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Holiday Hard Cider
Getting ready for a set and forget holiday cider. The plan right now is to use 5gal of fresh unpasturized cider from the local orchard. Kill the wild yeast and prep the cider with Campden(Potassium Metabisulfite) Tablets.
Also I will prepare a starter with 1 pint of cider and 3-4 tsp mulling spices boiled 20 min. After the starter has cooled I will add WL775 English Cider Yeast.
After pitching I plan to leave it to age clear and settle until December. The only change from setting and forgetting, I may switch it to a secondary after the inital fermintation has almost stopped.
Please if there is something fundamentally wrong with this procedure, give me a hand. I'd hate to wait 3 months to finally taste something bad. BTW midwest lists this as a lager yeast, but the temp is 68-75??? Maybe it is just the catelog. Is there a true lager yeast that can be utilized for cider and lagered around 51 degrees? I want to preserve the apple taste and definately the spices to be a soft background. Last thing, I will keg this in Dec and will lightly force carbonate to about 5psi. Then I may transfer most of it to bottles.
Thanks for any help... looking for Monday 24Sept07 as a start date for this project.
5 gal unpasturized cider
5 tabs campden
3-4 tsp mulling spices
WL775 English Cider Yeast
1 pint cider for starter.
how do you plan to kill the wild yeast?
you have inspired me to start a cider.
I am not a cider brewer.
Do you need to really waste mulling spices on the starter? Why not just use the cider?
I understand that Sodium or Potassium Bisulfite (Campden) will kill wild yeasts & bacteria in wine must.
I'm concerned that it will also kill the good cider yeast. Comments??
You can also pasteurize by heating to a certain temp & letting it cool, but I'd prefer to just throw in the Campden.
Definately doing a cider or two this fall. Blew two in the past by not killing off the evil beasties.
brewchez wrote:
I am not a cider brewer.
Do you need to really waste mulling spices on the starter? Why not just use the cider?
Well juice from the orchard is called cider... the mulling spices will add the flavor. So therefore, the cider is the wert and the spices are the hops. Just wanted a brew that would remind one of the hot cider that is heavily spiced and served around christmas.
Yes the campden tablets are for killing the wild yeasts, new yeast added later will not have to compete to survive.
KyNGmedic wrote:
brewchez wrote:
I am not a cider brewer.
Do you need to really waste mulling spices on the starter? Why not just use the cider?Well juice from the orchard is called cider... the mulling spices will add the flavor. So therefore, the cider is the wert and the spices are the hops. Just wanted a brew that would remind one of the hot cider that is heavily spiced and served around christmas.
Yes the campden tablets are for killing the wild yeasts, new yeast added later will not have to compete to survive.
I understand that I guess. But my point is why are you adding spices to a starter, why not just to the main cider when you pitch the starter into it? Are you trying to sterilize the spices, because by boiling them you'll lose most of their goodness to evaporation. Just soak them in a shot of vodka or something before adding them to the main cider.
I was going to add 1tsp every 10 min... and yes to sterilize. Also I do not want it to be not overpowering. I can add more later via the vodka method, if it is to little. This will sit till Dec. Also this is my 1st cider.
sippi wrote:
how do you plan to kill the wild yeast?
you have inspired me to start a cider.
I recently asked about the wild yeast at my LHBS. Apparently, if you get your yeast going the natural yeasts don't really effect the end product. I've only made 2 ciders but both times I just bought the cider, warmed it to room temp, and then pitched the yeast. Never had a problem with off flavors or anything.
Boiling the cider does two things... it alters some of the sugars available and yes it does destroy the wild yeasts. From my understanding, campden tablets kill wild yeast and preserve all of the sugars. Also if for some reason some wild yeasts are left, and they will compete. Because of the boil that competition was very minimal.
i have a cider that is going on 5 months and it tastes awful. no apple taste or aroma, it tastes very sour. this may be the champagne yeast i used, i do not know.
but i can tell you that i am very discouraged. i don't know if i will brew another cider when this one turned out so bad. it is a heck of an investment, in money and time, just to find out 6 months later it STILL tastes like crap.
there doens't seem to be many experienced cider brewers on this forum, i found it hard to get nay advice or guidance when i was planning my first batch. personally, until i run into or find someone with firsthand experience, and a wealth of it, i am going to sit cider brewing out for a while.
i only get a hankering for it in the autumn anyhow, so i will buy it at the store for two months then go on my merry way with my excellent beer and mead.
by the way, a cider "wort" is called must, like wine or mead.
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