Martinelli's Simple Cider reduced

[jaacarson]

I have twice made 1-gallon batches of a simple cider using Martinelli's Apple Juice and US-05. SG was 1.057 and FG was 1.23. It was a lightly colored sweet and crisp cider coming in about 4.4% ABV. I thought that both batches Turned out well. my wife likes it and she won't drink my beer, or any beer for that matter. The guys in my homebrew club thought the cider was a "light and wimpy". I can't blame them...it's not what I prefer either.

So in an attempt to get deeper color and raise the SG. I bought 2-gallons if Martinelli's Apple Juice and reduced it to a little less than a gallon. I wasn't worried about concentrating the pectin, since most of the pectin was removed in making the juice. (Why Martinelli's Apple Juice? it doesn't have any additives and is not from concentrate.). I had boiled up a started of juice placed in on the stir plate and added the US-05 24 hr. in advance. After reducing the juice the SG was 1.095. With US-05 anticipated FG 1.23 giving an 75% anticipated attenuation with 9.45% ABV. It's been fermenting away for 36hrs at 69 degrees F.

Has anyone done anything like this before? What is the alcohol tolerance of US-05? Is my anticipated attenuation too high for this yeast? What concerns have I over looked? Thanks for your help.

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

I'm thinking a sweet-ish apertif type beverage with a thick mouthfeel? I bet it would be really good chilled at the end of a meal. Based on my experience with US-05, I'd say it won't attenuate completely and probably won't flocculate all that well either. A FG of 1.020-1.015 maybe?

 

[MidTNJasonF]

Yeah I am thinking 1.015 to 1.020 as well. I have used US-05 up into the high 1.07X range and gotten down to roughly 1.014~1.015 before. Notty got my 1.072 cider down to 1.011 with relative ease and left plenty of apple flavor and a touch of sweetness.

Any reason you decided to reduce as opposed to adding Dextrose or some other form of sugar? My last two ciders were blends of Martinelli's, R.W. Knudsen's, some store brand juice, and the Simply Apple with dextrose added. Both were lower 1.06X range with only the juice and were upper 1.06X to 1.072 range with dextrose. The batch that was 1.072 was 8% when done and plenty potent. I agree that the Marinelli's and the Simply Apple tasted the best straight out of the bottle and I have no doubt contributed much of the flavor to the batches.

 

[jaacarson]

Any reason you decided to reduce as opposed to adding Dextrose or some other form of sugar?

It was just an experiment. I am fairly new to brewing cider. I was trying to get a concentrated apple flavor and with fermentables. Note: t's a expensive way to go...18 bucks of juice for a one gallon batch. Simple syrup or white sugar would be a lot less expensive.

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

Apple Juice Concentrate would be a tastier option than using a sugar to boost ABV. It's also less expensive than using high quality 100% juice. I've tried some nice organic concentrates that rival 100% juice. It's the same as reducing juice on the stove but won't have that "cooked apple" flavor.

 

[jaacarson]

[QUOTE="It's the same as reducing juice on the stove but won't have that "cooked apple" flavor.[/QUOTE]

Tell me more about the "cooked apple" flavor. What causes it, is it from boiling or does it come our during the fermentation? Is it a baked apple flavor? I sampled the juice after reducing and it tasted fine is that a good indicator?.

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

The only time I have every reduced apple juice on the stove it tasted like baked apples (sans the cinnamon). It didn't taste bad, it just tasted...cooked. Not fresh squeezed. I'm pretty sure it's the heat that makes it taste this way. It's not a process of fermentation. Fermentation basically just removes the sugar from the juice and replaced it with alcohol. (in simple terms)

If you can make an end product that you enjoy, there is no right and wrong method. I personally wouldn't spend $15 a gallon on something I drink every day, but a special occasion beverage...sure. If you didn't get that baked apple flavor in your juice, I'm looking forward to hearing how everything works out. I might give it a go again to make a nice, strong, sweet sipper.

 

[jaacarson]

After 8 days in the one gallon carboy with a blow off tube. Active fermentation has died off. SG 1.095, FG 1.028, 69% attenuation, ABV 8.79%. I'm going to crash cool it and siphon the cider into 2 liter bottles and force carbonate. Took a little taste after measuring gravity. It has a potent alcohol character and plenty of apple sweetness. We'll see how it tastes after everything has fallen out of suspension and it's carbonated. Cheers!

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

Thanks for following up. I was curious to see where it ended. I bet another couple of weeks you could eek out some more gravity points if you wanted to. Did the final product end up sweet and thicker than normal cider?

 

[jaacarson]

I decided to postpone my plan to bottle and force carbonate as I said in my previous post. I left it alone for another couple days then put it in the refrigerator to help stuff settle out. When I checked the specific gravity. It had dropped a bit more to 1.024. I bottled a half in a 2 liters soda bottle and force carbonated it. We'll be sampling it on Monday. I'll report on taste then.

 

[mike_in_ak]

This sounds overly complicated and expensive.

But apple juice or cider. Add sugar. Ferment.

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

The beauty of home brewing is the experimentation process. (at least for me) It's always nice to hear stories of people trying new stuff.

 

[mike_in_ak]

Edit because I'm a dummie that can't read.

Why on earth would this not be a good idea?

When I put my reading glasses on it seems smart.

 

[mike_in_ak]

You might be able to do something similar with the canned concentrate and then you could skip the reduction. I.e. just use less water than it calls for.

Or add some concentrate to your martinellis.