Homebrew - Grafter
The Grafter idea was born from me wanting an easy cider experiment. I have been using Simply Apple for a few batches now and to mix things up I thought why not just dump it straight on top of the Graff V2 yeast cake. The thought was I would get some new flavors from the left over Graff to change the cider up a bit.
Ingredients
- 2.7 gallons of "Simply Apple" (5.5 bottles)
- The yeast cake from Graff V2
Method
I racked Graff that I had been brewing into a bottling bucket and then dumped the apple juice right into the carboy. Gave the whole thing a big shake and fitted the blow off tube. About as easy as you can get.
Brew: 26 Aug 2012, OG 1.039 Bottle: 07 Oct 2012 (42), FG 1.000, ABV 5.12% Ready: 06 Jul 2013 (314) Summary: Primary 42 days, Condition 314 days
After trying the Graff (which wasn't ready yet) I wanted to compare it to the Grafter. Since it was brewed on the Graff yeast cake I assumed it would pick up some of those flavors. It ended up being very dry (always what I want) and had a definite hint of the sharp taste of the Graff. It gave the cider a unique character that makes it stand out from the other Simple Apple ones I have made. The Graff taste was much more subtle than the Graff, making it smoother and easier to drink. It reminded me a little of the Apricot Cider. This has gotten me wondering what would happen if I dumped apple juice onto a 'normal' lager yeast cake. Perhaps using the cheap tannin and acid trick.
Brew
Bottle
