Charlottesville Area Masters of Real Ale

Thanks for creating this section.

I posted a recipe a while back that is now nearly finished.  It was very simple, and thanks to Pete for giving me the heads-up.

5 gallons of regular Apple Juice from Kroger - WITHOUT preservatives.

3 Pounds of dextros

1 packet of Montrachet yeast.


So far, so good... I'll be sure to post once I taste.

Thanks again,

Jon

I am pretty sure that Peter brought some of that cider to the tasting at Kevin's house.  I seem to remember that he said the batch he brought was almost a year old.  It was very good.  I was honestly surprised how good it was, given the ingredients used.  I am definately planning on doing this recipe sometime in the next couple of months.

Was Peter's cider see-thru?  Mine has gotten progressively lighter over about a month, but still is cloudy.


Someone told me that you know a cider is done when you can see through it.  Any truth to this?

Thakns,

Jon

Kevin and Evan would be able to tell you more about this, but from my limited experience the answer is yes.  Cold crashing helps, but I don't think you want to think about your cider until 6 weeks minimum have passed.

As activity has died down, my has gotten very clear.

So, I bought the ingredients to make this cider for my wife for Christmas, as she has been asking for me to make a cider for a while.  However, before attempting it, I figured I would ask the following:

- The 3 lbs of dextrose that are listed I could not easily find at Fermentation Trap.  I grabbed 3 lbs of malto dextrin, but there is a voice in the back of my head that said I grabbed the wrong thing.  Anybody know if they are different?  If so, what sugar name should I look for when I go back to the store?

I don't have to make this immediately, so I am happy to wait to make sure I have the right ingredients before I start.  Happy Holidays,

Tom

The Step-by-step taken directly from Edwort on Homebrewtalk.  I don't know if I'd use 3 pounds of dextrose.  It already finishes out really dry with 2 pounds.

Ingredients

5 Gallons 100% Apple Juice (No preservatives or additives) I use Tree Top Apple Juice
2 pounds of dextrose (corn sugar) in one pound bags
1 five gram packet of Montrachet Wine Yeast

Equipment

5 Gallon Carboy (I use a Better Bottle)
Carboy Cap or Stopper with Airlock
Funnel

1. First sanitize the carboy, airlock, funnel, stopper or carboy cap.
2. Open one gallon bottle of apple juice and pour half of it into the carboy using the funnel.
3. Open one bag of Dextrose and carefully add it to the now half full bottle of apple juice. Shake well.
4.Repeat Steps 2 and 3, then go to step 5.
5. Pour in the mixture of Apple Juice and Dextrose from both bottles into the carboy.
6. Add all but 1 quart of remaining 3 gallons of apple juice to the carboy.
7. Open the packet of Montrachet Yeast and pour it into the neck of the funnel.
8. Use the remaining quart of juice to wash down any yeast that sticks. I am able to fit all but 3 ounces of apple juice into a 5 gallon Better Bottle. You may need to be patient to let the foam die down from all shaking and pouring.
9. Put your stopper or carboy cap on with an airlock and fill the airlock with cheap vodka. No bacteria will live in vodka and if you get suckback, you just boosted the abv.

There’s no need to worry about filling up a carboy so full when you use Montrachet wine yeast. There is no Kreuzen, just a thin layer of bubbles

Oh and yes it finishes out clear.   Keep it in the carboy for at least 2 months. The longer you leave it the better it tastes.  You can carbonate it or not.  If you carbonate - about 5 oz of dextrose will do. 

I followed Peter's instructions and started a batch today.  The only difference was that I could not find dextrose/corn sugar.  Fermentation Trap does not carry it, nor did Food Lion.  So, I am using cane sugar instead.  I will let you know how it turns out.

Fermentation Trap doesn't carry priming sugar for bottling?  That's all dextrose is.  It should work fine with cane sugar.  It all ferments out anyways.

I asked Bob about it and he said they carry little bags of priming sugar, but it would be a lot cheaper for me to buy the 2 pounds of it at the grocery store.  It certainly was for cane sugar.

The cider is nicely fermenting away in my basement right now, along with a sweet mead I made over the holidays with my brother-in-law.