Honey crisp should grow up there. I used to visit my Uncle up in Quebec and he grew apples commercially. He grew Macs and Cortland also if I remember. I think Macs would be tricky though. I think you need to look at the ones that rippen later in the season because they would bloom later in the spring. If you grow dwarfs you could always cover them during a frost and grow some others.
I’ve got one Honeycrisp… They are the size of softballs and way to good to juice… I’ve been eating one a day for over a month now… Sneezles61
So I pasteurized 5 gals of fresh cider and pitched two packs of CdB on 10/31. I forgot to take an OG so I have no idea where i started but today the gravity is 1.012 without waiting for it to degas. It tastes good. Tart but still enough sweetness to make it drinkable. Hazy and maybe a slight taste of yeast… Not concnered really about clearing it or stopping fermentation since it’s going into a keg.
I think I’ll let it ride another week or so then keg it with the plan being to carbonate it lightly and serve around Thanksgiving. This is my first cider. I tried to kep it simple. Am I missing anything?
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It should be pretty good by Thanksgiving. If you want to clear it right up and get the yeast out, if you add gelatin it will be crystal clear within a few days. Optional.
Cheers.
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I’m not a big proponent of gelatin in my beer but I may use it in this cider. I’m not so concerned about clarity but some of the people interested in trying this are not crazy about “dry” or “acoholic” drinks so I’m thinking keep it on the sweeter side.
Tasted the cider tonight. Very clear, bright yellow, fresh apple aroma, nice apple taste, a little tart. I’m thinking of adding some kind of fruit puree to sweeten it a little. Any and all suggestions welcome.
Could you pour up a glass and add some sweetener to appease your taste buds? Wait a minute… would your tummy turn into a fermentation chamber? Sneezles61
I’d leave it alone. I guess you pasteurized it…
I’m thinking anything you add with fermentable sugar isn’t going to give you the effect you’re after. I think folks use xylol and lactose but not sure. @dmtaylo2 can give you advice on this one. I didn’t backsweeten any of the stuff I made so I got nuthin’…
If he’s kegging it, he can add fruit along with potassium sorbate to stop fermentation and stabilize. Then don’t need to worry as much about refermentation or using xylitol as with bottling where any added sugars can cause bottle bombs. Kegging eliminates some problems that others have with bottling.
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