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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

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.

Buy a big box of apples and a juice extractor.

Did it once and it was a show piece drop.

Cheers,

Greg.

peel some apples and throw in there.

works a treat

Simon

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

thanks sleonard and oliver your feed back was muchly appreciated.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No worries,

Say Hi to Mick and the Boys for me

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

Dogger

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.

Inspirational Undercover1!
Happy Days

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

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.