Since the early summer glory days of appllogging, apple prices have been on the rise.
While I would love to keep experimenting with additional variations in raw materials, I can't bring myself to pay about 3 times the price for the same type of apples. I may have to put the raw cider fermentation project on hold until I can get a hold of some cheaper apples.
If you or someone you know has an orchard, backyard apple tree, or if a cousin's step-brother's friend-in-law has the hook up, please give a shout out. I'll be happy to share the end product.
After fermenting the big batch I spoke about before, I wound up with some relatively dry, but quite appley flavored cider. In anticipation of a user base that preferred a sweeter cider, I back sweetened the batch with some more raw cider pressed from the beloved appleratus. This cut the alcohol content by volume down by about 60% while bumping the sweetness through the roof.
I took the 2.5 gallon batch of dry cider and bumped it up to a total of 4 gallons. Each 1 gallon jug had a different amount of dry cider, and was filled to the 1 gallon mark with raw (unfermented) cider. I would estimate the original ABV around 8 % so the resulting ciders were quite sweet in comparison.
These were received with mixed results. The driest of the jugs was practically guzzled down, while the sweetest ones were a bit too sweet and not alcoholic enough.
I learned good lesson. People want a full bodied, sweet cider in winter, and a lighter, higher alcohol cider in the summer. Skip the cloves and cinnamon until you're wearing a coat. Also, I picked up a few corny kegs and started experiments with forced carbonation and brewing beers from barley extracts. Maybe the beer discussion needs to be put on hold until later.
I had about 6 pounds apples left in the garage, so I figured I would do another batch. This batch had about 6 pounds of Klicker strawberries added to the mash. The resulting cider had a wonderful aroma, a beautifully clear, red color and a sweet-tart taste that sent people's eyes rolling.
I believe this is the point of no return. I found the perfect cider. It was just hard enough to feel the effects quickly, while light enough to drink for an extended period of time.
It was also the point at which I had no more apples to grind, and switched to a sort of extract brewing for cider.
I read a few blog and forum posts online and found a few people mentioning their hard cider started at the grocery store. I had to take a look.
The first batch was only a 2 gallon batch; I used 6 cans of winco brand apple juice concentrate and nottingham yeast. After one week in primary, 4 days in secondary, I backsweetened with 3/4 gallon of previous batch from raw cider / pressed apples. This was force carbed in < 6 hours using the shake method, and party people drank it in under an hour.
I would say the first experiment was a huge success. The cider was very dry straight out of primary, mellowed and got a little clearer a few days, and needs just a little sweetener to be a little more accessible. This is the perfect base for flavored ciders, I believe.
I then tried a 5 gallon batch - 9 cans winco brand AJ, 6 cans tree top brand, 4" ginger root, notty yeast, 1 tsp irish moss. Backsweetened with 4 cans of winco / treetop brand juice.
This turned out very well, and is currently on tap at the RJ. I'm not the biggest fan of the ginger; it took off during secondary and it's way too much for my taste now.
I think the future will hold much more of this concentrate cider; it's very easy to make and it turns out far better than I expected. I'm sure a hybrid concentrate / raw cider batch will be absolutely phenomenal.
