How bout applejack?

[richtee]

season's coming up here... any recipes/advice?

 

[jocosa]

Talking about hard cider? I'll be making a batch once it cools off a bit more here in the South.

Here's what I usually do for cider - 5 gallon batch.

4 gallons of apple cider/juice - just make sure there are no preservatives in it (potassium 'anything' in the ingredients list).

If you're getting stuff locally squeezed... I'm a bit envious. :) It'll be cloudy, but that's fine!

I add 4-6 12 oz. cans of apple concentrate and then top off with water to 5 gallons. Mix well before pitching yeast.

You can use a dry ale yeast, Nottingham or Munton's is good... this time I'm going to use Wyeast Cider yeast. You my see some recipes that suggest champagne yeast - it will give you a beverage higher in alcohol, but it'll end up really, like really dry. If that's what you like, cool - but I like my ciders in the traditional alcohol range, anything above 8% and all you have is a dry apple wine.

My past batches of cider have ended up at 5-7% alcohol and slightly dry, but aged for a few months and it's a great cold weather drink. Mull it with some spices.... yum.

 

[shellbellc]

If you're getting stuff locally squeezed... I'm a bit envious. :) It'll be cloudy, but that's fine!quote]

I probably have 5 or 6 orchards around me that I could pick from, heck, when we were in elementary school every fall you took a trip to the local orchard for a hay ride and to watch how they make fresh apple cider!

Actually, I was thinking about making my own apple butter this year, maybe I'll try this hard cider, but I have to delve into the recipes first to see if it's something that I have to get alot of equipment for and all that...

 

[bbq bubba]

4 parts apple cider, 1 part Jack Daniel's...........apple jack!!

 

[richtee]

I think that's cheating...but WTF...it's alot easier and faster! Heh...

 

[placebo]

Don't get me wrong I like Jack but, I prefer it without the cider, with one key thought in mind, "everything in moderation".

 

[crewdawg52]

Saudi receipe..... (when I was over there)

1 gallon apple cider - (minus) 16 oz. (just use one of those 16 oz plastic cups)

16 oz (same cup) sugar
1 pkg brewers yeast

Shake/stir until sugar disolved

Place unpowdered/lubed latex glove over bottle and secure with rubber band. Place in closet.
After 4-5 days (or glove about ready to explode), replace glove with new one.

After 2 days, remove glove, filter by pouring "golden liquid" through Mr Coffee filter.

Enjoy!

 

[redbrinkman1955]

I live in Indiana close to the Amish so they squeeze their apple cider fresh been making this since I was a kid. I gallon glass jug put in cider a cube of yeast then a small box of raisins and a cup of sugar then put a big ballon over the jug put it in the dark three to four days keep an eye on the ballon so it doesnt over inflate.
Good Luckand Good smoking
Redbrinkman1955

 

[-devil-]

being a fan of a drink called 'strongbow' but its hard to find around here ...

i am interested in this .. but i got a question or two ... what is the glove or balloon for? ... just to give it room to expand without leaving it open to the room air? ...

 

[white cloud]

Yea the baloon or glove just prevent the brew from becoming oxigenated you can get a rubber stopper and an airlock at alot of hardware and homebrew stores. the air lock fits in the hole of the stopper and you partialy fill the air lock with water and as the gasses escape it sort of bubbles and lets the gas out but not the air in.

 

[-devil-]

ahhh ok, i have seen one of those before but didnt know what they did either ...

hmmm time to think about giving this a try ...

 

[ihsfab]

The last time I seen and had Applejack it was pot distilled from the hard cider and alot stronger than 5 or 6%. Good stuff.

 

[navionjim]

Having been there and done that, some FYI.

There is a difference between hard cider and "Applejack". First you have to make cider to make applejack and others have already posted on how to ferment apple juice, so I'll skip that part. Once you have that you simply leave it out in the cold to freeze. Once frozen you break up the ice with a pick and allow the "freeze concentrated alcohol" to run off and that is true "Applejack". (water will freeze, alcohols won't)

A word of warning here, unlike most distillation process which are illegal in the USA without permits, "freeze concentration" is quite legal but at the same time also concentrates the fissile alcohols in the cider. It is powerful stuff and can reach 30% or 60 proof, but it also packs a powerful hangover as all the toxins are concentrated along with the ethanol.

Traditionally in days of old, a keg of cider was allowed to freeze and a scalding hot poker was used to melt it's way to the center of the ice before the keg was inverted and the Applejack allowed to drain out into a tankard. This process was referred to as "Piercing the frozen heart" which lead to many literary and poetic reference. So you can wax poetic while getting snockered and feel quite romantic about it! I remember doing just that several times, I also remember the accompanying headache afterwords.

 

[richtee]

Soo... Methanols and associated esthers go with it. unlike in a distallation where their higher boiling point precludes them. Interesting...

NOT that I'd consider distillation, mind you.

 

[white cloud]

WHATS ALITTLE DISTILATION AMOGNST FRIENDS

 

[richtee]

Huh Riley Center.Know of it. Know any Flynns from there, or a dude called
"Crow"? Mike I think...been awhile

 

[ihsfab]

I never could handle the pop skull from the freezer way. My brain is messed up enough without feeling like crap.