This is intended as an easy, beginners caramel cider. As a lot of beginner brewers are still trying to get their methods correct, I have designed this to be quite sweet to mask any off flavours.
For a 1 gal batch:
Ingredients:
2 cups raw sugar
250 ml honey
1 gal Apple Juice/Cider (preservative free)
Any standard wine/champagne yeast.
Method:
1. Add 2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup apple juice to a pan. Caramelise on medium heat for around 15 mins. NOTE: If you want this to be a clear cider, substitute the half cup juice for water. Alternatively, add pectinase at step 5.
2. Once sugar is caramelised, add to fermenter. The darker the caramel mixture, the stronger the flavour. I heat mine for around 12 - 14 minutes which gives only what I can describe as a 'medium' between the initial heating and extreme caramel. This is totally up to you and your tastes, experiment a bit.
3. Pour half of your juice into the fermenter, add the caramel mixture and SHAKE. Shaking will aerate the mixture creating a good environment for the yeast to start doing their thing.
4. Add the rest of your juice, don't be afraid to splash and cause bubbles.
5. Pitch yeast when juice is room temperature. This should not be long after step 4 but just in case, let it sit for a few minutes.
6. Ferment till dry, and yeast clears (see notes).
7. Add honey (Adding extra sugar is optional at this point, depends on your tastes) to a pan and caramelise to taste. (I used 15mins).
8. Siphon half of your cider and add the honey mixture.
9. MIX. I ended up mixing for almost half an hour to get it all to homogenise. Add the remaining cider.
10. Bottle and pasteurise.
Step 8. is bad practice for brewing as it is introducing a large amount of oxygen to the finished product. This can cause infection and oxidation. An alternative to step 8 is to transfer the cider to a clean secondary fermenter after fermentation and stabilise with K-meta and K-sorbate. Wait until clear, then transfer to a third fermenter and add the honey mixture. Let bulk age until the honey mixture has completely dissolved then bottle.
Notes:
Ferment till dry and yeast clears. If you have used apple juice with your sugar mixture, your cider will not completely clear, I would suggest using a hydrometer and wait for stable readings.
Sugar will continue to caramelise after you remove it from the heat, keep an eye on it and try not to burn it.
Essential Reading:
Pappers_ pasteurisation thread which is stickied at the top of the cider forum. I do not know how this would go being dry, but the flavours are complimented as a sweet cider.
I never took any gravity measurements. When I was starting out I found it confusing, so here is the recipe with simple additions. I would hesitate a guess of a final ABV at 9%. This is the single best cider I have made to date. It tastes like I am drinking apples dunked in caramel, with a honey aftertaste. It is SO smooth. I had a sample of it as I was mixing and ended up going through a whole 750 ml bottle. BE CAREFUL with this stuff, it's dangerous because it is so smooth, even straight out of primary.
For a 1 gal batch:
Ingredients:
2 cups raw sugar
250 ml honey
1 gal Apple Juice/Cider (preservative free)
Any standard wine/champagne yeast.
Method:
1. Add 2 cups sugar and 1/2 cup apple juice to a pan. Caramelise on medium heat for around 15 mins. NOTE: If you want this to be a clear cider, substitute the half cup juice for water. Alternatively, add pectinase at step 5.
2. Once sugar is caramelised, add to fermenter. The darker the caramel mixture, the stronger the flavour. I heat mine for around 12 - 14 minutes which gives only what I can describe as a 'medium' between the initial heating and extreme caramel. This is totally up to you and your tastes, experiment a bit.
3. Pour half of your juice into the fermenter, add the caramel mixture and SHAKE. Shaking will aerate the mixture creating a good environment for the yeast to start doing their thing.
4. Add the rest of your juice, don't be afraid to splash and cause bubbles.
5. Pitch yeast when juice is room temperature. This should not be long after step 4 but just in case, let it sit for a few minutes.
6. Ferment till dry, and yeast clears (see notes).
7. Add honey (Adding extra sugar is optional at this point, depends on your tastes) to a pan and caramelise to taste. (I used 15mins).
8. Siphon half of your cider and add the honey mixture.
9. MIX. I ended up mixing for almost half an hour to get it all to homogenise. Add the remaining cider.
10. Bottle and pasteurise.
Step 8. is bad practice for brewing as it is introducing a large amount of oxygen to the finished product. This can cause infection and oxidation. An alternative to step 8 is to transfer the cider to a clean secondary fermenter after fermentation and stabilise with K-meta and K-sorbate. Wait until clear, then transfer to a third fermenter and add the honey mixture. Let bulk age until the honey mixture has completely dissolved then bottle.
Notes:
Ferment till dry and yeast clears. If you have used apple juice with your sugar mixture, your cider will not completely clear, I would suggest using a hydrometer and wait for stable readings.
Sugar will continue to caramelise after you remove it from the heat, keep an eye on it and try not to burn it.
Essential Reading:
Pappers_ pasteurisation thread which is stickied at the top of the cider forum. I do not know how this would go being dry, but the flavours are complimented as a sweet cider.
I never took any gravity measurements. When I was starting out I found it confusing, so here is the recipe with simple additions. I would hesitate a guess of a final ABV at 9%. This is the single best cider I have made to date. It tastes like I am drinking apples dunked in caramel, with a honey aftertaste. It is SO smooth. I had a sample of it as I was mixing and ended up going through a whole 750 ml bottle. BE CAREFUL with this stuff, it's dangerous because it is so smooth, even straight out of primary.