I am new to cider but bought a new kit and had no brew kettle so i gave it a shot. Im asking because i added 3.3 pounds of dark lme to 5 gallons of cider last night hopeing it will help give it a boldness to help out with the dryness its going to have.This was 4 days after pitching the yeast and i did chill the lme after boil to the same temp as the cider.It had a blowout so i put the blowout tube on.First blowout i have ever heard of with cider.
Now I am wandering what this is going to turn out like and what it would be considered?Is it still cider or something else?
The recipe was as follows
5 gallons store bought apple juice (no additives not pasteurized )
2 pounds light brown sugar
1 pound white sugar
4 tlbs. of cinnamon
champagne yeast dry pitch
All that sugar had me worried about the dryness so 4 days after pitching yeas i added the 3.3 pounds of dark lme.
Sounds like a neat experiment. What you have made is indeed no longer a cider, but given that no hops were added, it’s not really fair to call it a beer, either. Hmm. I really don’t know what it’s called. I wanted to say “apple beer”, but it’s not beer. Oh well… whatever you call it, hopefully you can at least call it “delicious”!
I’m not sure that the extract will add all that much sweetness since it will mostly ferment out as well. It is an interesting idea though. I hope you report back on the end result.
Traditionally, cider is usually a pretty dry beverage (unless it is consumed before fully fermented)…Sweeter varieties can be produced by either arresting the fermentation before it is complete or by neutralizing the yeast after fermentation and backsweetening with some apple juice concentrate. I believe that most of the sweeter commercial ciders are made in that manner.
For that matter, though it’s rarely mentioned, it’s even a common practice with many commercial wines to include a post-fermentation addition of varying quantities of unfermented grape juice to balance things out…even wines that are not sold as sweet wines).
I have added a pound of DME to cider before. I also add it when I make my hard lemonade. I think it does give a tiny bit of malty flavor, especially in the lemonade.
thanks for the feedback fellas.Oh and i do understand that lme will not sweeten the batch i was attempting to add something to combat the dryness.I am new to this but my understanding of it is that lme has fermentibles in it but its not all fermentible.More so with dark lme so something malty should be left behind.Cider is not my favorite so im willing to experiment with it.
What you’re talking about is called graf or graff, which is a fictional beverage described by Stephen King in the Dark Tower series. Some folks have developed a recipe for this drink, which is described as a strong dark beer made from apples.
Check out the Brewing TV Episode for more information and a couple recipes. I totally plan to brew one this fall, when apple pressing time comes!
I’ve done this on a whim with a different approach. I took some second runnings from an AG belgian, boiled it down some to get the S.G. up. Made a 50/50 mix with some fresh pressed A.J. I used wyeast Abbey 2 since I already had a starter going. It was…unique, just wished I used a different yeast. I’ve never heard the actual source of the term ‘graf’, very interesting.
i took a taste of this 2day and was very surprised. it is not as dry as i thought it would be but is not finished yet either.if it doesnt dry out mutch more than it is now i will be pleased with the outcome.about to rack this1 into secondary.
Im adding this edit.
I have to correct myself on this post sorry for even posting it.I had a few b4 tasting it the first time.It tastes like dirty sock water lol.I may have to pinch my nose and drink this experiment while waiting for next brew to be ready.
