Cider help for beginner

[walcotteric]

Getting ready to do my first cider. I'll have Qs on bottling later but for now just on the recipe. I've seen lots of recipes with apple juice and sugar and yeast. Would it work to do just the AJ and yeast? What would the difference be? Lower alcohol would be one diff, right?

Would there be anything wrong with just pouring apple juice in a carbohydrate and adding yeast and that's it?

 

[vinylrooster]

Getting ready to do my first cider. I'll have Qs on bottling later but for now just on the recipe. I've seen lots of recipes with apple juice and sugar and yeast. Would it work to do just the AJ and yeast? What would the difference be? Lower alcohol would be one diff, right?

Would there be anything wrong with just pouring apple juice in a carbohydrate and adding yeast and that's it?

You would be totally fine just using yeast and raw Apple juice. But, you must make sure that your juice does not contain any preservatives that will harm the yeast. A lot of people on these forums like whole foods 365 pasteurized and unfiltered juice because it is preservative free, but also~$8/gallon...

You are correct that adding sugar will boost the alcohol content. Most people try to do a sugar source such as honey or brown sugar for ciders. Keep in mind that it's probably a good idea to pick up a hydrometer and get a starting gravity reading.

There are plenty of other adjuncts that you can add prior to fermentation and post fermentation that will alter the flavor in different ways. Too many to list, and it really depends o on what you're trying to achieve, so I would search the cider forums here for ideas.

 

[walcotteric]

Thanks. Also, should have added, I'm new to cider, not to HomeBrew so I've got a hydrometer, etc

 

[walcotteric]

Seen a lot of brown sugar use. Will that change taste significantly from normal sugar?

 

[cms2bit]

I have done a few batches of cider now... Not a pro or anything but I have tried a few types of sugar. I've done brown sugar, regular granulated sugar, and actually used powdered sugar cause I started a recipe without having everything I was gonna need... Comes from sampling while preparing a new batch... The more sugar u add the drier the batch will taste, so I myself preferring a medium sweet cider cold crash and back sweeten.
As for how the sugars make the cider taste... Table sugar was ... Ok
Confectioners sugar was actually kind of bad, had to add 3 frozen concentrates just to make it drinkable... Just my opinion
But the brow sugar was nice.
I actually posted a recipe "apple pie turned cider"
I like my drinks strong so I add sugar to get about 10%ish ABV.
The biggest advise I can give from my experience is... Give it at least 3-4 weeks after ferment to condition. Makes a BIG difference in how she tastes. I'm not a very patient person... I know wrong hobby, right?... So ill try a pint when I rack to secondary... But I tell ya... Waiting really improves the flavor and body of the cider.

 

[Schumed]

My simple cider ... 3 gallons (Walmart brand AJ) 1 pound of dark brown sugar .....any yeast ... I like us-04 mainly because it will be done in about 5 days ...but I've tried at least 10 different yeast and can't tell the difference in flavor...only difference is time...I find the wyeast cider yeast takes the longest over a month

I always back sweeten with a can of frozen AJ and add a teaspoon of cinnamon extract

It's always a big hit

 

[walcotteric]

When you backsweeten you then have to pasteurize before you bottle, right?

 

[vinylrooster]

When you backsweeten you then have to pasteurize before you bottle, right?

It depends whether you want it to be carbonated or not. If you want it still, then you can just backsweeten, bulk pasteurize, then bottle. If you want it carbonated you can backsweeten, bottle, and then test bottles every few days until you get the desired carb level, then pasteurize all the remaining bottles assuming that they will be at the same carbonation level as your test bottles.

Obviously, if you are doing a smaller batch, every test bottle you open diminishes your already small bottle supply.

I know the website name is cheesy but http://www.howtomakehardcider.com/ really helped me with a lot of my cider inquiries. It's at least a place to start

 

[Schumed]

I keg my cider and bottle off the keg

 

[walcotteric]

I keg my cider and bottle off the keg

That would be helpful, if I had a keg.

 

[joyceman]

Any opinions on using lactose to sweeten?

My plan this year was to add a pound or two of brown sugar to up the ABV and 1 pound of lactose to keep it from drying out. Ferment with an ale yeast and bottle carb after it finishes.

That way I avoid the need to backsweeten and pastuerize when bottling.

 

[vinylrooster]

Any opinions on using lactose to sweeten?

My plan this year was to add a pound or two of brown sugar to up the ABV and 1 pound of lactose to keep it from drying out. Ferment with an ale yeast and bottle carb after it finishes.

That way I avoid the need to backsweeten and pastuerize when bottling.

Never done it, but it sounds logical

 

[joyceman]

Never done it, but it sounds logical

I know simple and logical. But there has to be some reason why the cider people jump through all backsweetening/pastuerization hoops. I gotta be missing something.

 

[SiriusStarr]

Any opinions on using lactose to sweeten?

The ultimate problem with using lactose in something like cider is that while lactose is unfermentable and "sweet", it's not the kind of "sweet" that we associate with cider (or fruit). Lactose is sweet the way milk is sweet and that sort of creamy, milky sweetness doesn't really work well in cider, though YMMV. You can always try it and see what happens; it'd be awesome if it did work.