Quick & Easy Malted Cider

Boil 1 gallon (3.79 L) wort tailings (see intro for explanation) for at least 15 minutes. If wort is less than 1.050 OG, collect a greater volume and boil until target gravity is reached (or add unhopped malt extract or other sweeteners. Just don’t add hops!). Pour apple juice into a sanitized 6.5-gallon (24.6 L) fermenter, splashing to aerate. Rack wort onto juice, make sure temperature equalizes at about 68° F (20° C), and pitch yeast. Ferment out completely, and then wait until yeast begins to fall out and the cider starts to clarify. Rack off lees into a sanitized keg, backsweeten to taste, force carbonate to desired CO₂ level, and chill to serving temperatures of no higher than 40° F (4° C). Note: the final volume at kegging is 5 gallons (18.9 L). It is not recommended to bottle this recipe if doing the backsweetening process. Cream of Tartar For added balance, a modest addition of acidity really helps bring a nice zip to cider made from table apples rather than true cider apples. Most table varieties have high sugar content and only a bit of acidity, with almost no astringency. Fortunately, adding acidity is as easy as blending in one or two teaspoons of cream of tartar, a common baking ingredient. It’s tartaric acid, made from purified grape skin residues, and thus has an astringent character as well. I usually go with two teaspoons (10 mL) boiled in about 1 fluid oz. (30 mL) of water in the microwave to sanitize, and then dissolved into the cider before backsweetening. Backsweetening & Other Sweeteners Personally, I like to maximize the apple component of cider. Apple juice concentrate is my favorite way to backsweeten. Yes, it is highly fermentable, so the fermented, blended cider must be refrigerated, preferably after kegging and force carbonation, but the extra apple flavor and aroma is very appealing if you get the balance right. For a 5-gallon (18.9 L) volume at a finishing gravity of 1.004 to 1.006 (1 to 1.5° P), I blend in just enough frozen apple juice concentrate to bring the gravity up about one point Plato to 1.012 (2.5° P) and then taste. This ends up being about two 12-ounce (355 mL) cans of concentrate, but I always have extra on hand. Remember if you choose to carbonate your cider, that will affect the perception of dryness too. Learn more about backsweetening cider.