Basic hard cider recipe?

[snap1042]

I have looked all over and can not find a place that says how to do an english cider recipe (such as a Strongbow clone, etc.).

My wife is coo-coo for the british cider stuff and I am planning on making a batch that she can drink in Jul (she's pregnant so she'll have to wait until then).

Anyone have a link or idea of an english cider recipe?

I assume the steps are similar to producing an extract beer . . . doesn't the apple juice basically stand on its own as a wort?

I appreciate any help.

[Chemiker]

I just finished my first cider, and it was super easy! Here are my notes:

5 gal tree top apple juice, pasteurized, no preservatives
2# corn sugar
Wine yeast (cote de blanc dry yeast by Fermentis)
Ferment in house at 70F for 1 month
Rack onto 1/4tsp Potassium Meta Bisulfite (50ppm), 4g Potassium Sorbate
Wait 24 hours
1 full can Tree Top concentrate to back-sweeten
Carb at 20psi

It turned out GREAT! I gave it out for Christmas and everyone said it was really good.

I would say to carb it and taste before you add the chemicals or apple juice if your wife likes English style. Then if it's too dry, you can add the chemicals (to stop yeast reproduction) and concentrated apple juice in 1/4 can or 1/2 can increments until you like it.

I went with this yeast because my homebrew shop told me it was supposed to have a relatively low attenuation. You could probably use a similar yeast if you can't find the exact one. I'm making an R&D batch of cider right now with White Labs Abbey yeast to see what happens...

Good luck!

[Chupa LaHomebrew]

There's an episode on the Jamil show archives

[dmtaylor]

A few thoughts...

To make a true English cider, you need to use true English bittersweet and bittersharp apples such as Dabinett, Yarlington Mill, Foxwhelp, Kingston Black, etc. They also use sharp apples such as Bramley's and Michelin to add more snapping tartness.

I must regret to inform you that Strongbow is actually a very wimpy and watered down version of an English cider. It's like the Bud Lite of all ciders. Just be aware of that. If I was to make a Strongbow clone, the ingredients would be apple juice concentrate and lots of water. Cuz that's what they do. Seriously.

All that being said, you can still make a very good cider out of USA apples such as Honeycrisp, Gala, Braeburn, McIntosh, etc., but it's not fair to call it an English cider at that point. It's just common cider then. You can use store-bought juice for this purpose, but I prefer to use fresh brown colored cider from an orchard that has chunks of apples and wild yeast in it, etc. Mmm mmm good. Either way, I think your wife would like the good old American common cider just as much, if not more than the Strongbow.

The best book on the topic IMHO is Ben Watson's "Cider, Hard & Sweet". I suggest you pick up a copy.

Recipes are pretty much as simple as: Get a bunch of good juice. Add 1 crushed Campden tablet (bisulfite) per gallon and let the juice sit for 24 hours. Then add a pack or two of dry yeast -- for your first batch it doesn't matter which brand you use. I like US-05 and Cote des Blancs, but any dry beer or wine yeast will work fine. Then let it ferment in the 60s for a month or two, and it's good to go. Patience is key. Your homemade hard cider will take longer to ferment than beer, and it will naturally finish dry with a specific gravity of anywhere between 0.992 and 1.005, which packs a good alcohol wallop of about 6-7% without any added sugar. If you're shooting for Strongbow, then don't add any sugar at all, it will make the cider way too strong.

That's basically it. Refer to a good book on cider such as Watson's for deeper details. Good luck.

[grainbelt]

I just finished my first cider, and it was super easy! Here are my notes:

5 gal tree top apple juice, pasteurized, no preservatives
2# corn sugar
Wine yeast (cote de blanc dry yeast by Fermentis)
Ferment in house at 70F for 1 month
Rack onto 1/4tsp Potassium Meta Bisulfite (50ppm), 4g Potassium Sorbate
Wait 24 hours
1 full can Tree Top concentrate to back-sweeten
Carb at 20psi

It turned out GREAT! I gave it out for Christmas and everyone said it was really good.

I would say to carb it and taste before you add the chemicals or apple juice if your wife likes English style. Then if it's too dry, you can add the chemicals (to stop yeast reproduction) and concentrated apple juice in 1/4 can or 1/2 can increments until you like it.

I went with this yeast because my homebrew shop told me it was supposed to have a relatively low attenuation. You could probably use a similar yeast if you can't find the exact one. I'm making an R&D batch of cider right now with White Labs Abbey yeast to see what happens...

Good luck!

thats going to be more like a apple wine with all that sugar in it

[Chemiker]

thats going to be more like a apple wine with all that sugar in it

What's your definition of apple wine besides "all that sugar"? Is that based on an ABV? If so, what is the threshold?

[dmtaylor]

This might help:

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style28.php#1c

[Chemiker]

This might help:

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style28.php#1c

Thanks! Based on this, I'm sticking with cider as a style, since mine came out at 7.5% ABV. Between recipe simplicity and how great it comes out, I would recommend this recipe as a beginning cider.