atmfuge
Well-Known Member
This was my first adventure in making cider. I wasn't planning on posting the recipe but I gave a couple of bottles away as Christmas gifts and they received good reviews so here it is.
Brew Day Ingredients
5x Gallons Musselman's Apple cider ($4.98/gal @ Walmart)
1x pkg Nottingham yeast
1x lbs. Domino Brown Sugar
5x tsp. yeast nutrient
2.5x tsp. pectic enzyme
Brew Day Instructions
1)Dissolve 1 lb. brown sugar into .5 gal of cider in a pot on the stove. (do not boil the cider just light heat in order to allow the sugar to dissolve)
2) Add the pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient to the jug of cider used to dissolve the sugar
3) Pour the remaining 4 gal. of cider into your fermenter. Pour the cider 1/2 gallon at a time making sure to shake the jugs between pours to allow the cider to aerate.
4) Add portions of the cider/nutrient/enzyme mixture and the dissolved sugar solution into the fermenter between each gallon of cider.
5) Pitch the package of Nottingham on top of the cider and stir.
6) Cover the fermenter and let ferment for 10 days at 60-65 degrees (or until you reach your desired FG. 1.001 for us)
rack to secondary
After 10 days in primary we racked to secondary and topped off the carboy with about a half gallon of fresh cider. I know that the extra cider caused fermentation to start back up but we were concerned with the amount of headspace we had and the possibility of our cider oxidizing. Luckily it all worked out fine.
The Cider cleared after about 2 weeks in secondary but was still a little harsh and dry so we left it in for another 2 weeks before bottling
Bottling
Bottling ingredients
~ 3 Tbs/ gal xylitol sweetener
~ 1 tsp of Apple Extract
5 oz. Priming sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup of water.
On bottling day we racked the cider into our bottling bucket before adding the priming sugar so that we could sweeten and flavor it as desired. Once we reached the desired flavor we then mixed the priming solution in and ensured that it was fully mixed into the cider while minimizing the chances of oxidation. From there we bottled as normal into a mix of 12 and 22 oz. bottles.
We let the cider condition for 3 weeks before drinking. (I did test 2 bottles along the way) It has been a huge hit with family and friends throughout the holidays.
Hopefully this has been helpful. It was super simple and smooth drinking.
In the future I am hoping to experiment with some different tea infusions, we'll see how that goes.
Brew Day Ingredients
5x Gallons Musselman's Apple cider ($4.98/gal @ Walmart)
1x pkg Nottingham yeast
1x lbs. Domino Brown Sugar
5x tsp. yeast nutrient
2.5x tsp. pectic enzyme
Brew Day Instructions
1)Dissolve 1 lb. brown sugar into .5 gal of cider in a pot on the stove. (do not boil the cider just light heat in order to allow the sugar to dissolve)
2) Add the pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient to the jug of cider used to dissolve the sugar
3) Pour the remaining 4 gal. of cider into your fermenter. Pour the cider 1/2 gallon at a time making sure to shake the jugs between pours to allow the cider to aerate.
4) Add portions of the cider/nutrient/enzyme mixture and the dissolved sugar solution into the fermenter between each gallon of cider.
5) Pitch the package of Nottingham on top of the cider and stir.
6) Cover the fermenter and let ferment for 10 days at 60-65 degrees (or until you reach your desired FG. 1.001 for us)
rack to secondary
After 10 days in primary we racked to secondary and topped off the carboy with about a half gallon of fresh cider. I know that the extra cider caused fermentation to start back up but we were concerned with the amount of headspace we had and the possibility of our cider oxidizing. Luckily it all worked out fine.
The Cider cleared after about 2 weeks in secondary but was still a little harsh and dry so we left it in for another 2 weeks before bottling
Bottling
Bottling ingredients
~ 3 Tbs/ gal xylitol sweetener
~ 1 tsp of Apple Extract
5 oz. Priming sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup of water.
On bottling day we racked the cider into our bottling bucket before adding the priming sugar so that we could sweeten and flavor it as desired. Once we reached the desired flavor we then mixed the priming solution in and ensured that it was fully mixed into the cider while minimizing the chances of oxidation. From there we bottled as normal into a mix of 12 and 22 oz. bottles.
We let the cider condition for 3 weeks before drinking. (I did test 2 bottles along the way) It has been a huge hit with family and friends throughout the holidays.
Hopefully this has been helpful. It was super simple and smooth drinking.
In the future I am hoping to experiment with some different tea infusions, we'll see how that goes.