, or will the sugar from the juice be plenty?

Starting to get excited for this batch although Im not looking forward to explaining to the check out chick why I'm buying 20L of apple juice

I cant even imagine @_WALLACE_ buying 60L! Must of cleaned out the whole store!

 

[Not For Horses]

All my ciders are just 100% fresh pressed juice. No tea, no sugar, no lactose.

 

[Mutaneer]

I stuffed about with the tea, a few litres of pear juice, etc, etc. it added hardly anything to the flavour, just smelt a little like pears
bottling with brown sugar did make some difference to the taste and a little extra sweetness, but it stopped it from clearing in the bottle, after 6-weeks upright it was still fully cloudy.

best combo so far is the simplest,
100% fresh juice from the orchard
71B yeast,
plain white caster sugar for priming at 10g/l
6 weeks in the bottle