Dark n' Sweet Sour Cherry Cider

Method: Extract
Style: Fruit Cider
Boil Time: 0 min
Batch Size: 5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Pre Boil Size: 5 gallons
Pre Boil Gravity: 1.064 (recipe based estimate)
Post Boil Gravity: 1.064 (recipe based estimate)
Efficiency: 70% (steeping grains only)
Rating:

5.00 (1 Review)

Calories: 208 calories (Per 12oz)
Carbs: 15 g (Per 12oz)

Created: Wednesday October 18th 2023

Amount	Fermentable	PPG	°L	Bill %
640 oz	US - Apple juice640 oz Apple juice	5.8	1	88.9%
32 oz	Brown Sugar32 oz Brown Sugar	45	15	4.4%
48 oz	Cherry, dark sweet48 oz Cherry, dark sweet - (late fermenter addition)	6.4	0	6.7%
720 oz / $ 0.00

Amount

Fermentable

Cost

PPG

°L

Bill %

640 oz

US - Apple juice

5.8

88.9%

32 oz

Brown Sugar

4.4%

48 oz

Cherry, dark sweet - (late fermenter addition)

6.4

6.7%

720 oz / $ 0.00

Amount	Name	Cost	Type	Use	Time
1 tsp	Wyeast Yeast Nutrient		Water Agt	Primary	--
3 each	Frozen Apple Juice Concentrate		Flavor	Kegging	--

Amount

Name

Cost

Type

Use

Time

1 tsp

Wyeast Yeast Nutrient

Water Agt

Primary

3 each

Frozen Apple Juice Concentrate

Flavor

Kegging

Ca⁺²	Mg⁺²	Na⁺	Cl^-	SO₄^-2	HCO₃^-
0	0	0	0	0	0

Ca⁺²

Mg⁺²

Na⁺

Cl^-

SO₄^-2

HCO₃^-

Water	Gallons	Quarts
Boil water added to kettle	0.29	1.2
Volume increase from sugar/extract (early additions)	4.71	18.8
Pre boil volume	5	20
Boil off losses
Post boil volume	5	20
Going into fermentor	5	20
Total:	0.29	1.2
Equipment Profile Used:	System Default

Water

Gallons

Quarts

Boil water added to kettle

0.29

1.2

Volume increase from sugar/extract (early additions)

4.71

18.8

Pre boil volume

Boil off losses

Post boil volume

Going into fermentor

Total:

0.29

1.2

Equipment Profile Used:

