Hard Cider

Whimsy House Hard Cider Recipe

I have to say, first of all, that I got all the information that I needed to create my first cider from this forum. A mixture of tips and methods were gleaned and I made an experimental cider that won 2 first prizes in a competition. Here is the simple and easy recipe.

3 gal. pasturized apple juice (grocery store generic brand)
4 12 oz. cans of Mott's apple concentrate
2 12 oz. cans of Mott's cherry concentrate

O.G.= 1.060
Pour juice on top of ale yeast cake left from last brew. I had used Munton's dry yeast for the brew preceding the cider.

Fermentation should start quickly.
4 days later activity had slowed and gravity read 1.004 (Wow!)

I racked it to secondary and used Polyclar. It was clear in a few days and I bottled it after a week.

At bottling I primed with one 12 oz. can of cherry concentrate.

I sweetened Half of it with about a 1/4 cup of Splenda. The other half I bottled "dry".

After one week carbonation was still very low.

It took 4 weeks to begin to taste like the final product. In the end the sweetened one was the best tasting. The carbonation balanced out the sweetness.

The title "Whimsy House" relates to the fact that it was an afterthought and it was simple and quick. My wife likes it as much as I do, and that's more than I can say about the beers I make. So, on that front it's definitely a success.