Very yellow and clear. Did you add any fining agents or filter it? Was your raw cider clear like that? Mine is always quite cloudy which I like but I wonder why yours is different.
Cider time
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I added pectin in the beginning, but that is all. Multiple rackings are what I used to get a clear product. It started out looking cloudy just like Pen's picture shows. I'm getting ready to rack last week's batch today to get it off of the lees. Then it will sit in the carboy for a month. Then I rack it again to leave any sediments behind and bottle right away (with back carbonation).
BTW, it's interesting to see how this cider ages. It tastes more applely now than it did 6 months ago and the color is a bit more golden.
The color and clarity are really nice. The clarity particularly is surprising to me.
We use Irish moss when brewing beer as clarifier to coagulate the solids. Does pectin do that with your cider?
Do you add a sugar with your yeast, or do you get all the fermentables you need from the cider?
If anyone has a link to a straight-up hard cider recipe they like a lot, I'd appreciate the reference.
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The beauty of cider and particularly straight-up cider is that it is just that, cider. The only thing you can do is change apples or yeast. My favorite batch so far was with 100% honeycrisp apple cider and nottingham ale yeast. Of course, I added some brown sugar to get to my desired OG but the apple is what makes the cider.
I am not fond of racking beer or cider. I don't mind cloudiness in either. It doesn't taste any different but sitting on the lees for an extended period may introduce some funk. The cider does get better with time.
BG, you're still bottling right? Add corn sugar to carbonate?
It's said that some of the least tasty apples make the best ciders. At this point I am too much of a neophyte to verify that claim, but I have done several taste offs with local cider producers and agree that some of their ciders are more complex with a richer bottom. That's why I added some other, more tart local cider to mine this year. We'll see. I am a month or so from bottling.
Sitting on the yeast makes that taste more prominent. Getting it off the lees helps create a more pure apple flavor. Yes, I back carbonate with corn sugar. I picked up some xylitol and am going to try adding that to one gallon of cider to see if I like the sweeter product or not. It's made from birch bark and less sweet than regular sugar and doesn't have a chemical aftertaste like saccharine or aspartane. I'll let you know how that experiment turns out.
Sitting on the yeast makes that taste more prominent. Getting it off the lees helps create a more pure apple flavor. Yes, I back carbonate with corn sugar. I picked up some xylitol and am going to try adding that to one gallon of cider to see if I like the sweeter product or not. It's made from birch bark and less sweet than regular sugar and doesn't have a chemical aftertaste like saccharine or aspartane. I'll let you know how that experiment turns out.
1750, this may be more info than you want, but it's a pretty educational site on cider making:
(broken link removed to http://www.howtomakehardcider.com/making.html)
(broken link removed to http://www.howtomakehardcider.com/making.html)
That's exactly what I was looking for, begreen. I am always inclined toward more information than less.
Thanks!
Thanks for your suggestions.
I've racked and not racked beer. I don't mind cloudiness, but I like the more subtle flavors I get when I get it off the trub.
Great to experiment and refine your tastes. My latest trick with beer is brew-to-belly in one week with the pale ale type recipes. No racking. With kegs it won't hurt if the yeast aren't quite done so long as they've eaten enough to develop the desired finished product.
arn't you afraid of making bottle bombs? i've made beer that wasn't even close to being bottled after 2 weeks sometimes 3 weeks.
I switched to corny kegs this summer. These are 5 gallons, stainless steel, with a high pressure blow off (140psi) just in case. Bottling takes too much time and effort, not only in the actual bottling process but also time for the yeast to carbonate naturally. Then you get that nasty gunk on the bottom of every bottle.
I've toured the Georgetown brewery several times (Manny's pale ale, and Lucille IPA) and their famous Manny's is a one week brew to belly. It inspired me to rush the process for fresh beer without waiting.
It's been a few years since I made hard cider, but I always used Wyeast 1056 to get a sweeter cider without sweetening at the end with sugar. One of the attributes of this strain of yeast is that the yeast die when the alcohol reaches a lower level of alcohol than a yeast like Nottingham. The other way to avoid sweetening at the end is to use an ale yeast and then cold crash the cider. Ale yeast will not continue to ferment at low temperatures. Works very well with Corny kegs because you force carbonate anyway.
BeGreen, maybe I missed it in the thread, but what type of cider maker do you have? I'm going to pull the trigger one of these years and buy my own. My father-in-law has one, but we're not the best of friends.
BeGreen, maybe I missed it in the thread, but what type of cider maker do you have? I'm going to pull the trigger one of these years and buy my own. My father-in-law has one, but we're not the best of friends.
other way to avoid sweetening at the end is to use an ale yeast and then cold crash the cider. Ale yeast will not continue to ferment at low temperatures. Works very well with Corny kegs because you force carbonate anyway.
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I wonder if this is the best solution. I'll have to research cold crashing but the first thing I do after transfering to the kegs is to stick them in the fridge at 35 degrees and pour the gas to them. That would stop an active fermentation?
I always make mine go cold before bottling to help clarify at the end. With the yeast I use, they will keep munching even in the cold. I like it as alcoholic as I can get them to take it.
I like my cider so that 2 good glasses gets the job done, 3 is over the line, 4 is right out.
pen
Yes. Here's an explanation/discussion. Pay particular attention to Kevin's post. I store mine refrigerated, but he claims that he stores at room temperature after cold crashing/racking.
It does make sense.
(broken link removed to http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=65723)
That would be a great way to reduce brewing time and also maintain some sweetness. What do you suggest for a target FG to maintain a "sweet" or commercial level of sweetness in the crashed cider? I'm going to try this on my next batch. Which might be awhile due to the high ABV of the current one.
I just found a source of year round fresh pressed non-pasteurized cider. They buy/store whole apples until weekly pressing.
Almost all of the retail cider around us is pasteurized. There's one place that has fresh cider in the fall unpasteurized. $7/gallon and kept in a cooler.
I like my cider to finish at 1.015. The Beer Judge certification program has categorized cider this way:
I like my cider to finish at 1.015. The Beer Judge certification program has categorized cider this way:
- Dry: below 0.9% residual sugar. This corresponds to a final specific gravity of under 1.002.
- Medium: in the range between dry and sweet (0.9% to 4% residual sugar, final gravity 1.002 to 1.012). Sometimes characterized as either 'off-dry' or 'semi-sweet.'
- Sweet: above 4% residual sugar, roughly equivalent to a final gravity of over 1.012.
Closer to Olympia, I can get a location for you, it's an actual business. They sell pasteurized or non-pasteurized and press each weekend. No mexican fruit, I guess that's a big deal? 5$ per gallon sold in gallon milk type jugs. I don't know how they pasteurize whether it is with UV, heat, or chemicals.
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