A few months ago I made my first apple cider — it was good, but it needed some improvement. I had a few ideas on how to improve the recipe, so for my second batch I decided to experiment with a few factors that differentiate these batches from v1.0, specifically: the juice type, the type of sweetening/priming sugar used, and the time for conditioning.

Apple Ciders v2.0 and v2.1 prior to transferring to secondary.

Here are the recipes that I used:

Simple Apple Cider v2.0

• One Gallon of Unfiltered, Organic Apple Juice
• 1/2 Can of Frozen, Organic Apple Juice Concentrate
• 1/2 Packet of Nottingham Ale Yeast

After Fermentation

• 1/2 Can of Frozen, Non-Organic Apple Juice Concentrate for Priming and Sweetening (roughly 100g of sugar)

Process: 2 weeks primary, 4 weeks secondary, 4 weeks bottle conditioning

Simple Apple Cider v2.1

• One Gallon of Unfiltered, Organic Apple Juice
• 1/2 Can of Frozen, Organic Apple Juice Concentrate
• 1/2 Packet of Nottingham Ale Yeast

After Fermentation

• 100g (roughly 1/2 cup) of Brown Sugar, Dissolved into a Simple Syrup for Priming and Sweetening

Process: 2 weeks primary, 4 weeks secondary, 4 weeks bottle conditioning

v2.0 Notes & Stats

This cider was just okay — it was highly carbonated and tart.  In comparison to the brown sugar in v2.1, the yeast were able to convert the sugars in the concentrate much quicker, resulting in a very bubbly, champagne-like carbonation. However, the concentrate did not add much noticeable sweetness to the cider — in fact, the added vitamin C in the concentrate added a strong tartness that was not welcomed.

In addition, the conditioning time should have been shortened, since off-gassing of the bottles was required to prevent bottle bombs.

v2.1 Notes & Stats

Overall, this cider was very good! This cider was lightly carbonated and semi-sweet. A little more carbonation would have been nice, but the flavor profile was spot-on with what I was trying to achieve.

I’m sure this will be my base recipe going forward — like I said, it’s really good! For my next batch, I may attempt to tweak this recipe in an attempt to create the perfect the carbonation levels. I may also experiment with pectic enzyme to clarify the cider further.

Keep checking back for future improvements on this recipe!