Batches #4 and #5: Bottled

The secondary fermentation never really happened on these batches: Once I racked them into the secondary vessels, the fermentation stopped. Before adding the apple juice to top off the gallon jars (as described in this previous post), the SG measured ~1.000, for an estimated ABV of 6.7%. Maybe this was too much for this yeast, or maybe it just stopped when I racked it off. Not sure. Before bottling, I measured the SG and it was ~1.010, so there is still plenty of sugars to ferment. Now we'll see if we get any carbonation.

On the plus side, the cider tasted awesome, as was. I had ~6oz left from each gallon after bottling 10 bottles from each, and I consider it a fine cider, at room temperature, no aging, and still. Nice amount of fruit, a little tart, and not at all sweet. Very exciting! Now we'll just sit and wait to see what 5 weeks does to it. It will be interesting to see if the tartness mellows out.

As for the differences between the two, batch #5 (with the raisins) had the best overall flavor, with batch #4 being a little more tart.

Batches #4 and #5: Rack to secondary fermentation

Today I racked batches #4 and #5 to secondary fermentation vessels, topping off each with ~8oz of Nantucket's Nectar apple juice. Fermentation had slowed to a crawl, and I was looking for something to do. So what the heck. I'm planning on leaving it for a few weeks before bottling.

Batch #2: Tasting

Amy and I tasted a bottle from batch #2. It was still far from aged, as batch #1 was when we tasted it a few days ago. Batch #1 at 35 days after bottling, as mentioned in a previous post, had mellowed nicely and had a lot of good flavor (considering the high ABV). Batch #2 was still quite raw and could stand a few more weeks, at least.

Batch #1: Tasting

Tonight Amy and I opened a bottle from batch #1. Our expectations were quite low, considering the expected ABV (10%+) and the initial tasting we did 1 week after bottling. We were quite pleasantly surprised: the cider had darkened in color and had mellowed quite a bit. The taste of fruit was much more pronounced. Amy said she actually liked it. Success! My basic rule of thumb now: minimum 1 month before tasting.

I am now quite excited about the prospects for the other batches, as I think they will be even better. Cheers!

Batches #4 and #5

I started two new 1 gallon batches on Sunday, October 16. With these batches, I'm taking a slightly different approach. The previous batches have been lacking in fruit flavor, which is to be expected using plain old store bought cider. So, the approach of these two batches is to use ale yeast fermenting to completion (~1.000 SG). Then I will add campden tablets to arrest the fermentation. At this point I will add additional, unfermented cider to back sweeten, and bottle. I'm hoping that this will give me more of what I am looking for in terms of fruitiness (until I am able to find a source of different apple varieties), albeit a still version. My thinking is that if I can get one of these recipes to work, I can keg a larger batch and force carbonate. The following are the two specific recipes:

Recipe #4:

1/2 gallon Murray's apple cider
1/2 gallon Wholefoods 365 apple juice
1/3 11.5g pack of Safale s-04 Dry Ale Yeast

Recipe #5:

1/2 gallon Murray's apple cider
1/2 gallon Wholefoods 365 apple juice
1/3 11.5g pack of Safale s-04 Dry Ale Yeast
1 1/2 oz of organic raisins

The initial SG was ~1.050. I just pitched the yeast into each jug and slapped locks on the tops. I want to see how the raisins affect the taste, what with the sugars and tannins.

Within 3-4 hours, they were both starting to show fermentation activity. By Monday, they were bubbling away.

Batch #3: Bottled

I bottled batch #3 this morning. There was quite a bit of particulate matter at the bottom of the carboy, so I wasn't able to get as much product as I would have liked when I siphoned it off. I then added ~12oz apple juice (Nantucket's Nectar). This produced 8 12oz bottles, for 96oz total. This ratio (7-1) of fermented cider to fresh juice is based on an approximation of this recipe. There was a bit left over and it tasted pretty good.

Batch #3

This post is a little late, but last Sunday, September 25, I started batch #3. It is very similar to batch #2, as I didn't add any extra sugars. I measured the SG of the starting cider to be ~1.050. This is less than batch #2, but plenty of sugar to get it to >5% ABV.

Here's the recipe:

1 gallon Apple Wedge Cider (Hendersonville, NC)
~1/2 5 gram pack of Red Start champagne yeast

I mixed ~1 1/2 cups of cider and yeast in a mason jar. I then added this to a 1 gallon jug/carboy and "topped off" with the remaining cider. The cider was right out of the fridge, so it may take a while to get going. I put a fermentation lock on it and will let it sit for the next week.

The plan for this batch is to add fresh cider at bottling as the source of sugar. I read a recipe from someone at MIT (here's the write up and recipe). I hope that this will add a bit of extra apple flavor to the end product.

Batch #2: Bottled

This post a week late, but I bottled batch #2 last Saturday, September 24. I simply siphoned off the gallon, leaving the lees, added 5 tsp of corn sugar, mixed and bottled. This produced 3 18oz and 4 12oz bottles for 102oz total. In comparison, batch #1 produced 6 18oz bottles + ~6oz remaining, for 114oz total. The reason for the difference is attributed to the cider: batch #2 used a much coarser cider, leaving lots of particulate matter in the bottom.