hey
hopefully over the next couple of days, i will be putting down an apple cider
i read a recipe somewhere (sorry to whoever's it was for me not being able to acknowledge you for it), but it involved about 4L of apple n pear juice, raspberry cordial (i think it was the 90% stuff), 2kg of sugar, and then the extract kit and of course, the water, and i have decided to give it a try as i was after making a cider which was quite sweet so that the ladies who come over but dont enjoy beer (what a shame) could still indulge in an alcoholic beverage
i was also keen to get it at a reasonably highish alcohol content, just so that i can take a few longnecks of it somewhere and have a good night, without having to take a whole bagful of them (if, god forbid, i dont feel like beer for some reason).
here are just a couple of questions i had on the subject;
1. what brand do people recommend for apple ciders?
2. should i invest in a premium yeast for to achieve this higher alcohol? if so, what sort of yeast should i be looking for? would also using a packet of dry enzymes help this?
3. will that be enough sugar (i was planning on just using white sugar as ive read that it helps boost the whole cider taste) to achieve a reasonable sweetness? should i use brown sugar, raw sugar, or some other sugar like lactose/dextrose instead?
4. is it worth boiling sum grated granny smith apples with the rest of the primary ingredients to enhance the apple flavour?
any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
cheers, sponge