New Cider Experiments; Cranapple and Strawberry

[Bluespark]

I just started cider making a month or so ago. I've been into fermenting and preserving for years, so this seemed like a natural next step. I started googling and ended up making a pretty basic cider;
4 gallons fresh pressed, pasteurized juice,
2 lb local honey,
1 packet EC1118 wine yeast

Fermented out completely dry in 10 days. Flavour? Very dry, a little harsh, but I think it will mellow with age. Still prominent apple flavour. Very high alcohol content( no hydrometer), guessing its on par with a fairly strong wine.slightly cloudy, just what I was looking for in a "farm style" cider. Pretty happy with it.

Now onto batch 2 and three.
4 gallons pasteurized fresh pressed apple juice
3 lb local honey
1 gallon cranberry juice( mixture of one store bought container with added sugar and some I pressed myself from fresh berries)
2 containers frozen concentrated cranberry juice( no preservatives, did have added sugar)
One pack ale yeast( can't remember the exact type, bought at a local brew store, came from Australia)

Currently about 4 days in, bubbling about every 30 seconds. The goal for this one is a sweeter, fruity cider.

Batch 3 is
1 gallon( less a few cups) fresh pressed apple juice
1 cup brown sugar
3 cups strawberries, puréed, strained
1/2 tsp pectin enzyme
Packet EC1118

This is more of an experiment than anything. Ideally it will have some nice strawberry flavour.

I'll keep you updated!

 

[Bluespark]

Update. The cranberry with the ale yeast is still bubbling every 7-10 seconds. Still got a ways to go.

The strawberry appears done fermenting, no airlock activity for 4 days ( I really need a hydrometer). I transferred it to sanitized bottles, sweetened and I'm hoping it will carb up a bit. At first taste it was very dry, muddy flavour, not much strawberry came through. In a case like this, could I put it in a secondary with some fresh strawberries to add flavour?

 

[raymondim]

Why don't you try a strawberry extract? This could add the strawberry flavors that you are looking for. I think I'm going to try this but I might add the strawberry to a secondary. Did you have any problems with too much activity clogging up your air lock?

 

[Bluespark]

I'm a little worried about strawberry extract tasting like cough syrup. I think I will give it a month or so to clear and re-sample.

No issues with clogging the airlock, just a bit of foam at first, then fizzing.

This completely stopped in 7 days. I back sweetened with a bit of honey and I have seen no carbonation in 7 days. This seems odd to me. Is it possible the ec1118 reached 18% in 7 days?

 

[raymondim]

I wouldn't think that it would get that high that fast. It took 3 weeks for my last melomel to reach ~12%. I guess anything is possible, maybe it just needs some nutrient or time to get back to work.