BeerSmith™ Recipe Cloud

Taste Notes

Fruity and tart. More complex than expected especially considering the portion of grocery store cider included. Flavors expected to derive from wild yeasts and bugs on apples, Kveik yeast, and inclusion of honey.

Notes

2019-09-22: Club cider press allowed me to get 2.1 G of 1.041 SG cider - not a lot. I have a container of 2 lbs 3.7 oz of local blueberry honey (weighing 2 lbs 6.1 oz including the container, container weighing 2.4 oz). We also dumped in some Mainiacal’s Juggernaut Kviek Yeast, provided by Fogtown Brewing, to mix with the yeasts and bugs in the natural cider. We pitched at the brewery but I had a temp of 70°F when I added the honey. Not knowing the max temp on Juggernaut, I set the temp at 88°F in the hot box with the big heater sleave. My thought being that the max temp is either 90°F or 110°F and I want to get a lot of the fruity Kviek character as well as the natural fermentation character. I’m excited! I wish I had the apples to get 5G. No boil (of course) and no sulfates. Kviek acts quickly so the natural yeasts and bugs will be at a dissadvantage when it comes to getting at those sugars. Hopefully the combination will dry it out to the max and leave lots of funky and tart notes. The cider used was from tart and high tanin apples. A small amount of nutrient was added at this time by dissolving in a small amount of hot water and adding it. Kviek needs lots of nutrient. 201909-25: I am adding 3 G of Nature’s Promise apple cider without preservatives to the Cyzer. It’s SG is 1.039 resulting in a new OG of 1.057. This is a pleasant but not highly flavorful store bought cider. I pored the new and cold cider (54°F) into a 5 G carboy and then racked the orignal 2 G ontop of that. The new starting temp is 70°F but it will rise back to 88°F quickly in the hot box I am sure. Adding a tablespoon of nutrient mixed in 8 oz or so of not water. 2019-09-26: Krausen right through the airlock and a fair mess. Cleaned everything and put it back in the hot box. 2019-09-18: After checking with friends I find that Jaggernaut is good up to 110°F so I am going to start pushing it upward. From the this morning’s 88°F, I am setting the new temp to 90°F. I will keep pushing it upward. See the Session data for details. 2019-10-02: The heat is now set to 100°F after gradually raising it since the 18th. Fermentation is still active but bubbling is very slow. Krausen still significant with vary large bubbles. 2019-10-05: While the temp controller read 99.1°F, the IR meter recorded 101°F on the thermometer tape (a black but shiny surface). The wort through the glass read 99°F to 100°F. Active bubbling has stopped and I am removing the heat source. Ambient room temp is 68°F for now. I am leaving it in the hot box in order that it will cool down more slowly. 2019-10-07: Carboy temp remains at 79°F in the hot box! I’m impressed but setting it free to drop outside the box where the ambient temp is presently 68°F (but where I anticipate dropping the temperature soon). The refractometer reads 1.024/5.6 which corrects to 1.001. That puts the ABV around 6.2%. Taste is fruity/apples with some harsh bite that suggests it needs a lot more time. No honey flavor remains but there is viscosity present. Maybe fusels but not bad. Some curious, maybe soapy, flavors need to go. Transferring to secondary. I wonder if the harshness is just the tannin and acidity from the especially sharp apples I used (1/5 of the batch was from the Fogtown trees and another 1/5 from other HBGB members trees but also cider apples.) 2019-10-15: The temp was lowered to 65°F recently and now has been lowered to 64°F. The carboy is at 65.8°F. No visible activity but it’s aging. Mathias agrees that it should need to age for a while. 2019-11-07: Fermentation visible as tiny bubbles accumulating on surface by the glass and by continueed bubbling. both 64°F and 66°F bright on tempurature tape on the carboy so I am calling it 65°F. I will move the carboy to the floor tomorrow which will drop the temp a degree or two. 2019-11-13: Racking to the Balcones barrel. SG reads 4.8 for 0.996. Darn thing is out-gassing and growing in liquid volume as well - instantly - as soon as the barrel was full. Strange. Taste is funky and fruity, and carbonation is obvious - which explains a bit of what is happening. I have foam in the airlock already and I pippetted a but out so I had half an inch below the stipper before I inserted it. 2020-01-04: Kegged it today into keg #9 (Torpedo). Roughly 66°F, refractometer reading of 4.8 giving an FG of 0.996. Happy with that and consistent with last reading and no additional conversion. Interesting flavor, fruity, some funk, some but no excessive acidity, dry, thin and light. I don’t realy taste any Flanders Red contribution. Good summer drink. Carbonating to 2.3 volumes via about 22 PSI. 2020-05-26: Tapped and delicious.