Store bought Apple juice

I messed up. I grabbed some apple cider to add to my own juice and when I got home and read the back label it said potassium sorbate. So is it useless? I’m going to bring it back tomorrow and see if they have something else.

How much of this were you planning to add to your juice? Adding a little KSorbate won’t kill the fermentation if the concentration is low enough. The yeast will absorb into themselves any that is there, and those yeast cells will loose the ability to bud (create more yeast cells). But if the concentration is low enough, there can still be enough yeast that won’t be affected to get the fermentation done.

The biggest problem is that it is impossible to know how much KSorbate has been added to the commercial juice. So if you use it, it will be a guess. That said, you should be able to get away with adding a gallon of the store bought juice if you have at least 4 gallons of your home pressed juice.

Pitching a higher amount of yeast up front will also help.

I went out and got two gallons of sweet apple cider ( made from concentrate ) and returned the stuff with the PS. I thought I might put one of PS ones in for the flavor but decided not to. So the plan is 1/2 gallon of fresh squeezed, 2 gallons of apple juice concentrate , 1/4 of peach juice from my peaches. What do you think about throwing in some of the applesauce I made? Kind of worried about that concentrate not having enough pulp.

That is not something I would have been worried about. I add pectinase to my ciders to get them clearer.

I thought the pulp would add flavor and fermentables. I didn’t bother adding it it looked plenty cloudy when I mixed everything in. Going to use us05. I think it’s going to be good. I also found a bottle of organic apricot nectar in the pantry. The label said nectarine pulp added to Apple juice so I tossed that in also.

Over here, most cider makers mix water and sugar in with the juice to make is stretch further. So far, that is the only think I’ve seen done to apple juice that makes the cider come out with too little flavor. I’ve tried to argue with some of these guys about what’s the point of making cider if it tastes watery, but they are stuck on it.

I have no doubt that yours will have plenty of flavor, but it is hard to know if all those different components will bring it an interesting complexity or just make the flavor muddy. Like the time I tried to add spices to cider - bad idea. Let us know how your batch turns out.

I made an apple cider 5 years or so ago, added sugar to up the ABV. I won’t do that again. I could hardly taste the apple, which is why I make apple cider. I have yet to juice this years wheel barrow full…… ah, today is the day, I will be using 001 yeast and control the ferment… Sneezles61

I’ve already made two batches with my own apples which came out well. This is my first year making cider so I’m kind of experimenting. The dry cider I liked. The Graff was drinkable but not going to do it again. This concoction is just using up what I had left.

Well, with a lot of help from my wife, 2-5 gallon buckets yielded 4 gallons of juice… still just over half a wheel barrow to juice yet! Tomorrow though… Sneezles61

That’s a good yield. I think I get only a little over a gallon per 5 gallon bucket of apples. What kind of apples are you crushing and what type of press. Mine is s homsde ghetto press.

I have Mn. state fair apples…… they a quite tart so I do sweeten just a bit when fermentation is complete… just so they taste like they where picked off the tree…. Now fer the juicer part… Omega 1000. It is a very slow and can stuff about 10 apples, cut up small, into it then tear it apart and clean it. I have about 3 hours into it today… wife grumbling the whole time… but with the noise the juicer makes… well… Sneezles61

That is a good yield! I’m about the same as 'Cat, about one gallon per 5 gallon bucket, depending on the variety.

I tried a juicer. It is noisy and slow. Here is a pic of my press. I smash the apples with a 4x4 first.

I looked up how to make an apple crusher, and some one used a sink disposal grinder… So now I’m curious…. I do enjoy the sip of fresh apple juice! Sneezles61

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Now that’s a thought. it would just need a a hopper and a stand over the press. Thanks for the tip

I just snuck a bottle that has been carbing for a week and I’m very pleased with the flavor. It needs to carbonate some more but I can definitely taste the fruit. Nice