(FINAL!) Update to the cranberry cider.
Welp! This is it!
It’s a fairly low abv (4.6%), perfect for my fundamentalist family.
It’s quite tart, but no back-sweetening needed. This is definitely better suited for a wine with wine yeast, I used cider yeast so if you’re considering a long term project (at least a year) this might be up your alley.
Blueberry wine, ya'll.
It has a refreshingly crisp finish to the palate. All sugars were fermented out (added quite a bit), perfectly dry and acidic with a very low note of sweetness. Total ferm time was 2 weeks using less than 1g of cider yeast, so ABV was on the low end around 10.
8/10 overall.
Next month, cranberry.
Basically make sure you sterilize everything you use. I made a pineapple cider that went bad due to using an unsterile spoon during the fermentation period.
Nope. I use 100% single fruit juices. I sample each batch, if the juice is too tart or doesn’t have enough sugar to produce enough alcohol then I add some simple syrup made with freshly boiled water and let cool before pouring it in, then I add the yeast.
Pretty simple, after a thorough sterilization I use three full 32oz bottles of the juice brand you see there. Added a gram of cider yeast, placed the lid on and the glove acts as a makeshift pressure gauge that would balloon a bit at the height of fermentation around two-three days in depending on the sugar content. Squeezing the CO2 out and seeing how many seconds it takes to fill again should give you an idea of the fermentation rate. The yeast is a special formulation, Cider House Select Premium, works really well as I can have cider in as little as 4 days, up to 7 if the sugar content is higher. I keep it in a dark, temperate, dry place and use a sterilized electric drink pump from Amazon for bottling.
Considering that in the US, food and drug safety laws were passed in the early 1900s because of often toxic additives used as fillers to help stretch production. An investigator for the proposed bill who happened to be a bit of a whiskey connoisseur was presented with two whiskeys, one unmolested and the other cut with a substance assumed to contain arsenic. He was sure that the one he chose was the true whiskey but when asked if he’d bet his life on it, the drink was pushed aside and the bill was green lighted.
BEANS! It’s for dessert!
You’re not imagining things. This is the Goya bastard child of a staple dessert in the Dominican Republic commonly enjoyed during Holy Week and Easter.