First Hard Cider Attempt

[Chairrock]

Update...
Batch 1 Lalvin EC 1118
BG--1.058 Today--.995
Clearing Nicely and taste good!Racked once.

Batch 2 Wyeast Dry Mead
BG--1.068 Today-- .995
Tastes better,improving, was very clear until I racked 2nd time and sucked up a bunch of lees! Will it clear again? I think so.

Batch 3 White Labs Eng.Cider
BG1.062 Today--.995
Tastes good , still a bit cloudy after racking 2nd time

I racked into 5 gallon carboys from 6 gallon to get it off the lees.Less headspace.

What a difference 10 days makes with taste and less harshness... ordered blank labels today and beer bottle collection is growing!
Any advice on labels?

We bought a pack of Notingham Ale yeast and we have a Lalvin 1116 on hand, so we are going to drop the 2- 6 gallon carboys off at the cider mill to be filled when he presses again, depending on demand. He will call us when they are filled.

Cheers!!!

 

[Chairrock]

It would be much easier to post comments if you could post samples for us to taste. Sadly that tech is yet to be developed...

Maatmes

So true but we are working on it!

 

[WVMJack]

You should ask them what apples are in the blend, I imagine they are crushing stored apples now in NY, but if they braved the cold and went out to pick the last of the goldrushes off of the trees you need to take a couple of more carboys over there. What a great way to get your cider, drop off and get filled, do you have a 30 gallon blue plastic barrel yet WVMJ

 

[loveofrose]

Update...
Batch 1 Lalvin EC 1118
BG--1.058 Today--.995
Clearing Nicely and taste good!Racked once.

Batch 2 Wyeast Dry Mead
BG--1.068 Today-- .995
Tastes better,improving, was very clear until I racked 2nd time and sucked up a bunch of lees! Will it clear again? I think so.

Batch 3 White Labs Eng.Cider
BG1.062 Today--.995
Tastes good , still a bit cloudy after racking 2nd time

I racked into 5 gallon carboys from 6 gallon to get it off the lees.Less headspace.

What a difference 10 days makes with taste and less harshness... ordered blank labels today and beer bottle collection is growing!
Any advice on labels?

We bought a pack of Notingham Ale yeast and we have a Lalvin 1116 on hand, so we are going to drop the 2- 6 gallon carboys off at the cider mill to be filled when he presses again, depending on demand. He will call us when they are filled.

Cheers!!!

I generally order labels from grogtag.com. The labels are vinyl so the don't leave adhesive on the bottle (easy to peel off too) and they are reusable even after sitting on ice all day!

They make labels you can write on or you can use the graphic template to make something impressive looking.

 

[Chairrock]

Jack,
You are too funny! An enabler you are! Just what I need is a blue 55 gallon drum!

Why not a 275 gallon tote!!!!

They had a blend of Empire,Crispen, and MacIntosh yesterday. We are going to wait til the next pressing....The next blend is unknown but we are hopeful he will try to give us a good one, what ever that is!!!!

 

[Chairrock]

I generally order labels from grogtag.com. The labels are vinyl so the don't leave adhesive on the bottle (easy to peel off too) and they are reusable even after sitting on ice all day!

They make labels you can write on or you can use the graphic template to make something impressive looking.

Thanks I'll check them out, we ordered plain white paper ones from onlinelabels.com but the vinyl looks interesting for next time..Thanks.

 

[Chairrock]

Update...
Batch 1 Lalvin EC 1118
BG--1.058 Today--.995
Clearing Nicely and taste good!Racked once.

Batch 2 Wyeast Dry Mead
BG--1.068 Today-- .995
Tastes better,improving, was very clear until I racked 2nd time and sucked up a bunch of lees! Will it clear again? I think so.

Batch 3 White Labs Eng.Cider
BG1.062 Today--.995
Tastes good , still a bit cloudy after racking 2nd time

I racked into 5 gallon carboys from 6 gallon to get it off the lees.Less headspace.

What a difference 10 days makes with taste and less harshness... ordered blank labels today and beer bottle collection is growing!
Any advice on labels?

We bought a pack of Notingham Ale yeast and we have a Lalvin 1116 on hand, so we are going to drop the 2- 6 gallon carboys off at the cider mill to be filled when he presses again, depending on demand. He will call us when they are filled.

Cheers!!!

So with the above info how long should I let it sit until I bottle?

We plan on back sweeting with a non -fermentable sugar or Zylatol to taste in bucket just before/during bottling?

We want this to be a live cyser, is it correct to add 1/2 cup of sugar(or less) to each gallon before bottling?

Which sugar should I use? Concentrated frozen apple juice,honey, cane, corn, brown?

Thanks! All are clearing nicely again...

 

[Chairrock]

You should ask them what apples are in the blend, I imagine they are crushing stored apples now in NY, but if they braved the cold and went out to pick the last of the goldrushes off of the trees you need to take a couple of more carboys over there. What a great way to get your cider, drop off and get filled, do you have a 30 gallon blue plastic barrel yet WVMJ

As far as the "ice" apples I WISH!!!! We have" wild apple" trees on our property,no idea what they are, but that is a whole nother hobby....if the deer do not get them...

 

[Chairrock]

Wow! Before I pass out on the floor....We bottled batch #1 this afternoon. We added Xzlitol,2T. to 5 1/2 gallons. We added 1 frozen can of apple juice concentrate for carbonation. 45- 12 oz. bottles. Just finished drinking the dregs....without Xylitol or concentrate..This is a good thing! Yeast is tasty! The SG before bottling was 1.004. I do not think I made bottle bombs?