I probably made this more complicated than I needed to. It started as a test. In a previous life, I was the director of import sales for Pacific Resources Inc,, the largest importer of Manuka honey from New Zealand. I wondered what Manuka would taste like in a cyser, so they gave me some to test with. Because I wasn’t sure how strong the flavors would be, I started by making four 1-gallon batches by diluting Manuka honey into apple juice; 1.3 lb., 2.6 lb., 3.9 lb., and 5.2 lb., topping off each jug with apple juice. Obviously the OGs were crazy high for the last two, but I went with it: 1.076 (18.5 Bx), 1.110 (26 Bx), 1.170 (38.25 Bx), 1.200 (43.9 Bx). I added the QA23 to each and let them ferment separately for four months yielding the following FGs: 1.000 (0 Bx), 1.004 (1 Bx), 1.054 (13.25 Bx), 1.134 (31 Bx). Upon tasting, the batches were on a continuum of astringent/bitter to very sweet, as they were still high in sugars. I played with different combinations of mixing the four, and finally settled on just racking all four of them to a 6-gallon (22.71-L) carboy along with 2 gal. (7.57 L) of unfermented apple juice and some Campden tabs. Then I popped it into the fridge for a cold crash. Once everything settled, I added some potassium sorbate and racked to a sanitized keg, where I forced carbonated it. Finally, after it was fully carbonated (a little over carbonated to compensate for bottling), I used the Last Straw to bottle the cyser for sharing!
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