Oskaarz Entry Level Cyser

[Oskaar]

Oskaar's Entry Level Cyser (Yield 6 gallons)

Ingredients:
4.5 gal Fresh Squeezed Apple Juice sans preservative or pasteurization
16 lbs Tupelo Honey (you may substitute whatever honey you are able to find in your local area)
16 grams Enoferm QA23 Yeast (see rehydration instructions below)

Prior to mixing up your must:
Remove apple juice from ice box and bring to room temperature about 4 hours prior to mixing up your must.

Mixing your must:
Put four gallons of the room temperature Apple Juice into a carboy, stainless steel vessel or food grade plastic bucket (I like buckets). Add the honey checking your gravity until you reach about 30 degrees brix/1.129 SG

Aerate well with pure oxygen/oxygenation stone, or by stirring with a lees stirrer.

Yeast:
This recipe is designed with Enoferm QA23 in mind. Enoferm QA23 has low nitrogen needs relative to other yeasts in the Lallemand family, but you'll need to supplement the must at the end of the lag phase and at the 1/3 sugar break. See here for yeast information, and see here for the Lallemand yeast reference chart and additional information on Enoferm QA23.

Yeast Rehydration:
Prepare a solution of 205 ml H20 @110 F + 24 g Go-Ferm

Add 16 g of QA23 when temperature drops to 104 F and stir like there's no tomorrow. Be sure to break up all clumps. Let stand 15 minutes, stir and add 100 ml of your must. Let stand another 10 minutes max.

Decant 1/2 gallon must into your fermentation vessel and inoculate with re-hydrated yeast solution, finish filling to 6 gallons, and aerate well.

Cover with sanitized cloth and secure in place with a large rubber band.

Check every couple of hours and watch for foaming which indicates the end of the lag phase.

Batch Management:
At end of lag phase aerate well and add a mixture of 4 grams Fermaid K + 2 grams DAP rehydrated in 50 ml distilled tepid H2O.

Aerate twice daily until 1/3 sugar break.

At 1/3 sugar break add 6 grams Fermaid K rehydrated in 50 ml distilled tepid H2O and aerate well.

At this point you want to stir as opposed to aerating your must, so a lees stirrer is an essential tool.

Airlock and put in racking rotation row continuing to stir daily to keep the yeast suspended. You may also swirl the carboy if you don't have a lees stirrer.

Be sure to check your gravity and if you're smelling sulfur or reductive odors you may add 1 gm/gal of yeast hulls, stirring slowly to suspend them throughout the fermenting must. This should help to prevent stuck fermentations, pull out any reductive aromas and give your yeast a nice source of amino nitrogen.

Note: If your LHBS does not carry the exact ingredients I've listed go to http://www.morewinemaking.com and purchase them online. In this day and age there's not a good reason not to follow the recipe's ingredients exactly as listed the first time you make this recipe. Sometimes I hear "My local home brew store doesn't carry Fermaid or QA23" my position is if you can post on this forum, you can get the ingredients listed at the site listed above, or many other sites as well. If you want to substitute ingredients the first time you make this recipe just remember my advice:

Take a chance . . . Custer did!

Try it, you'll like it!

Oskaar