Author: Marshall Schott

Walking into the Totem Lake Fred Meyer back in the summer of ’94, I noticed a neat looking juice station with various unique options. I poured myself a full cup of a mango juice cocktail, my first experience ever with this delicious fruit. It wasn’t long after that I had the opportunity to eat fresh mango at a friend’s house, which solidified its standing as one of my favorite fruits.

To my palate, mangoes offer a near perfect blend of sweet, earthy, and tart with a lusciously creamy texture that’s delicious on its own as well as blended with other foods. I personally tend to associate the flavor of mango with warmer seasons, and with summer in full swing, was excited to put the frozen mango I found at Cotsco to good use in a crushable hard cider!

| Making Sparkling Mango Hard Cider |

The recipe for this hard cider is inline with all of the ciders I make and relies on ingredients that are easily (and inexpensively) acquired.

INGREDIENTS

5 gallons preservative-free apple juice

1 pack Danstar Belle Saison yeast

5 lbs frozen mango chunks (defrosted)

3 cans apple juice concentrate

0.5 tsp potassium metabisulfite (Campden)

2.5 tsp potassium sorbate

PROCESS

Truthfully, the idea to make this hard cider was sparked by finding the 5 lb bag of frozen mango chunks at Costco, so during that same shopping trip, I picked up some preservative-free Kirkland Signature apple juice.

I got to “brewing” as soon as the bags were unpacked, starting off by adding a dose of yeast nutrient to a sanitized 6 gallon PET carboy. This was my first time using yeast nutrient, as contributor Jake Huolihan suggested it might help to speed up fermentation a bit.

I dipped the top of each 1 gallon apple juice jug in sanitizer before removing the cap and pouring it into the carboy through a funnel.

I took a refractometer reading using a few drops of remaining juice and found it clocked in at the same 1.050 OG as other commercial apple juices I’ve used.

After dipping a pack of Danstar Belle Saison in sanitizer, I cut it open and poured the yeast directly onto the juice in the fermentor.

The carboy was placed next to a batch of beer in my chamber controlled to 66°F/19°C.

Fermentation took off sooner than I’m used to and fermentation was more active, something I can only chalk up to the use of yeast nutrient.

After just 5 days, airlock bubbling began to decrease, indicating it was time to add the fruit. I removed the bag of frozen mango from my freezer and let it sit in my warm garage for a few hours to defrost.

A hydrometer measurement of the not-yet-mango’d cider revealed it had attenuated down to 1.008 SG, which suggested to me it likely had another 2-4 points to go.

With the mango mostly defrosted, I used my hands to mush them up as best I could in the bag before slowly pouring them directly into the carboy. This wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped and required the use of a sanitized butter knife to help coax all the fruit through the funnel. The cider was left in the chamber and I noticed secondary fermentation the following day. I left the cider alone for 2 weeks before adding the potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite to halt fermentation activity.

After a 2 day cold crash, I racked the cider to a sanitized keg with 3 cans of apple juice concentrate.

The filled keg was placed in my cool keezer and burst carbonated at 50 psi for a full 24 hours, as I was aiming for a refreshing sparkle. The following evening, I reduced the pressure to 16 psi then left the keg alone to condition while I went on a family vacation to Maui.

Upon returning from Hawaii, I excitedly poured myself a glass of this well carbonated mango hard cider, which maintained a noticeable haze, more than other fruited ciders I’ve made.

| IMPRESSIONS |

Immediately after throwing this batch together, I searched the internet for “mango hard cider” and found way less than I expected. It seems that outside of a few commercial examples, folks aren’t really doing much with mango when it comes to cider. Of course, the neurotic in me began to worry if there was a reason my search produced such paltry results and that the $35 I spent making this cider would end up going down the drain.

Unquestionably influenced by this concern, I approached my first few samples cautiously and overly focused on any possible problems. My first time drinking more than just a sip of this concoction occurred during a hot Fresno Saturday with my buddy, Tim, who’d come over with his daughter to swim. My wife had recently purchased fairly large plastic cups for use by the pool, so I filled a couple up for Tim and me to sip on while staying cool. Immediately after taking his first sip, Tim commented, “This tastes exactly like a mimosa!”

Given his extraordinary tasting abilities, I suppose it’s not terribly surprising how spot-on Tim’s evaluation was– for whatever reason, the blend of highly attenuated apple juice fermented with Saison yeast, hit with a good dose of mango, and carbonated like soda tasted like a the beginning of a fantastic Sunday morning. And based on the reports from both of our wives the following day, it apparently packed a similar punch.

Over the weeks that followed, I shared this fizzy deliciousness with anyone who stopped by and it consistently received rave reviews. I took a growler to a neighborhood BBQ at the Jersey Bar, thinking it’d be nursed over a few hours, but it was gone within minutes with people requesting a refill. Just days before the keg kicked, I noticed homebrewer Will Watson of High Hat Brewing and his fiancée were cruising through town, so I invited them to stop by my place for some drinks. It’s possible they were just being nice, but they both seemed to enjoy it as well.

All in all, I was beyond pleased with the way this sparkling mango hard cider turned out. While pure mango flavor had to be searched for, the mimosa-like character of this easy-drinker made it supremely enjoyable. While I plan to continue experimenting with various additions when making cider, I’ll certainly be making this mango variant in the future and trust others will enjoy too!

If you have thoughts about this recipe or experience making hard cider yourself, please feel free to share in the comments section below!

Support Brülosophy In Style!

All designs are available in various colors and sizes on Amazon!

Follow Brülosophy on:

If you enjoy this stuff and feel compelled to support Brulosophy.com, please check out the Support page for details on how you can very easily do so. Thanks!

Advertisements

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Tumblr

Email



Like this: Like Loading...