Mead and Cider (and Peary too) Mmmmm

[NewEnglander]

Excellent, sir. I plan on picking up some fresh apple cider at the farmers' market this weekend and see if I can ferment it. I tried a cyser last year and ended up with a thin, sour beverage. I'm hoping that a year of homebrewing under my kilt belt will help me come through with a decent cider. Recipes welcome...

[jkane]

Fresh cider is important. I mean no more than a couple days since pressing. If you can get it the same day even better! Wild yeast and or bacteria also love to eat the sugar, so you want to start your yeast going soon. Pasteurized will effect the flavor. Get some that is treated with UV instead of pasteurization. Better yet, find a farmer, and get some before he does anything to it!

Make sure you have a good yeast starter. If using liquid yeast, have it going for a couple days before you get the juice. If you are using dry yeast, do the proof on it by adding warm water and seeing it start to bubble. If it does not bubble, then add another pack until it does.

A good yeast starter will ensure the right yeast does the fermentation. That is the key to preventing sourness. So is using sweet apples, and not sour ones. (DUH!) A good blend of apples make a better cider.

Body is tough in cider. I have not done much with body in a cider. I doubt something like maltodextrin is "allowed", but you could add it and not tell anyone you did. Someone told me to use D-47 or CY3079 yeast and stir weekly in the secondary to create glycerin for more body. I have not tried that yet.

Cider is so easy! No real recipe. Just a container with unfiltered and unpasteurized apple cider in it (the very definition of cider versus apple juice is the filtering), and add some yeast. Make sure you have a decent wine, mead, or cider yeast. Don't use beer or bread yeasts. I always add a little tannin and of course some yeast nutrient and energizer to make it happier. That's really it. My only problem is the alcohol is too low with just apple juice. I can't bring myself to add sugar, so have to just live with a dry finish and low alcohol (5-8%). Cyser is much preferred where I can add honey to kick the original gravity (potential for alcohol) up a little.