System Default

Date	Days	Event	Gravity	Volume	pH	Temp	Updated	Comment
11/1/2023 6:49 PM 6 months ago	+0	Brew Day Complete	1.064	5 Quarts	3.7	63.5 °F	11/1/2023 6:51 PM 6 months ago
11/3/2023 4:07 PM 6 months ago	+2	Sample	1.063		3.6	66 °F	11/13/2023 5:34 AM 6 months ago	I noticed some activity on the surface of the juice and the gravity dropped a point so I decided to take a pH reading. I probably just got a little head of myself, pH only dropped to 3.6. I took a taste and while it didn't taste any more tart, there was an ever so slight funky note. But I attribute that more to the brown sugar, specifically the molasses. I believe Sourvisiae works like Philly Sour, in that the acid production phase takes place pre-fermentation. If so, hopefully that gravity drop I noticed was just a fluke and there's still some souring action going on. I'll probably take another sample once fermentation as definitely taken off.
11/8/2023 9:08 PM 6 months ago	+7	Sample	1.028		3.1	68 °F	11/13/2023 5:34 AM 6 months ago	Fermentation has been steady so decided to take a pH reading. pH now sits at 3.1, and the taste is considerably more tart than the last sample taken. It's hard to envision how the addition of apple juice concentrate will balance out the tartness, but I think if the pH drops below 3 then I'm going to co-pitch some S-04 to slow down the lactic acid production. From research, co-pitching a measured balance of Sourvisiae and a second yeast is a good way to limit too much acid product and also give yeast characteristics that won't be present with Sourvisiae since it's a very neutral yeast.
11/10/2023 5:31 PM 6 months ago	+9	Sample	1.021		3.1	65 °F	11/13/2023 5:34 AM 6 months ago	Fermentation has slowed noticeably so I decided to take another taste and pH reading. pH hasn't moved, it still sits at 3.1. I considered adding some S-04 to aid with fermentation since I can't imagine it's gonna drop much more. However, despite the tartness there is still a nice amount of residual sweetness. I'd say it's the perfect blend of tart and sweetness and if the fermentation were to be done and I kegged it today, I wouldn't even add any apple juice concentrate. Rather than adding more yeast, I decided I'm going to bump the temperature up to 70°F to see if that kickstarts some additional fermentation. I'm also thinking about adding the cherries a little earlier too, though there's already plenty of sugar in the fermenter so I don't think that alone would kick off fermentation. I'll monitor fermentation and if it continues to ferment at a consistent slow pace, I will add the cherries.
11/13/2023 5:32 AM 6 months ago	+12	Other	1.014			70 °F	11/13/2023 5:33 AM 6 months ago	Fermentation has been steadily slowing but still dropping a point or two every day. I noticed that the krausen has started to drop out a bit so I decided to go ahead and add the cherries now, while there was still some fermentation going on. I figure the sugars may ferment away, but some flavor should hopefully be extracted from the skins. I don't think I'll do another taste test until I take a final gravity and pH reading, to determine if/how much apple juice concentrate I should add to the keg before kegging. I realized maybe 15 minutes after closing the lid up that I forgot to reconnect the airlock. Once reconnected I got a large whoosh of CO2, so there's undoubtedly still some fermentation going on. Also, regarding color, the cider does have a light red/ruby hue to it now. Once it's thoroughly mixed it'll be interesting to see the final color.
11/19/2023 12:21 AM 5 months ago	+18	Fermentation Complete	1.001	5 Gallons	3.2	69 °F	11/19/2023 12:21 AM 5 months ago	Gravity on the Tilt has been bouncing between 1.000 and .999 for the last day or so, so I decided to take a hydrometer reading. Hydrometer reading was 1.001. Even though I probably could continue to let it ride, I decided to go ahead and call this batch done. Final gravity is still lower than the predicted gravity, though I'm certain that's due to adding the cherries too early. I took a taste test and it's tasty, but it doesn't have a definitive fruit flavor. It tastes more like a fruit wine than a cider to me. The pH actually went up a point, which I also attribute to the fruit addition. It's still very tart, but it has rounded noticeably. I still plan on adding all three cans of the apple juice concentrate to the keg to give it a more pronounced cider flavor. I also will be adding some Amoretti's black cherry flavoring to the keg, since there's virtually no cherry flavor whatsoever. I again attribute this to adding the cherries too soon. The cherries did add a very pretty color to the cider though, it's not pink or red but more like a pale ruby color? All in all I'm pleased so far. I could keg it as-is and have a nice fruit wine on tap, but that's not what I was going for. Hopefully the apple juice concentrate doesn't sweeten it too much, and likewise the black cherry flavor doesn't add a medicinal or artificial cherry flavor. We'll know in a few days when it's ready to keg.
12/1/2023 5:28 PM 5 months ago	+30	Packaged	1.001	5 Gallons			12/1/2023 5:28 PM 5 months ago	Finally received the Amoretti Black Cherry flavoring yesterday so I was able to keg. The extra time cold crashing was probably not a bad thing so I'm not mad. I added the three containers of apple juice concentrate and eyeballed half the Amoretti container into the keg before kegging. Amoretti recommends about 7-14 ounces by weight for a 10 gallon batch and half a container is about 4 ounces by weight, which is right on par for a 5 gallon batch. Tastewise, the Amoretti was a must. There is zero distinct cherry flavor without it. But the combination of the flavoring and the apple juice concentrate seem to be yield the perfect balance of tart/sour, sweetness and flavor. We won't know for sure until it's fully carbed but I'm very excited for this batch of sour cherry cider.

Date

Days

Event

Gravity

Volume

Temp

Updated

Comment

11/1/2023 6:49 PM
6 months ago

Brew Day Complete

1.064

5 Quarts

3.7

63.5 °F

11/1/2023 6:51 PM
6 months ago

11/3/2023 4:07 PM
6 months ago

Sample

1.063

3.6

66 °F

11/13/2023 5:34 AM
6 months ago

I noticed some activity on the surface of the juice and the gravity dropped a point so I decided to take a pH reading. I probably just got a little head of myself, pH only dropped to 3.6. I took a taste and while it didn't taste any more tart, there was an ever so slight funky note. But I attribute that more to the brown sugar, specifically the molasses. I believe Sourvisiae works like Philly Sour, in that the acid production phase takes place pre-fermentation. If so, hopefully that gravity drop I noticed was just a fluke and there's still some souring action going on. I'll probably take another sample once fermentation as definitely taken off.

