First Cider, Pitched!

Cider
1

I am the expectant papa of a 1-1/2 gal. batch of my first hard apple cider.

Recipe: 1 gal. fresh pressed juice from MN Sweet Tango apples
(no additives or preservatives)
1/2 gal. Great Value 100% apple juice
1-1/2 cups light brown sugar

Yeast: 1/2 packet Lavlin EC-1118 champagne yeast

Additions: yeast nutrient, yeast energizer,
1-1/2 crushed campden tabs
1/2 tsp. pectic enzyme

Fermentation at: 68 f. Starting OG: 1.065

How am I doing so far ?

2

Sounds great! You’re going to love it. If you want to maintain a little sweetness then be sure to rack it once per week and when it tastes right, add sorbate and Campden to slow down the yeast. Otherwise you will have a bone dry white wine kind of cider.

3

Sounds great Dave, I will do that.

I want to say thanks to you and all the others that give knowledgeable advice on the forum ! In doing research for this, I watched so much incompetent crap on YouTube, it is not funny !

Ron

4

Update: After a 10 day fermentation, I racked the cider to secondary.
I was happy to see that the cider had cleared some, recently.
I checked the hydrometer and as predicted, it was about .0996.
I did get my first taste and I was happy with it ! I just need to decide what to do with it now. Kill the yeast and back sweeten ? Or just bottle ? These bottle bomb stories scare me a bit.

5

Kill the yeast then let it rest for another week or two before bottling.

6

Are you suggesting racking once a week after pitching or after fermentation is complete?

I used to make cyser w/4 gals fresh cider and 11 lbs of honey. It was dry, highly carbonated, high ABV and great.

I would like to make a more traditional (and drinkable) cider.

Thanks

7

Rack the cider often from the date of pitching. The slower the fermentation the better IMHO. Personally I prefer not to add any sugar to my ciders, just ferment the straight juice. Now that’s traditional.

8

Thanks, that’s also what I’m going for.

9

Well, for my first time making Hard Cider, I am very happy with the results. After sitting in secondary for a few weeks, I racked it to my bottling bucket then mixed in some Diet Ginger Ale to back-sweeten and add a little carbonation. It is a little thin on apple flavor but, pretty tasty.
In future batches, I can begin to try different yeasts and other variations, using the information and knowledge from others on this forum. Thanks again to Dave and others on this forum !