Stupid Easy Cider
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2015 12:36 pm
This is not too different from D_Rabbit's Quick Cider for kegging, and it's a recipe I've done many, many times with great results.
It can even be done with bottling, so long as you fridge the whole batch (and keep a PET bottle to monitor carb) or bottle pasteurize (something I'm not willing to do, but I've read about a lot of people having goood success with).
For a 5 gallon batch, start with 4-4.5 gallons of preservative free apple juice. Whatever's cheapest works great--preservative free cider from an orchard or farmer's market also works great (yes, it will make a difference in the final cider, but they'll all be amazing). Ferment it out with your favorite yeast (Fermentis Safbrew S-33 works great and is cheap, or use the trub from a batch of beer, or harvested yeast, or whatever floats your boat--I've tried lots of different yeasts, and they all tend to work really well). It may take 3-4 weeks to finish, but let it have its time.
At kegging, purge the keg with C02, add in 1 gallon of the tastiest apple juice you can find (farmer's market, the same stuff you used as must, mott's--whatever you want. At this point, preservatives don't matter) and rack the cider on top of it. Put it in the kegerator and on CO2 immediately.
If you're bottling, stick with preservative free juice and batch prime with 1 gallon of whatever juice your using....just make sure that one bottle (preferably in the middle of the batch) is a PET bottle (even a plastic soda bottle will be great). After the pet bottle has firmed up nicely, fridge the whole batch (or bottle pasteurize, if you're into that).
The resulting cider will be semisweet and ready to drink as soon as it's carbed (and cooled if you're bottle conditioning).
When I'm kegging, I like to cold crash to minimize the trub--sometimes this means I end up with a little extra cider (since I usually ferment 4.5 gallons to ensure I get a full 5 gallons into the keg). I'll either backsweeten this leftover cider and bottle it (fridging it after a day or two, just to be safe), or bottle it up with some carbing sugar and let it age. Both turn out great.
There are lots of amazing variations you can do on this cider--you can add a lb or two of sugar to the base cider to kick up the ABV, you can ferment 5 gallons and backsweeten with sugar, you can backsweeten with other juices (blueberry or cherry juices are amazing)--the sky is the limit! If you want a stronger cider that's just as sweet, start with 4.5 gallons, add 1-2 lbs of sugar to the fermentor (and give it a bit of extra time to ferment out) and backsweeten with 2 cans of AJC. Make sure you mix it in well in the keg, or your keg will just try to pull the concentrate out at serving--which never goes well.
Just remember that if you take it anywhere, you need to keep it cool, or it will start fermenting again and overcarb once it warms up.
It can even be done with bottling, so long as you fridge the whole batch (and keep a PET bottle to monitor carb) or bottle pasteurize (something I'm not willing to do, but I've read about a lot of people having goood success with).
For a 5 gallon batch, start with 4-4.5 gallons of preservative free apple juice. Whatever's cheapest works great--preservative free cider from an orchard or farmer's market also works great (yes, it will make a difference in the final cider, but they'll all be amazing). Ferment it out with your favorite yeast (Fermentis Safbrew S-33 works great and is cheap, or use the trub from a batch of beer, or harvested yeast, or whatever floats your boat--I've tried lots of different yeasts, and they all tend to work really well). It may take 3-4 weeks to finish, but let it have its time.
At kegging, purge the keg with C02, add in 1 gallon of the tastiest apple juice you can find (farmer's market, the same stuff you used as must, mott's--whatever you want. At this point, preservatives don't matter) and rack the cider on top of it. Put it in the kegerator and on CO2 immediately.
If you're bottling, stick with preservative free juice and batch prime with 1 gallon of whatever juice your using....just make sure that one bottle (preferably in the middle of the batch) is a PET bottle (even a plastic soda bottle will be great). After the pet bottle has firmed up nicely, fridge the whole batch (or bottle pasteurize, if you're into that).
The resulting cider will be semisweet and ready to drink as soon as it's carbed (and cooled if you're bottle conditioning).
When I'm kegging, I like to cold crash to minimize the trub--sometimes this means I end up with a little extra cider (since I usually ferment 4.5 gallons to ensure I get a full 5 gallons into the keg). I'll either backsweeten this leftover cider and bottle it (fridging it after a day or two, just to be safe), or bottle it up with some carbing sugar and let it age. Both turn out great.
There are lots of amazing variations you can do on this cider--you can add a lb or two of sugar to the base cider to kick up the ABV, you can ferment 5 gallons and backsweeten with sugar, you can backsweeten with other juices (blueberry or cherry juices are amazing)--the sky is the limit! If you want a stronger cider that's just as sweet, start with 4.5 gallons, add 1-2 lbs of sugar to the fermentor (and give it a bit of extra time to ferment out) and backsweeten with 2 cans of AJC. Make sure you mix it in well in the keg, or your keg will just try to pull the concentrate out at serving--which never goes well.
Just remember that if you take it anywhere, you need to keep it cool, or it will start fermenting again and overcarb once it warms up.
