Sweet Cyser

My wife asked me for cider. I don't like cider, generally, because it always just tastes sweet, to me, with nothing else going on. I do like melomel, which is sweet with . My cider experiments have been iffy in the past, in part because I did almost no research into the process. Wine is much easier. I saw EdWort's Apfelwein recipe, and wondered why I would add corn sugar without any flavor to just boost alcohol content without enhancing the flavor profile. So, I thought, why not use honey?

And... lo and behold, people have been doing exactly that for a thousand years! They call it CYSER and it seems like it would be supremely delicious.

My wife with her sweet tooth, I thought would like something to finish sweeter. I have used bread yeast in the past with honey and enjoyed the results. (I am actually poking around to figure out a good beer to brew with this yeast, too, when the weather turns cool.)

Anyway, here's how it goes:

I took a gallon jug of organic apple cider, a 3 pound jar of honey, and old world, plain bread yeast. (No active rise, no quick rise: just YEAST as ingredient.)

First, honey is hard to stir into a tight mouth jug. Instead, I poured off one quart of cider and brought it to a low boil, cooking and simmering for about twenty minutes to reduce the volume. Then, I stirred in the honey to dissolve without boiling, but not all of it. I poured while the pour in was easy and set the last 1/2 a pound aside for coffee and tea.

I poured a second quart out of the jar, and used a funnel to pour the warm honey liquid into the jug. I topped off with the extra quart I had poured out, and added the yeast. Thus, I capped with an airlock and set aside in a dark corner beside the fridge. On top of that, I put some foil loosely over the top and placed the jug in a baking tray to catch the overflow and keep it running along the side. It isn't overflowing quite as badly as some would think. In my experience, Bread Yeast is very similar to Nottingham. They overflow about the same. They have a similar flavor profile. And, after a couple days of primary fermentation, the risk of overflow will fade out.

Soon, I will cover it in a towel and place it in the closet once I don't think it will overflow!

I think maybe 3 months, minimum. Probably six or nine.

No gravity reading, alas. My tool busted and has yet to be replaced!