homebrewandbeer.com

never tried a cider before, i need some more girly drinks.

i want something pretty strong, around 6-7% if possible, and pretty darn sweet.

taking all suggestions.

have a look at these hatchet juggla, there really good for making sparkling ciders 2-3ltrs at a time and only take 2-5 days to make, very tasty

http://www.oztops.com.au/

-Phill

ps. there good for yeast starters as well, it's what i orginally bought them for but now mostly use them for ciders/wines

can i buy them from any hbs?? they sound awesome...

i got mine through Grumpys i'm sure there are other places you will be able to get them, ring around, there pretty good

-Phill[/url]

I've only done the one cider, but it turned out sweeter than I expected so it might be what you're after Hatchet.

It was a pretty basic recipe:

Brigalow Cider Kit
1kg white sugar
1 litre apple juice (no preservatives)
4 peeled and cored apples in sterilised stocking.

Made it up to 18 litres, Alc 7.5%

First taste was a couple of days ago after 4 weeks in the bottle. A very nice drop although a bit too sweet for our liking.

sounds perfect thanks for the tip

try adding a litre of pear jucie as well. From what I remember this is meant to make a sweeter cider with a better taste than just adding lactose

Also quite new to homebrew. Made a Brigalow apple cider using just kit a few months back, tasted very watery and some a bit flat. Then tried a recipe from local HB shop which was with Blackrock apple cider including 3 l apple juice. It was quite similar result to 1st batch. Now I have a pile of watery cider that wife doesn't like. Any suggestion or is it down the drain?

ok, i just got back from the HBS. based on posts i'v read here, i picked out some random ingredients. I have 1 black rock cider can, 500g dex, 400g lactose, 500 g ldm. going to the supermarket for apples/apple juice. does this sound ok? just boil fermentables and the can in water, peel & quarter apples, add juice and water to fill to 23litres?? will 400g lactose be too sweet? (i'm looking for something like sparkling apple juice...)

Sounds ok.. I did mine with

500g LDME
4.4 L Apple juice
250g Lactose from memory

And its not sweet.. A little dry and not overly appley..

Nexy time I would use some quatered apples and maybe only fill to 21-22L and use less LDME. Maybe only 300g

Don't you need to chuck the fruit into the boil, or at least put them in your fermenter and add the hot stuff before topping up with the cold stuff to make sure the apples are sterile?