11/8/2023 9:08 PM
6 months ago

Sample

1.028

3.1

68 °F

11/13/2023 5:34 AM
6 months ago

Fermentation has been steady so decided to take a pH reading. pH now sits at 3.1, and the taste is considerably more tart than the last sample taken. It's hard to envision how the addition of apple juice concentrate will balance out the tartness, but I think if the pH drops below 3 then I'm going to co-pitch some S-04 to slow down the lactic acid production. From research, co-pitching a measured balance of Sourvisiae and a second yeast is a good way to limit too much acid product and also give yeast characteristics that won't be present with Sourvisiae since it's a very neutral yeast.

11/10/2023 5:31 PM
6 months ago

Sample

1.021

3.1

65 °F

11/13/2023 5:34 AM
6 months ago

Fermentation has slowed noticeably so I decided to take another taste and pH reading. pH hasn't moved, it still sits at 3.1. I considered adding some S-04 to aid with fermentation since I can't imagine it's gonna drop much more. However, despite the tartness there is still a nice amount of residual sweetness. I'd say it's the perfect blend of tart and sweetness and if the fermentation were to be done and I kegged it today, I wouldn't even add any apple juice concentrate.

Rather than adding more yeast, I decided I'm going to bump the temperature up to 70°F to see if that kickstarts some additional fermentation. I'm also thinking about adding the cherries a little earlier too, though there's already plenty of sugar in the fermenter so I don't think that alone would kick off fermentation. I'll monitor fermentation and if it continues to ferment at a consistent slow pace, I will add the cherries.

11/13/2023 5:32 AM
6 months ago

+12

Other

1.014

70 °F

11/13/2023 5:33 AM
6 months ago

Fermentation has been steadily slowing but still dropping a point or two every day. I noticed that the krausen has started to drop out a bit so I decided to go ahead and add the cherries now, while there was still some fermentation going on. I figure the sugars may ferment away, but some flavor should hopefully be extracted from the skins. I don't think I'll do another taste test until I take a final gravity and pH reading, to determine if/how much apple juice concentrate I should add to the keg before kegging.

I realized maybe 15 minutes after closing the lid up that I forgot to reconnect the airlock. Once reconnected I got a large whoosh of CO2, so there's undoubtedly still some fermentation going on. Also, regarding color, the cider does have a light red/ruby hue to it now. Once it's thoroughly mixed it'll be interesting to see the final color.

11/19/2023 12:21 AM
5 months ago

+18

Fermentation Complete

1.001

5 Gallons

3.2

69 °F

11/19/2023 12:21 AM
5 months ago

Gravity on the Tilt has been bouncing between 1.000 and .999 for the last day or so, so I decided to take a hydrometer reading. Hydrometer reading was 1.001. Even though I probably could continue to let it ride, I decided to go ahead and call this batch done. Final gravity is still lower than the predicted gravity, though I'm certain that's due to adding the cherries too early.

I took a taste test and it's tasty, but it doesn't have a definitive fruit flavor. It tastes more like a fruit wine than a cider to me. The pH actually went up a point, which I also attribute to the fruit addition. It's still very tart, but it has rounded noticeably. I still plan on adding all three cans of the apple juice concentrate to the keg to give it a more pronounced cider flavor. I also will be adding some Amoretti's black cherry flavoring to the keg, since there's virtually no cherry flavor whatsoever. I again attribute this to adding the cherries too soon. The cherries did add a very pretty color to the cider though, it's not pink or red but more like a pale ruby color?

All in all I'm pleased so far. I could keg it as-is and have a nice fruit wine on tap, but that's not what I was going for. Hopefully the apple juice concentrate doesn't sweeten it too much, and likewise the black cherry flavor doesn't add a medicinal or artificial cherry flavor. We'll know in a few days when it's ready to keg.

12/1/2023 5:28 PM
5 months ago

+30

Packaged

1.001

5 Gallons

12/1/2023 5:28 PM
5 months ago

Finally received the Amoretti Black Cherry flavoring yesterday so I was able to keg. The extra time cold crashing was probably not a bad thing so I'm not mad. I added the three containers of apple juice concentrate and eyeballed half the Amoretti container into the keg before kegging. Amoretti recommends about 7-14 ounces by weight for a 10 gallon batch and half a container is about 4 ounces by weight, which is right on par for a 5 gallon batch. Tastewise, the Amoretti was a must. There is zero distinct cherry flavor without it. But the combination of the flavoring and the apple juice concentrate seem to be yield the perfect balance of tart/sour, sweetness and flavor. We won't know for sure until it's fully carbed but I'm very excited for this batch of sour cherry cider.

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Dark n' Sweet Sour Cherry Cider