mulled wine

[MetalDan]

I've got a party coming up soon and hope to make up some mulled cider. I've made a bunch of turbo cider before, the last using some cultivated old Rosie yeast which was nice!

The party is in 2 months, so I was thinking brew up 20l and rack to secondary and leave this in the fridge, then before the party add the spices and keep it warm on the BBQ.

Is it better to spice in primary or just before serving? I was thinking before serving as I can add spice to taste, also thought some aromas might be lost in the ferment. Any thoughts or tips?

Cheers

 

[Red Baron]

Spice just before serving to get the best (and controllable) spice kick. I made a batch of mulled cider a couple of weeks ago to drink next to the fire- I used fresh apple juice as well as cider to give it some sweetness and added the usual spices and left it to tick along next to the fire.
Very nice.

Cheers,
RB

 

[mr_wibble]

We always do ours (only ever mulled red wine, not cider) just before serving.

The smell of mulled wine on the cool winter air is magnificent.

Hmmm, we forgot to serve it this recent bonfire night.

 

[MetalDan]

Excellent yer I thought spice before serving was the better option, but saw a thread on another site saying to add it all into the FV.

My other query is whether to carbonate or not. I don't keg and do not really like the idea of bottling 20L of cider for carbonation only to empty it all into a pot to spice and warm on the bbq. I would think still cider would be ok when mulled, as even if it was carbonated it would lose carb an hour or so after being out.

 

[Red Baron]

Still cider is fine, unless you want the sharpness that carbonic acid (from the dissolved CO2) brings to the mix