Ok, not a beer but I was board to death today and didnt want to spend the day brewing so I did the next best thing. I had a packet of champagne yeast in the fridge that expired 4 months ago so I figured "what the heck!" A quick trip to Sams Club and I was on my way to a 6gal batch of hard cider. Here is the recipe. 6gal apple juice 4cups white sugar 4cups light brown sugar 1tbs tannin 2tbs acid blend champange yeast This cider finnishes out real dry at about 9%. I plan to kill the yeast and force carb 5gal then put the rest in wine bottles for the celler. Nice and easy and 6gal for $25.00 not bad.
I've heard a lot of people say it's hard to stop the yeast. I would suggest letting it finish stabilize and back sweeten. My uncle suggested using splenda; I haven't tried it yet as I haven't had a chance. He says it provides a better flavor than regular sugar. My brother uses frozen apple juice concentrate to back sweeten his ciders. I personally like mine super dry so I don't sweeten.
If it were me, I would replace the Acid blend with Malic Acid. The blend will have citric acid which is not ideal for cider. Also, make sure you get the ph down below 3.8, apple juice ph will be higher than a fresh pressed. (over 4.0 and you are much more susceptible to microbial infect.)
A little bit of potassium metabisulfate will put a stop to the yeast. I wont back sweeten it though, I like it dry. Next time I will give the Maltic acid a try. Would I use the same amount as the acid blend?
It should take a touch more of the malic acid than the blend, but I would let the ph guide the amount. The tannin was a good call and should add some nice complexity to the finished drink. Let us know how it turns out!
The cider is finnished! When I racked it the first time it had a pretty sharp alcohol bite so I decided to back sweeten it. I used a can of welches white grape juice concentrate. After only a week in the secondary it cleared up great. Since I had 6gal I filled 7 wine bottles for a later date and kegged the rest. I am force carbing right now and it will be ready for the Daytona 500 tomorrow.
A white grape back sweeten sounds like a great idea! I'm going to have to add that one to the playbook. I'm might just buy a can today to "in glass" sweeten some of my more astringent bottles I have laying around. My mouth has all of a sudden become quite dry...
