Spiced Autumn Cyser
Mulled-cider warmth in a bottle you made yourself.
ABV
10% ABV
Time to bottle
~3 months
Original gravity
1.085
Final gravity
1.012
The Super Simple Cyser's cold-weather sibling: cinnamon, clove, fresh ginger, and orange zest steeped in secondary over an apple-honey base. Finished semi-sweet so the spice reads as warm rather than sharp.
What you'll need
- 1 gallon (3.8 L) preservative-free apple cider
- 1.5 lb (680 g) wildflower honey
- 2 cinnamon sticks (secondary)
- 2 whole cloves (secondary)
- 1 inch fresh ginger, sliced (secondary)
- Zest of half an orange, no pith (secondary)
- 1 packet Nottingham or Lalvin 71B-1122 yeast
- 1 tsp yeast nutrient
- Batch size
- 1 gallon (3.8 L)
- Yeast
- Nottingham ale yeast or Lalvin 71B-1122
Taste profile
What a finished batch should taste like.
Aroma
Flavor
How to make it
- 1
Dissolve honey into the cider, add nutrient, and pitch yeast; target OG around 1.085.
- 2
Ferment at 62–68°F (17–20°C) for 2–3 weeks until gravity stabilizes.
- 3
Rack to secondary onto the spices and orange zest in a sanitized mesh bag.
- 4
Taste weekly; pull the spice bag when it is one notch lighter than you want (it keeps developing).
- 5
Bulk age 4–6 more weeks until clear, stabilize, and back-sweeten to about 1.012.
- 6
Bottle around week 12.
Brewer's notes
- Whole spices only: ground spice never clears and turns the mouthfeel dusty.
- Clove is 10x stronger than you think; two is genuinely plenty for a gallon.
- Back-sweetening with honey instead of sugar keeps it tasting like mead, not spiked cider.
After bottling: 2–4 months. Spice mellows and merges, perfect if bottled in September for the holidays.
Brewing this one? Let MeadMate keep it on track.
Log gravity readings, get reminded when it's time to rack, and compare your taste notes against this profile.
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