Percheron clone

[mkyl428]

I normally brew beer I also normally don't use any bugs in my brewery however I go to Michigan a couple times a year to see family and have grown fond of some of the ciders Virtue has been producing.

In particular Percheron, unfortunately Virtue doesn't distribute in my neck of the woods.

So how can I go about producing a cider close to this at home?

The horse description makes me think brett...Would it make sense to add oak cubes to primary and ferment with 100% brett? Use a primary yeast strain and add oak and and brett to secondary? Should I add other bugs or just brett?

Any help is appreciated I really want to make something like this

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[madscientist451]

Its not beer, you can't just get any old apple juice and add a similar yeast that virtue uses and expect the same results. It all starts with the apples. Unless you can get the same varieties of apples that virtue uses,
you can't "clone" it.
The website gives a hint: "A Norman-style blend". So you need to start with some high acid French varieties of cider apples.

 

[mikerlynch26]

I agree, I'm a fan of using whatever juice you can get your hands on, but if you're looking to "clone" a cider, you should start with the apples.

That being said, I think the techniques they use to make this cider could result in a similar, interesting end result. Judging from the description I'd start with a 100% brett fermentation and see where that gets you. For the vanilla notes they describe, some oak cubes would be good, but taste often, you don't want to overpower the flavors of the apples and brett, maybe a week or so on oak. Also if you can get your hands on French oak cubes, all the better. American oak always tastes like bourbon to me (not always a bad thing!)

I've had 100% brett beers that tasted almost clean, which may be what you want to go for here. Also stabilizing after terminal gravity and adding more fresh juice, like the description says, will liven it up again. Let us know how it goes!