Spanish (asturian) Cider

[tumbling tom]

I have decided to get into home brew. Got a list of things to try and wanna get things cracking in the next month or 2.

One thing I fancy is Spnaish Cider. Baring in mind I may need to actually use carton juice, I was wondering....

Has anyone ever attempted or know how to make this?

The Cider Press: Spanish Sidra | Serious Eats: Drinks

I am pretty sure its still.

I appreciate only making small quantities we would be unable to copy it exactly but is there a similar recipe.

[ohbeary]

Sidra

Tom, you may not be too late for some late cider apples from local orchards, but assuming that you are; may I suggest 5lt cloudy apple juice(as many different brands as poss for diversity), wild yeast is not really going to be possible with carton/bottle juice but Champagne yeast, EC 1118 would be good as it settles out well and is good for sparkling (Poma Aurea style)[£8-9 a bottle!], put 4lts cloudy apple juice into a 5lt Plastic water bottle add 5g champagne yeast, keep warm (18-20C) until ferment settles down, top up with final litre of juice, ferment out, rack/siphon off from sediment, stabilise with 1tsp pot sorbate and 1 campden tablet if you are in a hurry, otherwise leave it alone for 6 months or so after racking then rack/siphon again and loosely seal bottles(1lt tonic bottles are the safest, do not use glass! as secondary fermentation can make "glass grenades").
I hope that is some help.
PS, apple juice is around 11% sugar which should give an OG of 1035-1040 giving an ABV of 4-5%

[Vince G]

Must say I have never produced a palatable cider from carton juice using champagne yeast - that was my first step into trying to make cider too. Champagne yeast draws out every single remnant of sweetness and you are left with super-dry tart cider fit to sprinkle on your chips.

I've found the only way to make anything half decent is to get yourself some fresh apples (as ohbeary says, as many varieties as you can find), juice them, it will start fermenting naturally, then stick somewhere cool over the winter to mature. When the spring comes and it gets above 15°C, you may well get a brief second fermentation, then it's ready to quaff. You can rack off if you choose to get a lot of the muck out, but it will still be a bit cloudy. Mind you if you want it perfectly clear, go and buy some Strongbow!

So next autumn, round up as many apples of as many varieties as you can get, find a friendly local fruit farm who will juice them for you (one near me charged me £2 a box and I had 6 boxes which made me 30 litres!), and then off you go.

No additives are actually necessary, but last time I added precipitated chalk to moderate acidity as I obtained a lot of Bramleys last year, plus a bit of wine tannin for that "furry" mouthfeel (unless you're lucky enough to find a good supply of crab apples). Never use campden tablets - might as well add a slug of bleach!

Samurailord from Oldham on here (his name's actually Andy!) does a lot of brewing too so there are plenty of us on here if ever you need any assistance. Just supping a pint of my elderflower brew ( needs a dash of lemonade as it's a bit dry this year) but at 6.8% it hits the spot!

[Samurailord]

Thanks for the plug, Vince - much appreciated

Carton juice cider can be very nice - I haven't used champagne yeast though, just nornal all-purpose white wine yeast and that has worked very well. I ususally make batches of 25L at a time.

If you want a slightly sparkling cider, never use a campden tablet or sodium metabisulphate solution as this kills off the yeast, and you will need some for the bottle conditioning.

The trick to having a brew that is not bone dry is to let the juice and yeast ferment away until it has finished, syphon off into a clean container and add 1tsp of sugar and 1tsp of artificial sweetetener per 500ml. The sugar is there to re-activate the yeast which will have gone dormant after eating all the sugar available in the juice, the artificial sweetener will provide a little lift from bone dry as the yeast won't touch it.

Mix well, and bottle. I have used plastic 1L bottles, glass 250ml bottles and almost everythiong inbetween and never had a bottle bomb (or not for the past 25 years, anyway) as by mixing the sugar into the full batch it gets evenly distributed so you don't get any bottles with too much sugar which can lead to far too much CO2 production inside the bottle.

If you do use glass, make sure that you only use bottles that have previously held carbonated liquids - the 550ml bottles that the current 'premium' ciders come in are ideal - and close them with a 'crown cap' - never a screwtop. (Screwtops are fine for plastic bottles, though)

Once bottled, leave your brew to stand somewhere warm-ish for about three weeks (this allows the yeast to eat the bottling sugars and gas the brew) then put it somewhere cold for a week or so.

Any remaining sediment will drop to the bottom (so make sure the bottles are standing upright) and you will have a clear brew.

When pouiring I find it best to pour into a jug or glass that is large enough to hold the entire contents so you can pour in a slow, steady motion. This will avoid disturbing the yeast from the bottom of the bottle and give you a sparkling, crisp, clear drink.

If you do get the sediment mixed up when pour, don't worry too much. It won't affect the flavour and the only downside is your drink will look like a scrumpy.

Andy

[ohbeary]

I would rather add glycerine (nonfermentable) to improve mouthfeel and sweetness.

[Samurailord]

I would rather add glycerine (nonfermentable) to improve mouthfeel and sweetness.

I use 1 tsp glycerine with wines made from carton juices to get a good mouthfeel but not for sweetness as but I like the raw, dry flavour I get from juice cider so I must admit that I don't back-sweeten mine at all.

Andy