New to Brewing Cider

[425508]

Hi,

I’m Wayne and I’m from Traralgon in Victoria. I’m pretty new to brewing cider. I have started 2 batches so far with Woolworths apple juice. Not too sure how I’m going to sweeten it yet so happy for any advice that you have.

I used 10 x 2 litre Woolworths apple juice, 2 x 1 kg dextrose sugar, yeast nutrient and a packet of S04 yeast. I have tried to keep it as simple as possible.

It’s been in fermentation for 7 days so far and it’s been hovering between 14 and 20 degrees Celsius.

 

[Hangover68]

You could always back sweeten with apple juice after fermentation although so far i found that i didn't need to, about to brew another cider using T58 yeast.

 

[mynameisrodney]

Are you bottling or kegging? If kegging its a bit easier as you can adjust until you're happy with it, and dont need to worry about carbonation so much.

First option (easiest) don't bother backsweetening. I've made batches like this and they were fine, but I'm not a sweet tooth.
Second, if kegging, just add some sugar or more juice to the keg. Can adjust to taste if not enough.
Third you can try lactose or artificial sweeteners but I'm not a fan.

 

[JDW81]

There's a few sweetening options around.
1: Lactose (as it doesn't ferment) but can leave an odd flavour - not something I've done
2: Back sweeten with juice in the glass (easy and can be adjusted to taste)
3: Pasteurisation (seems like a massive PITA to me)
4: Stevia/some other artificial sweetener (again, not something I've done)
5: Add some pear juice to the apple juice as it will leave a bit of residual sweetness (will be a bit more cloudy tough)

I like my cider dry, so have never bothered sweetening it, but everyone has different tastes.

JD

 

[425508]

You could always back sweeten with apple juice after fermentation although so far i found that i didn't need to, about to brew another cider using T58 yeast.

Thanks for the post. I am going to wait and see. I’ve read a few post about not having to sweeten it when using S04.

 

[425508]

Are you bottling or kegging? If kegging its a bit easier as you can adjust until you're happy with it, and dont need to worry about carbonation so much.

First option (easiest) don't bother backsweetening. I've made batches like this and they were fine, but I'm not a sweet tooth.
Second, if kegging, just add some sugar or more juice to the keg. Can adjust to taste if not enough.
Third you can try lactose or artificial sweeteners but I'm not a fan.

Thanks for the post. I will be kegging it. I invested in a Kegerator and 4 kegs. I thought it would be a lot easier to do it this way.

I’ve read a few posts about being able to sweeten with sugar if I’m kegging it. Is there anything that I need to know? Will it explode if I add too much? I mean maybe not explode but leak out or something. And what would be best to sweeten it. just plain white sugar?

 

[425508]

There's a few sweetening options around.
1: Lactose (as it doesn't ferment) but can leave an odd flavour - not something I've done
2: Back sweeten with juice in the glass (easy and can be adjusted to taste)
3: Pasteurisation (seems like a massive PITA to me)
4: Stevia/some other artificial sweetener (again, not something I've done)
5: Add some pear juice to the apple juice as it will leave a bit of residual sweetness (will be a bit more cloudy tough)

I like my cider dry, so have never bothered sweetening it, but everyone has different tastes.

JD

Thanks for the post. I’ve always liked my cider on the sweeter side so I’m assuming I will need to add some sort of sweetener.

I’m going to keg it so I think pasteurisation is out. At this stage, I think I’m leaning toward artificial sweetener just a bit concerned about an after taste.

Will let you know how I go.

 

[JDW81]

If you're using kegs, then you can ferment til you reach the desired level of sweetness and then keg and chill and the fermentation will slow down a lot (or even stall if you have your fridge cold enough). It may dry out over a few weeks in the keg, but it eliminates the need for sweetening with artificial stuff.

JD

 

[AHB_Admin]

Hi,

I’m Wayne and I’m from Traralgon in Victoria. I’m pretty new to brewing cider. I have started 2 batches so far with Woolworths apple juice. Not too sure how I’m going to sweeten it yet so happy for any advice that you have.

Hi and welcome to the forum Wayne! What else were you brewing before cider?

