#3 Trader Joe's Apple Cider

With the excitement of starting my first batch of cider, I quickly I wanted to start a second batch. I believe at this point, I had found out that my first batch, made with juice from a Fuji apple, may not turn out very well. If you read my second post, I found out that Fuji apples are considered a dessert apple and dessert apples don't always handle fermentation well. So I went out in search of another apple juice. I first looked in Whole Foods and all I could find was the same Fuji juice I had used on batch #1. My next store I went into was Trader Joe's. They had their own pressed apple cider. I quickly grabbed a gallon off the shelf and took home to start my second batch.

As with my first batch, I added nothing to the juice with the exception of the yeast. The yeast I was using was Premium House Select Cider Yeast. My understanding was that this yeast's optimum temperature for brewing hovered around 65-70 degrees F. It was the perfect selection being that I didn't have a room colder than 70 degrees. In fact the coldest room in the house is the half bath we have downstairs. It is easily cooler than any room in the house. We keep our house around 72-74 degrees. I estimate that the downstairs bath hovers around 68-72 depending on the weather outside. So yes, my half bath is also my fermentation room.

My Trader Joe's batch sat in it's primary fermentation for about two weeks before I racked it into secondary. I was able to get my first test taste and my specific gravity reading at this point. It's taste was sub-par. It was a bit tart, bitter, and watery.

Specific gravity readings measure the bouyance of the fluid and can give you a estimated alcohol by volume reading (% ABV). The initial reading before primary was right at 1.052 which gave me a target of around 6.5% ABV. After primary, the reading was at .998 and gave me an estimated 6.7% ABV. This is a normal ABV for a juice bought out of store and with no added sugar.

After waiting for another 2 weeks while it sat in secondary fermentation, I bottled it. I added 1/2 teaspoon of dextrose (priming sugar/white powder sugar) to each bottle to naturally carbonate. In addition, I split my batch into nine 12oz bottles. The first 3 bottles received no Splenda, the next three received 1/8 teaspoon, and the last 3 received 2/8 teaspoon. Artificial sweetener is used to back sweeten the cider as the yeast will eat up any actual sugars.

I boxed the bottles up to store and wait another 2 weeks. During this phase the yeast is eating up the dextrose and producing carbon dioxide and alcohol. Since the bottles are bottle capped and no gas can leave the bottle, it gets infused into the liquid and carbonates the cider.

At the end of the 2 weeks, I cracked one open to test carbonation levels and to taste. I was disappointed when I popped the top and barely heard any fizz. Upon tasting, it was gross. It had a slight tart and was very watery tasting. I couldn't even drink it. I dumped it down the drain. I still have the other 8 bottles and I am hoping with a little more time carbonation will increase and taste will improve some, however, I don't have high hopes.

I currently have 2 other batches going with added ingredients. My hopes are these will turn out better. More about those future posts to come.

#2 - The first batch - Fuji

After my epiphany I quickly started doing my homework on how to make hard cider. I started where every other average person would start, google. I typed in "how to make hard cider"and clicked enter. The third link I looked up was a website dedicated to just that, how to make hard cider (howtomakehardcider.com). It had a lot information and I took my time going through it all, studying it, and taking notes. It told me the difference between cleaning and sanitizing, between fresh pressed juice and store bought, and even gave amazon links to all the equipment I needed. It took me a few days to comb through all I needed to know.

I dropped about $60 on my first bit of equipment. It wasn't all that I needed, but it was enough to get me started. My first order included 2 one gallon glass jugs, bungs, airlocks, sanatizer, and yeast. My next step was to find juice with out preservatives. I didn't want to go down the Mott's apple juice route. I wanted something alittle higher quality. My first find was pressed Fuji apple juice. I was excited. Fuji was one my favorite apples to eat. What I wished I had known was that Fuji is considered a dessert apple and juices from these apples don't always hold well. None the less, I cleaned and sanatized my equipment, filled my jug with the Fuji apple juice, and pitched my yeast (pitching the yeast refers to just pouring the yeast into the jug without shaking or stirring it into the juice).

It took it about 24 hours before it began to bubble. Granted it took me a day to discover my bung was not staying sealed into the jug. Which meant no carbon dioxide produced from the yeast eating the sugar was getting pushed through the air lock. It was escaping through the side. The problem was the sanitizer I was using. It is considered to be one of the best sanitizer for brewers, wine and cider makers. However, one of its draw backs is that it makes rubber bungs very slippery. The alternative sanitizer turned out to be vodka. I bought a small bottle of cheap vodka and soaked a new bung. After 5 minutes, I pulled it out of the vodka and dried it with a fresh paper towel. I then took the paper towel and dried the inner rim of my gallon jug. The bung now fit perfectly and firmly. No slippage.

My Fuji juice sat in primary for about 2 weeks. At this point I had bought some tubing, an auto siphon, and a bottle filler wand. After sanitizing all the equipment and my second gallon jug, I racked the juice. It had almost fermented to completely dry (very little carbonation and almost no sugar left for the yeast to eat). I was able to sample a bit. I was expecting something very bitter and dry. What I got was a little tart, a little bitter, and a little smooth. I was presently surprised that it wasn't that bad.

My cider sat in secondary for another two weeks before I bottled it. I have heard many people who have bottled and carbonated their cider naturally can sometime end up with cider bombs. Where people add too much priming sugar or leave the bottle at room temperature for too long and allows to much carbon dioxide to build up in the bottle. The bottle ends up exploding. I have never witnessed something like that so I wasn't sure how big the explosion would be, but I didn't want to chance turning my hard cider into a bomb. Instead of putting the recommended amount of priming sugar (1/2 teaspoon of priming sugar), I put 3/8 of a teaspoon. I filled the bottles and then scooped the sugar into the bottles using a 1/8 teaspoon. Immediately after the sugar touched the juice, it bubbled and overflowed. I am sure a lot of the sugar in the first scoop came fizzing over as well. I allowed the fizz to settle and placed another 2/8 teaspoon into the bottles and then sealed them with a bottlecap.

After another 2 weeks, I popped one open to check carbonation levels. It barely had any fizz. A little bummed, I capped the bottle and set it back into its container. A week later I checked another one. Same result. Very little carbonation. Bummed, again I placed a fresh cap back on the bottle. After yet another week, I popped another cap. This time is had a little bit more carbonation. I decided to cap it and place it the fridge so I could drink it later.

That evening, I popped my first bottle of cider for drinking. It was okay. It was tart and bitter with a little carbonation. It lacked flavor. One thing is did have going for it was it's aroma. As soon as you popped the cap, your nose was quickly filled with fruity aromas. It's color at this point had changed from it's pale cloudy color to darker and still cloudy apple juice color. Something you find in a bottle of mott's apple juice. I understood my first batch was probably going to turn out mediocre at best, but I was still disappointed.

My lesson learned here. Don't buy juice from a dessert apple unless you are planning to blend it with different types of apples.