Simple Apple & Pear Cider

[Chambo81]

Hey Guys,

I have been trawling this forum for a while and wanted to add my 2cents towards simple cider recipe and cover some of the questions that I had in the beginning.

Apple & Pear Cider
7 x 850ml 100% Pear Juice ( Bought from Woolies)
5 x 2.4 L Apple Juice (Any brand with no preservatives)
200g LDME (Light Dry Malt Extract)
250g Lactose (Non ferment-able sweetner)
Topped up with boiling water to bring to about 20 degrees (about a litre)
Cider Yeast - (Doesn't matter which brand, must be cider yeast)

Thats it.

Steps to make

1 - Clean everything - and i mean everything, once cleaned I use the no rinse brew sanitiser
2 - Add Juice, malt & lactose
3 - Add some hot water
4 - Stir it all up and get a nice swirl going
5 - Add yeast
6 - Add bung and airlock (I use Vodka in my airlock, if you don't have any I suggest boiled cool water)
7 - I always ferment cider at 20-21 degrees - bought a cheap heater belt and thermostat from eBay (will send details if interested)
8 - If you have temp controlled your cider it will only take between 7-10 days for the FG to remain constant
9 - Rack off into another clean fermenter ( this means to remove the juice but leave the sediment behind - siphon only costs $10)
10 - Once in the second fermenter use bung and airlock as per first fermentation and leave for a good 4 weeks (Longer is better)
11 - Prepare you bottles - again clean everything. Hands - Bottles - Cap - Syphon....Everything
12 - I always bottle with carbonations drops same amount as beer (I believe this gives even distribution of priming sugar)
13 - Leave in bottles for 2-4 weeks
14 - Refrigerate and enjoy


Notes - Once in the second fermenter you should not bottle until the cider is nice and clear, I've had this happen between 2 - 8 weeks. Just have to be patient.


See below my 23L Carboy with Heater belt and thermostat - Once you taste a temp controlled brew it makes a world of difference.



Cheers
Chambo

 

[MashPaddler]

Looks the goods. A slower cooler ferment is usually preferred for better flavour, and thereby more control (if you want to stop it and cold crash for a naturally sweeter cider for example). To avoid sulphur smells, add yeast nutrient at pitching, then at 5 days to keep the yeast healthy, as juice doesn't have all the nutrients yeast need to stay strong and healthy. You might need a third small addition before its done.

 

[Chambo81]

Hey Mash,

I've tried a cooler ferment but the cider yeast I use seems to go dormant around 18 degrees. Since is store the fermenter in the garage and it gets quite cool at night i allow for a few degrees fluctuation and keep the thermostat so it turns off the heater at 21 degrees. I will definitely take your advise about the yeast nutrient though.

 

[Brendandrage]

Hi all,
My wife would really like a cider so i was going to give this recipe a go, i have a couple of Quick questions
1) how did this end up was it dry or sweet.
2) what gravities did you end up with OG and FG
3) would 2 packs of the wyeast cider yeast be sufficient or do i need to make a starter?

Cheers

 

[jameson]

I use a English ale Yeats so4 I think with my pear and apple. Keeps it sweet for ladies that drink it when I have a shindig.

 

[New_guy]

Hi guys
I had a good outcome from a apple / pear cider
9 ltrs of nudie apple juice
8 cans of golden circle pear juice
SO4 yeast
Good crowd pleaser @ 4% abv
Not to sweet but the pear juice gives body and slight sweetness to balance