Anyone have a good fall cider recipe?

[klowneyy]

Does anyone have a good fall cider recipe. I've had woodchucks fall recipe and it pretty much just has nutmeg and cinnamon. I personally think it is one of the best ciders I've ever had. I was kinda hoping to try to make something in the same family meaning using nutmeg and cinnamon. Can anyone help me with a good recipe? Thanks

 

[MedicMang]

I have been making a simple cider with cheap ingredients (usually 5.25 gallons for about $25), that I'm sure can be modified to your wants.

7 - 3 quart jugs of cheap apple juice
1 lb brown sugar
6 tbsp yeast nutrient
Nottingham or safale 05
3 cans of frozen apple juice concentrate

Sanitize fermenter. Pour 1st jug of apple juice in fermenter. Pour out a bit of apple juice from second, third, forth, and fifth jug in fermenter. Split the pound of brown sugar between these jugs and shake the crap out of them all until well mixed in. Add those jugs to fermenter. Add the yeast nutrient to the sixth jug, shake, then add to fermenter. Then just add the seventh jug to the fermenter. Sprinkle on the yeast and seal it up. After fermentation has slowed, put the three cans of apple juice concentrate in your bottling bucket, then transfer the finished cider on top. After about two days, I start checking the batch. Put on in the fridge and an hour later, open it. If it is carbonated how you wish, pasteurize it. (Look up stove top pasteurization thread) If not done yet, wait another day and test again. After you pasteurize, you can drink it.

Super fast and delicious semi sweet, carbonated cider comparable to Hornby's or woodchuck.

I would say that all you would have to do is maybe heat a can of the concentrate to a high temp without boiling and steep the cinnamon and nutmeg for a bit in a French press. Cool it, then add that to the bottling bucket as usual.

My usual simple cider is slightly on the dry side too, so you may want to add another can of concentrate to sweeten it up a bit more. Just a thought for what I think you are looking for. Good luck.

 

[RitalinIV]

My go-to fall cider recipe comes from a Popular Mechanics article I saw a few years back. I make at least 3 batches each year. Linkey

I have modified it a little bit each year. Here is my own modification:

5x 96 oz of store brand apple juice (pasteurized with no preservatives or additives is key!)
1x 128 oz of Musselman's Apple Cider
2 lbs light brown sugar
1 lb corn sugar
1 package of Red Star champagne yeast

I heat 96 oz of the apple juice on the stove at low heat to a temp of 130ºF. I then add the brown sugar and corn sugar to aid in dissolving. Once the mixture is dissolved and clear, I pull off about ¾ cup of the mixture in a sanitized measuring cup and set it aside. Once I verified that the temperature in that cup is down to 105ºF, I add the yeast and stir to dissolve. I dump the warm mixture and 3 more containers of juice into my primary fermenter (plastic bucket) to bring the temp down to about 79ºF. This is where I pitch my yeast. I add the remaining juice/cider for a final temp of 77ºF and a tad over 5 gallons. I ferment at 65-70ºF for about 2 weeks. I move mine into a glass carboy after to age and clear for 3 weeks to up to 2 months. I then bottle using 5 oz of additional dextrose into 12 oz bottles. Why small bottles? See below…

OG= 1.066
FG= 0.997
9% ABV!

Patience is key as it only gets better with age! Very clear, crisp, and dry. I love it but SWMBO adds a dash of apple juice to her glass before poring.
Modifications in the past have included the use of dark brown sugar to manipulate color. I liked it lighter so I changed back to light brown sugar.
My next batch will utilize liquid champagne yeast… just having a difficult time finding it.

Good luck to you,

-Ritalin