Toffee Apple Cider Recipe (UPDATED!)

[bigcat]

Cheers for the reply RW, time to experiment this weekend then!!.

 

[Ashh]

Im gona try just making a normal Turbo cider, then after 1st racking adding a vanilla pod, and some toffee syrup flavouring like for coffees, here http://www.a1coffee.co.uk/gbu0-prodshow/ENGTOFFEESYRUP.html

Or added some butter scotch syrup instead of the honey, after 1st racking, so as to preserve more of the flavour, u cant use toffee sauce as it has cream in it

heres a link: http://www.tesco.com/groceries/Product/ ... =268380795

Gona try this tomorrow!

 

[bigcat]

Looks very interesting Ashh, let us know how you get on.

 

[mattyboy]

This is what mine looks like after 7 days. It's still going like mad and the smell is sweet. Il looking forward to the teast test :)

 

[bigcat]

Looking good Matty - what quantities did you use? and what sort of SG did you get

 

[simonkidder]

I made this recently without using the pears. It's been conditioning for 3 weeks ish and I've gota say it's not that good. Maybe it was the cheap honey or the lack of pears. Next time I'll do it propper

 

[anthonyUK]

It's been conditioning for 3 weeks ish

In no expert on TC but from what I've read that is your problem right there.
I have made up a batch for the autumn so it would have had about 9 months conditioning.

 

[pachedpancake]

This recipe is looking good done it about two weeks ago, have moved it into another demi john and has comepleatly stop fermenting.
I think i will give it another week then bottle. and leave maybe till xmas for a full mature cider to drink next summer. Must say its smelling very near to toffee apple or a st heliers.

 

[mattyboy]

Iv just done the same :) but I dout I can leave it that long lol.

 

[RobWalker]

Here's how it looks after 1 year maturing

It's intense. I only yielded 7 bottles, so it's gonna be a keeper for special occasions!

 

[Archtronics]

Whats it taste like Rob?

 

[RobWalker]

It's a lot like a cider/sherry/toffee combo. It's strong and tart, a decent alcoholic bite, pleasing toffee aftertaste, vintage sort of cider taste. not sure how to explain it otherwise. won't be cracking one open until christmas now, it's my special occasion brew...but it is very good.

should be even better carbonated, as this was from bulk ageing :) just remember it's about 6 units a pint, so treat it like 3 beers hahah.

 

[Gayle]

Just about to bottle this, I forgot to top-up the apple juice at any point so it might be a bit strong... just a few questions, can I use apple juice as a primer in the bottles instead of sugar? If I use say, 40-50ml in each pint bottle (or work it out for the 4 litres and batch prime, while adding the vanilla extract) would that be enough to carbonate and sweeten without expolding the bottles? Or is it better to use sugar? and might brown or demerara sugar give a nicer flavour? Hmmm, maybe I should experiment!

 

[leadhead]

L**L did`nt have any Pear halves. So all they did cheaply was Peaches in Syrup. I thought why not?
So brewed up 5 gallons. Having liquidised the peaches in their syrup and heated them to drive off, hopefuly, some of the tinning additives.
BUT when it came to heating the honey I am wondering if I wimped out at the small bubble stage, just before what I imagined, was going to be boiling? If anyone who has done this proceedure would you be kind enough to elaborate on the process. I would be grateful. Really not sure(as a previous post) if I went far enough with the heat treatment.

 

[Gayle]

I boiled the honey until it was quite dark, it did look a bit burnt and didn't smell great, but tastes fine in the cider (which I hope will improve with more ageing. Next time I might try burning sugar to the caramel/toffee stage, instead of honey.

 

[leadhead]

Aha! I thought boiling was a no-no?
Could anyone clarify this for me please?

 

[RobWalker]

boiling the apple juice activates pectins which is no good, unless you want scrumpy.

boiling honey is fine :thumb: most sugars mix better is they are at least heated.

 

[GREBO75]

I started a batch of this yesterday, a few pointers so others can learn from my mistakes :rofl: :-

Firstly probably best to use plain honey. I used some thyme honey that absolutely reeked of thyme when heating it, and not in a good way. Might end up ok but if I make another batch then I'll be using plain runny honey.

In the recipe he says to not touch the honey when heating it. I took that as meaning to just leave it well alone, not stir it or anything. I now think he meant to not get any on yerself cos it's gonna burn like napalm. Cos i didn't stir it i ended up with some huge extremely solid lumps of thyme flavor toffee like goo. Ended up reheating it with some of the AJ for a while to get it to dissolve.

Lastly - use a bigger saucepan than you think. I used one where the honey took up no more than 1/6th the volume of the pan and I ended up having to turn the heat right down as it was trying to escape and cover the cooker in froth. Whatever size pan you think you need - put it down and grab a bigger one :grin: .

 

[Cheese Sarny]

Kind of a newb question, but when boiling the honey should I mix it in a little bit of water first or just straight in the pan? Will it make any difference?

Thanks

 

[RobWalker]

Straight in the pan dude, it will go liquidy and then caramelize :)