Beer Forum

I was thinking about making a cider. I just recently listened to the first Cider show in the archives and the concept has really caught my interest.

I had some questions I thought I'd ask here first:

Am I too late to catch the season? Note: I live in Washington so I would probably have a really nice selection of apples.

What type of apples should I get?

What literature should I read to make the jump quickly?

Does anyone have a recipe they would like to share?

Other advice?

Being in washington you should have a good variety available to ya. I help my buddy presss cider on his farm and last year he gave me 5 gallons that was too close to the safe date so he gave it to me. I thought about looking up recipes and all that, but finally decided to say the heck with it and just added some yeast and nutrient to it in a carboy. It fermented out and cleared beautifully, I drew off a sample and it about made my eyes pop out of my head from tartness. We use a large variety of apples for the pressing. I will sweeten it up some before i bottle. Just letting ya know, if you ferment it straight, it will be really tart when finished, just my input for ya.
-Crut

A couple thoughts based on my limited experience... Get freshly pressed cider that hasn't been pasturized or had any preservatives added to it. Add yeast to it! Im my limited experience wine yeasts (DV10) tend to work better here, but WLP005 will also produce a pretty nice cider. Don't be afraid to let it ferment out to complete dryness and then backsweeten it with more cider, apple juice concentrate, honey, or even agave syrup. AND give it time, I have two batches sitting in my closet that were made last fall.

Hmm, I think I have something to do this evening. Backsweeten cider

O.K., I've browsed the forum and ask the same questions...I have 4 gallons of fresh pressed cider from the local orchard. It has been pasteurized. I (like many) want to ferment it.

1. Should I boil? Or just sanitize a carboy, pitch some WLP001 and see what happens?

2. Do I need yeast nutrient or any other special ingredients?

3. Can anyone recommend a link to a good recipe?

4. Might I be better off brewing a pale ale (say 4-gallons) then top with a gallon of cider?

That's about it for now...3rd batch of beer in the new house in the carboy with yet another painful lag time...JZ Rocket Red Retread will hopefully takeoff soon.

here is exactly what I did...
take 1pt to 1qt juice... simmer... add 1 pkg brown sugar till disolves
add 1 gal Juice to carboy
add sugar juice mix to carboy
add rest of juice
add yeast (I used Cider yeast and hefe yeast in 2 different batches) Hefe was WAY better
Put foil cap on carboy (or airlock whatever)
let it sit in basement for 2 months
bottled
done
BUB

Gotta know - what did the hefe-cider taste like? How much of the banana/clove hefe character showed up? (Does cider even contain the precursors - somethingolithic acid? - that the yeast uses to make those compounds?)

I did my first cider last year with Dupont strain saison yeast. It's still in secondary ('bout time to keg that puppy up), but in samples, if I squint my tastebuds just right, I can maybe taste a little of the typical "saison" character.

here is exactly what I did...
take 1pt to 1qt juice... simmer... add 1 pkg brown sugar till disolves
add 1 gal Juice to carboy
add sugar juice mix to carboy
add rest of juice
add yeast (I used Cider yeast and hefe yeast in 2 different batches) Hefe was WAY better
Put foil cap on carboy (or airlock whatever)
let it sit in basement for 2 months
bottled
done

How much is 1 pkg of brown sugar?

Guess I'll cook some up this weekend. Got 4 gallons of cider and some WLP001 that need some use.

1pkg brown sugar 2lbs?? I think.
Hefe was smoother with less winey/alcoholy bite.
yes there was a teeny touch of banana clove flavor
Push did I send you some... you have better taste than me let them know.
BUB