Batches #6 and 7

I started two new 1 gallon batches on Wednesday, December 28. With these new batches, I'm hoping to build on the success of the previous two batches, which have aged nicely and have turned out to be my (and Amy's) favorite batches to date: mellow and fruity; a little tart and not quite as dry as I would like, but with plenty of flavor. My plan for these two batches is to ferment them to a SG of ~1.005. At that point I will bottle and allow the remaining sugar to add a little, but not too much carbonation. My hope by taking this approach, as opposed to the approach to batches #4 and 5 where I added juice prior to bottling, is to get a slightly drier cider with as much fruit as possible. We'll see.


The recipes for both batches #6 and 7 are, more or less, the same as batch #5, with a little less raisons (per Amy's recommendation).

Recipe #6 and 7:


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


Based on batches #4 and 5, I will allow these batches to age for 3 months before I crack the first bottle. Or On Zoe Mae's BDay in March, as Amy says I will never be able to wait that long. Patience is a virtue, I suppose.