Hey homebrew brothers, I need some info. I am new to home brewing and my buddy gave me a recipe for cider. He brews it for his wife, but she prefers a little sweeter cider like Woodchuck. I want to brew some for my wife but she prefers a dryer cider like Angry Orchard. So I was told that I can use a different yeast and that will make it dryer? Can anyone steer my in the correct direction?
Hard Cider Yeast
- Thread starter rfraser
- Start date
If you have a brew shop nearby they can help you out. If not I would look at Beer Ber and More Beer for a mail order souce. I have never made a cider but it but for a dryer brew I believe you would let it ferment longer before adding the sulfites thus stoping the ferment. I have also heard that people add sugar to the end product to sweeten it up.
Bla bla bla Ive been drinking or http://www.homebrewexchange.net/content/yeasts-hard-cider
This is probobly what you need.
This is probobly what you need.
Most any yeast will completely dry out a cider. Wine yeasts especially because the sugar content of a cider is mostly fructose sugars which is similar to wine. I haven't made cider in a few years but I might make a normal gravity cider for a party next month. I'll just have to pick up the jugs sometime this week. I'll be adding some sort of acid blend to it though because I don't know how many tart apples they tend to add to the cider at the nearby orchard. Based on attenuation numbers on White Labs site you're lowest attenuating option seems to be WLP002 but I still suspect that will still leave you rather dry. Most of the commercially produced ciders are cold crashed and have fresh juice added back or they're centrifuged/filtered and backsweetened with fresh juice.
I agree that any yeast, as long as you have a good starter, will fully attenuate your cider. The sugar in cider is very fermentable and as long as you let it sit long enough it will go very dry.
Here is what I do in the fall:
Dago Brewing Apple Cider Ale
2 gallons Motts Apple Juice
2 gallons local sourced Apple Cider
2 lbs Light DME
.5lb crystal malt
.5oz Kent Goldings Hops
Wyeast London ale yeast
3 cans apple concentrate
Steep the crystal malt in .75 gallons water at 145 degrees for 1hr. Sparge with 1/2 gallon hot water
Bring to boil
Add DME and hops, boil for 45 minutes
Cool (wort chiller here works wonders)
Add to the apple juice and cider in your fermentation vessel, top up to 5 1/2 gallons total volume.
Pitch yeast
Let ferment for 2 weeks then rack into a secondary fermentor for 1 week to clear.
If kegging, add the apple concentrate in bottom of keg and rack your cider on top.
If bottling, add apple concentrate to bottling bucket and rack cider on top, mix well.
The apple concentrate is to back sweeten the cider ale. The yeast will eat all the sugar making it tart/sour and you'll need to make sure to add this step for drinkable cider. I used 3 cans, but could have gone with 4 for more sweetness.
This is better than any store bought cider ale I've had
NOTE: I create a starter w/ my yeast two days before brewing and it sits on a stir plate for that time growing into a large culture.
Here is what I do in the fall:
Dago Brewing Apple Cider Ale
2 gallons Motts Apple Juice
2 gallons local sourced Apple Cider
2 lbs Light DME
.5lb crystal malt
.5oz Kent Goldings Hops
Wyeast London ale yeast
3 cans apple concentrate
Steep the crystal malt in .75 gallons water at 145 degrees for 1hr. Sparge with 1/2 gallon hot water
Bring to boil
Add DME and hops, boil for 45 minutes
Cool (wort chiller here works wonders)
Add to the apple juice and cider in your fermentation vessel, top up to 5 1/2 gallons total volume.
Pitch yeast
Let ferment for 2 weeks then rack into a secondary fermentor for 1 week to clear.
If kegging, add the apple concentrate in bottom of keg and rack your cider on top.
If bottling, add apple concentrate to bottling bucket and rack cider on top, mix well.
The apple concentrate is to back sweeten the cider ale. The yeast will eat all the sugar making it tart/sour and you'll need to make sure to add this step for drinkable cider. I used 3 cans, but could have gone with 4 for more sweetness.
This is better than any store bought cider ale I've had
NOTE: I create a starter w/ my yeast two days before brewing and it sits on a stir plate for that time growing into a large culture.
I agree with everyone here. Dry cider is easyville. I go with EdWort's advise and also use champagne yeast.
It's the sweet cider that's difficult. With the sweet stuff you have to kill the yeast at a certain taste and then use a keg/bottling wand if you ever want to bottle.
It's the sweet cider that's difficult. With the sweet stuff you have to kill the yeast at a certain taste and then use a keg/bottling wand if you ever want to bottle.
mthhurley
BoM December 2011
I agree with NCost's process. Let it ferment, rack, cold crash and then resweeten it once racked off the yeast. A small dose of potassium sorbate to stop any new yeast multiplication and should preventp any further fermentation (assuming there's some yeast in suspension...don't want them waking up again and finishing off the newly sweetened cider).
I would add the potassium as mthhurley suggests except that I keg and put it in the Keezer immediately and put it under pressure. This pretty much stops any new yeast growth. If you bottle it could be an issue though.
cgraunke
BoM March '14
So, when can I expect the first test batch to head northwards?
Hey man, if it finishes too dry and you need help back-sweetening let me know. Along with beer I make citrus wines and have made a few batches of cider. My lemon wine comes in around 12%abv and tastes like lemonade after I kill off the yeast and sweeten. Dangerous, dangerous stuff. I have named it "Liquid Panty Remover" Ha!
Ducttapegonewild
Actual Size
Uh, can I get a bottle of that? For uh, research. Yeah, research.
Go to your local orchard and ask them to make a batch of cider with "Golden Delicious" Apple's. 5 gallons of cider, 5 lbs of sugar, 2 lbs of raisins and 1 pack or pat of yeast. put in a 6 gallon jug. plug the jug with a "bubbler" sealed with wax. After 2 weeks agitate JUST a little and let go till the bubbles stop. When bubbles stop, you will have the sweetest Apple Jack you have ever tasted. OH! Almost forgot, Siphon, don't pour. Not so sweet? Use McIntosh apples, they are a tart apple. I grew up on an orchard and made this stuff every year..........
Haha! If I had any left of the last batch I made I would. I will be making some tangelo wine that is pretty much the same soon though and will be happy to share!