Fully fermented cider

[andor]

Is fully fermented cider without back sweetening ever something people enjoy. I would need to bottle prime to carb. Ive read through some threads on here and hbt and found work arounds but it's more work than its worth to me. I was thinking of fermenting a cider out then adding a portion of wort with honey malt or something to add some sweetness that way. Sure that probably has a name, thoughts?

[porkchop]

I love bone dry, highly carbed cider. If you're expecting angry orchard, you'll be disappointed. But a nice dry cider is almost like a champagne. The longer you can age it, the better it gets. But yes, it can be quite tart, like a Berliner weisse. You said in the other thread that you liked gose? You'd probably dig it.

[brew_cat]

Many people including myself like their cider dry. That's why I've tried to make my own. A lot of people on this forum like it sweet. To each his own. Sounds like you would like dry. Go for of, you can always sweeten it later

[jimrmaine]

andor-what you're thinking of has been done- it's called 'Graf'. Hybrid between beer and cider. After doing a bone dry sparkling cider 3 years ago(which did get much more drinkable after 6 months), I have done 5G of Graf the past couple years. It retains a little sweetness from the beer, is drinkable much sooner, and I think retains more apple character.
If you do a search on this forum you'll find some prior info, but the guru of Graf is Brandon O. on the HBT forum,cider section.
If you are interested, I can post my recipe.

[andor]

I love bone dry, highly carbed cider. If you're expecting angry orchard, you'll be disappointed. But a nice dry cider is almost like a champagne. The longer you can age it, the better it gets. But yes, it can be quite tart, like a Berliner weisse. You said in the other thread that you liked gose? You'd probably dig it.

Awesome I'm excidered. I've had a few sips of various ciders and have been disappointed.

andor-what you're thinking of has been done- it's called 'Graf'. Hybrid between beer and cider. After doing a bone dry sparkling cider 3 years ago(which did get much more drinkable after 6 months), I have done 5G of Graf the past couple years. It retains a little sweetness from the beer, is drinkable much sooner, and I think retains more apple character.
If you do a search on this forum you'll find some prior info, but the guru of Graf is Brandon O. on the HBT forum,cider section.
If you are interested, I can post my recipe.

Yeah I saw the Brandon 0 thread. For sure I'd like to see your recipe. Not 100% sure what I'm going to do. I'm thinking doing each batch separate blending some and trying some straight

[jimrmaine]

Gunslinger Cranberry Graf:
Previous 2 years have been All grain:
2.5G strike water
1lb 2-row
1lb dark munich
1lb C-60
1lb honey malt
1/2 lb red wheat malt
1/2 lb flaked oats
1/2 lb C-120
Mash at 155 for 60 minutes or until conversion complete.
sparge with 1.25G to get total of 3G into BK.
1oz Saaz FWH
60 minute boil, added 1 lb honey late boil.
Add to 4G cider for total amount in fermenter of 6.5G.
After 4 days, or when the krausen falls, add 1 lb honey and 1 lb cranberries. I think the cranberries really add something.
Calculated OG= 1.063(calculated because of the additional honey during fermentation)
1st year I fermented with a slurry of WY 1728 with an OG of 1.060 and FG of 1.012 for an ABV of 6.3%. Last year used 2 packets of Muntons dry yeast with an OG was 1.063 and FG 1.014 for ABV of 6.4%.
2 week fermentation. Visible fermentation was usually finished in 7-10 days even with the additional honey. Then racked to carboy for cold conditioning for additional 3 weeks. Bottled with 1 can FAJ and cooler pasteurized when ready(4-6 days). Result= beautiful clear orange-red color, lightly carbonated, slightly sweet with a little tartness, and decent apple flavor notes.
This year I'm going to try to do an extract version:
1lb honey malt
1lb C-60
1/2 lb C-120
Steep that along with the FWH Saaz.
Add 1lb honey and 3 lb munich LME late boil. Everything else the same except I'm going to use a WY 1007 slurry. Plan to do it this weekend.

[limetwist]

I love bone dry, highly carbed cider. If you're expecting angry orchard, you'll be disappointed. But a nice dry cider is almost like a champagne. The longer you can age it, the better it gets. But yes, it can be quite tart, like a Berliner weisse. You said in the other thread that you liked gose? You'd probably dig it.

I was wondering how you carb the cider if you age it a long time (6 mos, a year?). Do you need to add a bit more yeast? Or do you carb it and then let it age? (or do you have a fancy schmancy kegging setup?) :mrgreen:

[porkchop]

I'd never mistreat my cider by putting it in a keg!! :mrgreen:

Since I ferment it dry, I like to add some rehydrated champagne yeast to the bottling bucket. Pasteur champagne is cheap and ensures quick carbonation. Has worked great so far! The worst part is watching a perfectly clear cider get all murky again from yeast, but it clears just fine in the bottle.

[rebuiltcellars]

I'd never mistreat my cider by putting it in a keg!! :mrgreen:

Since I ferment it dry, I like to add some rehydrated champagne yeast to the bottling bucket. Pasteur champagne is cheap and ensures quick carbonation. Has worked great so far! The worst part is watching a perfectly clear cider get all murky again from yeast, but it clears just fine in the bottle.

You could avoid the cider getting murky by putting it in a keg. :mrgreen:
Actually, if you like it dry, then the only advantage to the keg is the removal of all sediment if you bottle from the keg. The downside being that there isn't any yeast present to scavenge the oxygen from the headspace in the bottle.

[porkchop]

Touché! :lol:

[the_professor]

My favorite cider is the traditional stuff... made mostly with tart apples, slowly fermented to near total dryness (but a very little bit of residual sweetness), aged for at least 6 months to a year, and non-carbonated. I like to enhance mine up to wine strength (ie., 12-13%abv) with extra juice concentrate, brewer's invert sugar, or (on one or two occasions in the past), honey.