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Source: John (The Coyote) Wyllie
Ingredients:
- 4 gal fresh pressed cider (from an orchard)
- 5 lbs honey (used local clover/alfalfa)
- 1 tsp acid blend
- Handful chopped raisins, or 1/4 tsp grape tannin
- 1 tbsp yeast nutrient
- Irish moss (or other clarifier)
- 2 tsp pectic enzyme
- 4 campden tablets (sodium metabisulfite)
- Epernay yeast (or champagne)
- Pour the cider into a sterilized 5-gallon carboy. Allow it to splash to aerate.
- Treat overnight with campden tablets. Crush and predissolve.
- Add the raisins to the carboy.
- Next day heat the honey in < 1 gallon of water (160 deg 1 hr, or boil if you choose).
- Add all other ingredients to the syrup and then add to the fermenter.
- Use some of the treated juice to hydrate the yeast, and pitch the starter after it bubbles.
- After a few weeks, rack to a secondary.
- Add more finings if needed (isinglass is good) and top up with juice or honey syrup.
- I've generally liked to let cysers, and ciders, age for a pretty long time. Most have been in fermenters for at least four months.
- You can bottle still, or sparkling. Use 1/2 to 3/4 cup corn sugar and champagne bottles for a nice sparkle. These have taken a long time to gain a good bubble level. They have been stored cold (55). But well worth the wait!
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A potent and pleasing fruity wine. Once mature, a clear, bubbly champagne-like mead. My dad really enjoyed this one, and he usually drinks nicer wines. I was flattered. He kept grabbing the bottle at dinner!
- OG: ~1.070 Will vary depending on source of cider.
- FG: 1.000.
If you rack several times you can eliminate most of the sediment, and only have a fine layer in the bottle. I prefer to keep the priming down, because they seem to continue fermenting slowly for a long time. I've had a batch carbonate without priming! So much for a still wine! You could stabilize and sweeten to taste if you choose. Bottling with teas is a nice addition. I've used cinnamon, but I'd bet ginger, or a tad of clove would be nice.
Specifics: