There are always posts on here looking for a way to do a sweet cider, which is a challenge because it will typically ferment dry, and you need the yeast working to carb it.
If you do a search for Graff, you will find recipes for a cider-beer, which is a great solution. I made a batch last fall and got a lot of compliments on it. Similar to a woodchuck, but the recipe can easily be tweaked. It is basically a really light extract recipe with cider substituted in for most some of the water.
Here’s what I did:
3# Pilsen malt extract
1# Caramel 60L grain
pinch of summit hops (what I had on hand)
3-4 gallons of fresh apple cider
1.5 - 2 gallon boil. Steep grains for 15-20 minutes or until water gets to 160. Bring to boil and add LME and small amount of hops for slight bitterness. Typical 60 minute boil. When cooled, topped of to 5 gallons with the cider instead of water. I had a SG of 1.048, and a FG of 1.008. The malt and grains don’t ferment too dry. Problem solved.
I used the Wyeast Neobrittania, but you could probably play around with the yeast, specialty grains, and hops to get exactly what you are looking for. Ferment for a few weeks and bottle with priming sugar.
