Caramel Malt in Cider Side-by-Side Experiment

[Pivovar_Koucky]

So cider season is almost upon us again. I know people have posted about using caramel/crystal malts to try to sweeten the cider, but I have never tried it before. I was at the farmers market yesterday and picked up two gallons of cider. One of them is going to be a cyser, but for the other gallon I have devised an experiment.

So I've had some dark crystal (120 L, I think) sitting in my freezer for like 9 months now and I never use it because it doesn't have the Lovibond on the bag that it's in (I wrote it on the bag, but it came off at some point). So I figure, let's take a shot at making a caramel malt sweetened cider.

I steeped the crushed crystal malt (it was 9 oz., including a sandwich bag, so a little more than a half pound) in a quart of 170 deg. water for a half-hour. Then I removed the grains and reduced the "wort" 2:1 by boiling. Then I poured the "wort" into a half-gallon glass jug and topped with cider. The rest of the cider was poured into another half-gallon glass jug. Yeast was Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast. I may try an ale yeast some time, but that's what I had around.

Gravity: Pure cider - 1.050
Caramel cider - 1.055

Will report back with pictures later and results in a week or two.

 

[HopHead24]

Sounds great!

 

[Fritobandito]

This is looking like something I'm probably going to try here shortly. What do you think about steeping the grains in some of the cider versus water?

 

[oldmate]

I wouldn't heat the cider too much unless you want the pectins to set in, making it cloudy!

 

[Fritobandito]

I figured keeping the cider around 150 would avoid getting it too hot.

 

[RugenBrau]

What would happen if you were to use pectic enzyme to clear the cider and then use that to steep the grains?

 

[Pivovar_Koucky]

I would think that you would be fine steeping in the cider, again you probably will end up setting the pectins though. Not a big deal unless you really want a clear cider. I bet that using pectase on it would probably be fine. If I was you I would probably use the pectase after steeping the grains though. Maybe it would be fine either way though.

 

[MeadWitch]

So I figure, let's take a shot at making a caramel malt sweetened cider.

I steeped the crushed crystal malt (it was 9 oz., including a sandwich bag, so a little more than a half pound) in a quart of 170 deg. water for a half-hour. Then I removed the grains and reduced the "wort" 2:1 by boiling. Then I poured the "wort" into a half-gallon glass jug and topped with cider. The rest of the cider was poured into another half-gallon glass jug. Yeast was Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast. I may try an ale yeast some time, but that's what I had around.

Gravity: Pure cider - 1.050
Caramel cider - 1.055

Will report back with pictures later and results in a week or two.

How did the cider turn out?

 

[cixelsyd]

What ever happened with this? I've been thinking of the same thing!

 

[Pivovar_Koucky]

As I remember I couldn't really tell the difference between the two other than by color, which is why I never updated with results (also I got busy with grad school). I might consider trying this again this fall to see if my ever so much more refined palate can tell anything.

If you want a sweeter cider I have had good results adding a can of apple juice concentrate to apple juice and using a lower attenuating yeast (S-04 works pretty well).

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Have a look at this:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/graff-malty-slightly-hopped-cider-117117/
Great recipe & you can crtainly tell the difference between graff & cider.
Regards, GF.

 

[frankusb]

Huh, I recently did something very similar.

4 gallons Tree Top 3 Apple Blend
S04
1/4 lb Honey Malt
1/4 lb Crystal 60

Used about 3-4 cups of water, steeped crushed grain at 160 for 1/2 hour. Removed grains, added 3 cups sugar and boiled. Added to apple juice, pitched yeast and fermented for 2 weeks. Bottle carbonated for 4 weeks. The taste is unmistakable from straight cider. The tasting has been mixed but a majority (3/5) prefer this to straight cider. The other 2 didn't think it was bad but "interesting".

I recently brewed a similar batch but with 1/2 lb Crystal 60 only.

Frank