Seal and purge the airspace in the keg, then put it under pressure to begin carbonation.After 3 days, backsweeten with 1-2 containers of thawed frozen apple juice concentrate (to taste) and 2 containers of the Goya Guava Nectar.Purge the headspace in the keg a couple of times with Co2 and cold crash. You need to wait the 24 hours so that you have some sulfite in the cider before you add the sorbates or you will end up with some off flavors. After 24 hours, add 2.5 tsp of Potassium Sorbate.Purge the headspace from the keg with Co2 and cold crash. Add 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp of Potassium Metabisilfite to the keg.Rack from carboy into cleaned/sanitized keg.Once fermentation has stopped and you have taken a gravity reading to make sure it’s done, you’re ready to keg the cider (if you don’t keg, jump down a few paragraphs to the bottling instructions).
Fermentation will be rapid for a few days and then slow for a couple of weeks. Pitch the yeast according to the instructions on the packet.Add the 4 gallons of pasteurized apple cider or juice and 2 containers of the guava nectar to a sanitized carboy.I have had great luck with Nottingham leaving an apple flavor behind after fermenting completely dry, but champagne yeast works as well). 1 Packet Nottingham Ale Yeast (or other yeast you prefer.2 12oz Containers Apple Juice Concentrate (Frozen) (For Backsweetening).4 Containers Goya Guava Nectar (2 in fermentation and 2 for backsweetening).4 Gallons Pasteurized Apple Cider or Juice (Make sure there are no preservatives in it! ).So, before you run out to buy an orchard and an apple press, try this simple, cheap, and delicious Guava Apple Cider recipe: Ingredients Guava Cider RecipeĪs I mentioned in another article, my personal experiments with homebrewed cider have been a bit hit and miss, so while we always recommend you experimenting and trying new things, it may be worth dialing in the flavors you like first. Generally, any juice marked as pasteurized is safe, and juice with vitamin C or ascorbic acid listed in the ingredients is fine as well. Check the ingredients label for any preservatives, especially potassium sulfate or or sodium benzoate, which are often added as stabilizers. Any preservatives added to the juice will kill the yeast and prevent fermentation.
The juice you buy must be 100% preservative free apple juice. One of the most important things to note when making a simple, cheap cider from store-bought apple juice is preservatives.
If you’re bottling, don’t give up yet, though! We will give you some options for how to bottle this cider below. This approach requires as little specialized equipment as possible, however I’ll admit up front that I find homebrewed cider, especially sweetened and carbonated cider, to be much easier to keg as opposed to bottling. For the purpose of this article, we discuss the easiest method of cider making for beginners. There are many non-beer options available for homebrewing ( try this hard lemonade recipe!), but you can’t do much better than a good homebrewed hard cider.Ĭider making, like homebrewing in general, can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. In fact, I’m in the process of building a second larger keezer for my beer so that I can keep 3 kegs of non-beer options on tap at home in my smaller one.
Sometimes it’s also just nice to have a glass of something a little different. It’s a great way to add some variety to your lineup and it allows people who don’t drink beer to be included. As I have mentioned before, I’m a big believer in keeping a non-beer homebrew option on tap. I’m going to admit something that may surprise you: I’m not ALWAYS in the mood for a beer.