September 2014
I (Huck/Tom), as official documenter and organizing nerd of alcohol processes, am making some notes on the ciders made this fall by Kyle and Ollie.
Kyle picked apples in September from trees at his mom’s place and pressed out the juice. The initial unfiltered apple juice was good, very tart, woody, green, and earthy. In late September, we took 5 gallons of the pressings and heat pasteurized it to 170 F for 10 minutes. We added a cooling coil to drop the temp quicker and then racked into a carboy. The temp was still warm that evening, so Ollie pitched the champagne yeast the following morning. No yeast starter was used on this Green Apple Cider. Initial fermentation was very slow and never vigorous, like it was on the Red Apple Cider
Original Gravity = 1.046
October 15, 2014
Champagne yeast did the trick. It worked quietly, giving some doubt as to whether it worked, but gravity dropped.
Final Gravity = 1.001
We bottled about (18) 750ml clear swing-top bottles after priming with 3/4 cup of corn sugar in about a pint of water and a cup of unfermented apple juice. I thought the sample was stellar. It was still very tart, like the unfermented apple juice but was cleaner, lacking the leafy flavors. Ollie was thinking that some additional sugars might improve the tartness, but I think once it’s carbonated and chilled, it will be unique, tart and delicious.
