Pomegranate-Apple Cider

My first "traditional" apple cider is coming along so nicely I decided to go ahead and make another batch. This time though I decided to add a twist: Pomegranate juice. The juice of a pomegranate is expensive (mine was approx. $20 for a gallon) but fortunately it is very potent and a 1:4 ratio tasted just about right.

Otherwise I plan to follow pretty much the same procedure as the first time around.





Ingredients
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4 gallons of pasteurized organic unfiltered apple juice
1 gallon pomegranate juice
2 tsp Pectic Enzyme
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient (keep it low to encourage slow fermentation)
WLP775 White labs apple cider yeast (No starter).

4.5 grams Sorbistat K @ 4 weeks to cause yeast to drop out (1 gram/gallon)
.9 grams of Potassium Metabisulfite @ 4 weeks to ensure yeast sterility (.2 grams/gallon)
A pinch of citric acid for taste @ kegging
12 ounces corn sugar for a little extra sweetness @ kegging

Schedule
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~ Ferment in Primary for 2 weeks
~ Ferment in Secondary for 2 weeks
~ Add Sorbistat K in a bit of warm water (can filter through a coffee filter to ensure no particles get through), Add Potassium Meabisulfite in warm water as well
~ 1 week later, flush a keg with c02 and rack the cider off the remaining yeast into the keg. Add sanitized (boiled) corn sugar and a pinch of citric acid, and pressurize the keg to carbonate
~ 1 week later, bottle cider

5/6/2012 - Sanitized a carboy, added all juice, pectic enzyme, yeast nutrient and yeast. Gave it approx 30 seconds of pure O2, then added airlock and left to carbonate. OG was 1.052. The taste is a pleasant blend of sweet fresh apple and slightly tart tangy pomegranate. Looking forward to this one.

Note to self: O2 made a lot of foam that spilled over the top. Next time use the 6.5 gallon carboy instead of the 5

6/17/2012 - Sour! The cider has taken on a distinctive wild sour funk. It's not terrible, and still somewhat drinkable, but definitely not the flavor profile I was expecting. Clearly there has been some contamination by wild micro-organisms. I expect if I continue this batch the sourness will only increase and so I'm going to bid it farewell and consider this a learning experience. The apple juice had been pasteurized so the contamination suspect is likely the pomegranate juice. Next time I will likely do my own pasteurization of this blend before beginning fermentation.