> Cider > How To Make Hard Cider > How to prepare Cider Must
How to Prepare Cider Must
NOTE: Prepare all the equipment required for each step just prior to starting. Follow the instructions provided with the sanitizing chemicals you are using.
Hard Cider Recipe
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5 gallons Fresh Apple Cider or two 96 oz. Apple Wine Base
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5 Campden Tablets
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1½ teaspoon Pectic Enzyme
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1½ teaspoon Yeast Nutrient
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1½ teaspoon Acid Blend
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1 packet Yeast*
*Champagne yeast for dry cider, Cote de Blanc or beer yeast for semi-dry. You may also consider White Labs English Cider Yeast.
Prepare Must
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Crush Campden tablets (to suppress bacteria or wild yeast) and dissolve them in 1 cup of cool water. Stir in pectic enzyme to prevent haze in the finished cider, yeast nutrient to provide for complete fermentation and acid blend for balance. Add the solution to the sanitized primary fermenting pail.
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Pour in 5 gallons of fresh pressed apple cider or two 96 oz. cans of Vintner's Harvest Apple Wine Base plus enough water to make 5 gallons. Stir thoroughly, cover the pail with the lid and let the juice rest overnight at room temperature.
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Start Fermentation: See How to Ferment Cider
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Winemaking chemicals and yeast assortmentRecipes are not included.Refill pack for wine making. Contains individual bottles of acid blend, grape tannin, potassium sorbate, pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient, campden tablets, and 1 each of Cote des Blanc, Montrachet, Cuvee and Champagne wine yeast. |
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Choice Northwest varieties to maximize flavor, aroma and tartness. Apple fruit wine base contains concentrate with water which are prepared without preservatives specifically for cider, wine and mead makers. |
This is used for acid adjustment in fruit wines. Use in grape wines is acceptable but not recommended due to difficulties manipulating malic acid and the possibility of malolactic activity. Consult a good winemaking textbook for more information. One teaspoon = approximately 4 grams. Do not mix with strongly alkaline solutions (e.g. sanitizers) due to release of potentially harmful gases. Composition: 66% tartaric acid, 33% malic acid. All meads require the addition of acids. The acidity of wine and mead can be checked with our acid titration kit or pH papers. |
Use to sterilize fruit before fermentation and as a preservative during rackings and bottling. One tablet per gallon = 150 ppm total SO2. Actual free SO2 is pH dependent. Contains approximately 550 mg active potassium metabisulfite per tablet. |
Diammonium phosphate is added to must to increase yeast activity. Nitrogen compounds such as diammonium phosphate are vital to yeast metabolism. It should be added at beginning of fermentation, but could also be added towards the end of a slow or stuck fermentation. One teaspoon = approximately 4.5 g. Use 1 teaspoon per gallon for meads, fruit wines and high gravity beers. Using more than the recommended amounts gives unpleasant ammonia smell. Yeast energizer is probably a better choice in most circumstances because it contains extra vitamins and minerals to promote yeast vigor. |
This is an enzyme that destroys pectin, the substance in some fruits that causes them to gel when the wine is chilled making the wine hazy. |