 

[duncbrewer]

I have used monk fruit extract to back sweeten. Not a noticeable twang to it, which I find all of the other non fermentable sweeteners do have. I used to have some very dry cider and mixed that with some rekorderlig cider which was far too sweet to drink on it's own.

 

[425508]

Hi and welcome to the forum Wayne! What else were you brewing before cider?

Thanks. Nothing. I’m totally new to brewing so I thought I would start with Cider it seems pretty easy to begin with.

 

[mynameisrodney]

Thanks for the post. I will be kegging it. I invested in a Kegerator and 4 kegs. I thought it would be a lot easier to do it this way.

I’ve read a few posts about being able to sweeten with sugar if I’m kegging it. Is there anything that I need to know? Will it explode if I add too much? I mean maybe not explode but leak out or something. And what would be best to sweeten it. just plain white sugar?

There's no way you'll make the keg explode. No matter how much sugar you add, the yeast will give up at a far lower pressure than the keg is rated too.

Just pour yourself a glass, add in sugar until you are happy with the taste, then calculate how much you need for the whole batch and add it at kegging time. It's not a bad idea to be conservative and add 80% of what you calculate as you can always add more, but can't take it out. Once the sugar is added you need to keep the keg cold to stop it fermenting.

 

[425508]

I have used monk fruit extract to back sweeten. Not a noticeable twang to it, which I find all of the other non fermentable sweeteners do have. I used to have some very dry cider and mixed that with some rekorderlig cider which was far too sweet to drink on its own.

Thanks for the post. I saw a post about monk fruit the other day and I have seen it at the local supermarket. That might be the best suggestion I’ve had so far. I was thinking either Natvia or monk fruit. I think I will try monk fruit.

I also find rekordelig too sweet to drink. I want it sweet but not too sweet.

 

[425508]

If you're using kegs, then you can ferment til you reach the desired level of sweetness and then keg and chill and the fermentation will slow down a lot (or even stall if you have your fridge cold enough). It may dry out over a few weeks in the keg, but it eliminates the need for sweetening with artificial stuff.

JD

Thanks for the advice JD. I think I may try an artificial sweetener as I’m not sure how long I will have it in the keg. I’ve been reading that I should be aging it for months to improve the taste so it would probably ferment out the sweetness before I get to drink it.

 

[Elmar]

For years I have been making cider following the below link
https://homebrewingaustralia.net/recipe-crisp-apple-cider/

 

[425508]

For years I have been making cider following the below link
https://homebrewingaustralia.net/recipe-crisp-apple-cider/

Thanks for posting this. It never really occurred to me to mix different kinds of juice. Definitely something I will try down the track

 

[AHB_Admin]

Thanks. Nothing. I’m totally new to brewing so I thought I would start with Cider it seems pretty easy to begin with.

I see. Good luck on that Cider and hope you enjoy fermenting/brewing.

 

[yankoek]

Hi,

I’m Wayne and I’m from Traralgon in Victoria. I’m pretty new to brewing cider. I have started 2 batches so far with Woolworths apple juice. Not too sure how I’m going to sweeten it yet so happy for any advice that you have.

I used 10 x 2 litre Woolworths apple juice, 2 x 1 kg dextrose sugar, yeast nutrient and a packet of S04 yeast. I have tried to keep it as simple as possible.

It’s been in fermentation for 7 days so far and it’s been hovering between 14 and 20 degrees Celsius.

Hi recently made seltzer for wife,don't like artificial sweetener tried erythritol baking sugar non fermentable and better than xylitol,and stevia can add a tiny bit of flavour but all of them natural worked great

 

[425508]

Hi recently made seltzer for wife,don't like artificial sweetener tried erythritol baking sugar non fermentable and better than xylitol,and stevia can add a tiny bit of flavour but all of them natural worked great

Hi Yankoek,

Thanks for the post. I ended up cold crashing it as it reached 1012 and it’s perfectly sweet as it is and I didn’t need to add any additional sweetener. I think it turned out pretty good too so I think I will keep doing it this way. I will keep erythritol in mind if it ages to dry though.