Basement cider

"Surprisingly drinkable!"

Notes pertaining to my ongoing efforts to brew gallon-sized batches of cider using recycled and low-cost materials.

Working recipe

Materials:

Method:

  1. Make sure you have everything, especially 9 bottles before starting a batch.
  2. Mix sanitizing solution in plastic tote using package instructions (1 Tbsp + 1 gallon of warm water using extra recycled jug).
  3. Transfer ~1 qt of the solution into a clean 1 gallon plastic jug, and shake vigorously, then dump the solution back into the tote.
  4. Transfer juice into the plastic jug.
  5. Add yeast to the jug.
  6. Cap with a baloon and store somewhere not too cold for a few days.
  7. Vent the baloon as needed, and replace with airlock after the messy part of fermentation is over.
  8. Monitor the bubble rate: when the rate falls below 5 bub / ~120s, it's time to bottle (after 7 to 10 days).
  9. Prepare more cleaning solution as before.
  10. Rinse bottles out with warm water, then sanitize, then dry (each step for all 9 bottles in series)
  11. Secure siphon tube end using a chop stick going ~1 cm past the end.
  12. Put bottles on the floor on a couple of paper towels, and secure the siphon tube.
  13. Don't forget to put an empty pint glass on the floor to capture the excess cider.
  14. Start siphoning process, and use flashlight to monitor fluid level. Stop filling leaving ~1" of head space.
  15. Put bottles back on the counter, and sanitize caps leaving them on a paper towel to dry
  16. Add 3/4 tsp of plain white sugar to each bottle.
  17. Put down a paper towel to cushion bottles while capping.
  18. Cap the bottles, clean them off, add labels, and clean up.
  19. Write down notes.

Summary

Batch Duration Yeast End bubble rate Contents
Jeb 9 days GV yeast less than 1 bub / 90 s GV apple juice, Doe creek apple peel, Martinellis cider
Zeke 13 days Nottingham ale yeast 5 bub / 273 s GV apple juice, Doe creek apple peel, Martinellis cider
Abe 9 days GV yeast 5 bub / 115 s GV apple juice, Doe creek apple peel, Martinellis cider
Buz 11 days Nottingham+Lalvin wine yeast 5 bub / 147 s Frozen GV apple juice concentrate
Cyrus 8 days Lalvin wine yeast 5 bub / 193 s Frozen Kroger grape juice concentrate
Daniel aborted GV yeast n.a. Kroger Apple cider
Elias 7 days Lalvin wine yeast 5 bub / 148 s GV apple juice
Finnian unfinished Saf instant -- Kroger apple juice

231010 Jeb: Very funky nose/taste, dry, mild flavor, low acidity.

231016 Zeke: Very boozy and dry, nice apple flavor. Carbonation did not occur at all after bottling.

231107 Abe: Excellent flavor, dry.

231116 Buz: Weird unpleasant bready/grainy flavor after two weeks of bottle conditioning, but this seems to have disappeared after a few weeks to a month later.

231127 Cyrus: Tastes like a dry cider made with grapes. Very tart, high acidity, clean taste otherwise.

231216 Daniel: Failed experiment: the preservatives in the cider did in fact prevent the yeast from fermenting at a very high rate, so I dumped it out.

231225 Elias: t.b.d.

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