CIDER

[mentalmayham]

Thinking of making a cider have found a couple recipes on here and the net (by the way this is the best forum on the net) never made one before.
This is what I am planning on doing;
Block Rock cider
5lt apple juice
500gms honey
500gms to 1kg dextrose or LME
Topped up to 23lt.
Any suggestions on if this sounds ok or should I alter it somehow

thanks Kevin

[undercover1]

Mr. Mental,
I am losing my voice telling people this- buy 6 3l bottles of juice instead of the kit, add some wine yeast, dex & LME, leave to ferment for 3-4 weeks then bottle with a carb drop or whatever primer as usual. Drink after a month or so in the bottle.
Costs a bit more, but the results are so so much better.

[gregb]

Buy a big box of apples and a juice extractor.

Did it once and it was a show piece drop.

Cheers,

Greg.

[sleonard]

peel some apples and throw in there.

works a treat

Simon

[Oliver]

mentalmayham,

Your recipe sounds fine. Make sure the apple juice doesn't have any preservative in it, though, as otherwise it won't ferment!

Oliver

[mentalmayham]

thanks sleonard and oliver your feed back was muchly appreciated.

[bobbioli]

I was thinking of brewing a cider i could enjoy at xmas.I wonder if there are other ingr. for flavor you could toss in eg. blackberry cider.
Oliver excuse my ignorance but is ascorbic acid a preservative (vit. C)
Otherwise apple juice 100% pure/ unsweetened also pasteurized

[Dogger Dan]

Bobioli

It prvents oxidation (the reasons why apple cores turn brown). If the acidity is to high (low pH) it wont ferment also

I like some cinammin in mine

Dogger

[bobbioli]

So you would or would not use apple juice with ascorbic acid, Dogger old boy. thnx for all the help

[bobbioli]

As I read that over again, sorry dogger it wasn't quite worded right.

[Dogger Dan]

Bobioli

There is some inherent ascorbic acid in the juice but I would ferment it first and then add about 1 tsp of ascorbic acid to prevent the oxidation. It should carbonate OK.


I guess that means no, I wouldn't add it.

Dogger

[bobbioli]

Hello again dogger , the ingr. on the apple juice say acsorbic acid is in there,I was just wondering if it would affect anything

[Dogger Dan]

bobbioli

Sorry man, I keep falling off this site.

Likely they are using the ascorbic acid as anti-oxident just like I was mentioning you might want to do. It should be OK, give it a go. I would add a bit of yeast neutrient to just to make sure you have all the right stuff.

I try and use fresh pasturized apple juice with no extras. Normally I can get from the local orchards aroumd here

Dogger

[bobbioli]

Thanx ya ole dog . guess I was being kind of cheepie. I'll splurge on the good stuff

[Dogger Dan]

No worries,

Say Hi to Mick and the Boys for me

I am off to see the Memorial Cup Champs, London Knights tonight

Dogger

[undercover1]

Don't know how I forget to mention this...put on a batch of cider (well, technically cider perry) on Friday.
9 x 3.2l bottles of apple juice
4 x 3l bottles of apple & pear juice
500g honey
1kg raw sugar
couple of cinnamon sticks, some cloves, a cracked nutmeg, handful of sultanas

Boiled the honey sugar & spices for about 10 minutes in 2l of water- no skimmable foam, took out half the spices & tipped the rest straight into the 50l fermenter, AKA "Big Black"
Added about a tablespoon of rehydrated champagne yeast, a big pinch of yeast nutrient, the sultanas & the juice of 3 lemons.
OG was 1060- the juice was 10% sugar, so that's almost 4kg, plus the honey & raw sugar really pumped it up.
All doing fine, guessing it will need a good month or so to brew down.
At 40l volume, I make that 106 x 375ml bottles for a grand total of $45.00.

[silkworm]

Inspirational Undercover1!
Happy Days

[Wassa]

Just outta curiosity guys are these scrumpy style ciders or are they sparkling style ciders and how do you get the dry style sparkling ciders????

Thanks,

Wassa

[undercover1]

Hmm.
Scrumpy is traditionally a strong cloudy cider, made from pressed unpeeled apples. Mine are made from juice out of a plastic bottle, unfortunately.
They are sparkling- once brewed the bottles are primed as for beer, though I usually leave a few unprimed to drink as warm mulled cider.
So yes, dry & sparkling is how mine come out, unless I add lactose. The wine yeast ferments them right out, and in fact I have recently drunk some that has been in the bottle almost a year- getting right on the verge of being too dry, and becoming sour.
Again , I cannot recommend all juice cider enough. Try a batch made with a can of Black Rock, or whatever, with or without a bit of apple added, then try a batch made with juice & yeast. No comparison.