trying out hard apple cider

chris2286

well i got my brew kit today and 1 thing for sure is i wanted to do something easy and hard apple cider seems so flaming easy as i could get the ingredients from my local supermarket so heres what i done so far

1. sanitized everything including 5 litre plastic bottle and cap, hydrometer, test jar, syphon, funnel, teaspoon and airlock

2. gathered all ingredients including 4litres of sqeez apple juice, 5 grams bakers yeast, 1 cup of each brown and white sugar, and an 8th teaspoon of a yeast nutrient.

3. pored apple juice into test jar hydrometer reading was 0.050 roughly

4. pored the 4 litres of apple juice into the 5 litre bottle and added the yeast nutrient and both cups of sugar and gave a good shake.

5. took another hydro reading at 0.075roughly that would make my cider from 9 - 11% vol i hope ha ha.

6. added my yeast gave it another shake and capped my airlock and placed it in my utility wrapped up in a towel as i think light is supposed to be bad for cider not sure just waiting for the fermenting to start which could be as long as tomorrow.

ILL POST BACK ON THIS THREAD TOMORROW TO LET YAWL KNOW HOW ITS DOIN.

And please tell me if you have done this before or something similar let me know how you got on

Quackles

Ooh enjoy!

I've done this.. I used a wine yeast and stewed raisins as the nutrient, though. Also used a cloudy apple juice. I found the result quite bitter (I'd be a bulmers drinker, used to super sweet!), but I mixed in some lemonade and it was gorgeous. Plus as a I got a couple of bottles in, I got to like the straight taste.

I've also tried a cranberry/apple mix, but didn't like it as much. Thinking of trying a parsnip wine next! The good thing about brewing in the gallon bottle is that it's not a huge investment if it tastes like the inside of an ass!

chris2286

Quackles wrote: »

I mixed in some lemonade and it was gorgeous.

did you add that after the fermenting stage? and how much vol was at the end of the fermenting? and i also bought lactose to sweating my wine can that be used aswell on cider?

avfc1874

chris2286 wrote: »

well i got my brew kit today and 1 thing for sure is i wanted to do something easy and hard apple cider seems so flaming easy as i could get the ingredients from my local supermarket so heres what i done so far

1. sanitized everything including 5 litre plastic bottle and cap, hydrometer, test jar, syphon, funnel, teaspoon and airlock

2. gathered all ingredients including 4litres of sqeez apple juice, 5 grams bakers yeast, 1 cup of each brown and white sugar, and an 8th teaspoon of a yeast nutrient.

3. pored apple juice into test jar hydrometer reading was 0.050 roughly

4. pored the 4 litres of apple juice into the 5 litre bottle and added the yeast nutrient and both cups of sugar and gave a good shake.

5. took another hydro reading at 0.075roughly that would make my cider from 9 - 11% vol i hope ha ha.

6. added my yeast gave it another shake and capped my airlock and placed it in my utility wrapped up in a towel as i think light is supposed to be bad for cider not sure just waiting for the fermenting to start which could be as long as tomorrow.

ILL POST BACK ON THIS THREAD TOMORROW TO LET YAWL KNOW HOW ITS DOIN.

And please tell me if you have done this before or something similar let me know how you got on

where did you get your kit from and how much? would love to make some stong cider. like the old rosie scrumpy thats in tesco at the minute. mmm:):D

chris2286

homebrewwest the kit was beer/wine kit which was 20euro and i got a few other things like the yeast nutrient sweeteners sterilizers and a test jar which is recommended all n all including p&p 35euro 2 nights ago i ordered and it arrived this morning.
the main ingredients i bought in tesco bakers yeast, sugar and apple juice i also bought the 5 litre bottle of water just to have the bottle
where i got the idea from is on youtube search easy home brewing - hard apple cider

Quackles

chris2286 wrote: »

did you add that after the fermenting stage? and how much vol was at the end of the fermenting? and i also bought lactose to sweating my wine can that be used aswell on cider?

Oh no, I bottled the cider, and then as I was drinking it, poured some lemonade in. Nothing that fancy! I'd imagine you can - I actually tried sweetening mine afterwards with some artificial sweetener that the yeast can't process, but I used a light hand because I'm not that into the taste of the artificial sweetener!

avfc1874 wrote: »

where did you get your kit from and how much? would love to make some stong cider. like the old rosie scrumpy thats in tesco at the minute. mmm:):D

Do you know what, you don't really need a kit. I use a five litre water bottle with a hole drilled through the lid for the airlock (you'd pick those up for in and around a euro on any of the brewing websites), pick up yeast on same sites... You don't really 'need' to use the hydrometer to check the levels, as long as you're comfortable not knowing the percentage. Just bottle it (I use club 850ml pet bottles that once held club soda) a couple of days after the bubbling stops. You would need a siphon and bottling wand, though, I'd imagine, unless you wanted to go and make sure the bottle necks and funnel are sterile and do it that way. On second thoughts, maybe a kit is easier :pac:

chris2286

Quackles wrote: »

Oh no, I bottled the cider, and then as I was drinking it, poured some lemonade in. Nothing that fancy! I'd imagine you can - I actually tried sweetening mine afterwards with some artificial sweetener that the yeast can't process, but I used a light hand because I'm not that into the taste of the artificial sweetener!

i get ya now thanks. how long did did it take to start fermenting for you?

Quackles

chris2286 wrote: »

i get ya now thanks. how long did did it take to start fermenting for you?

Mmmm, just over the 24 hours, I'd say.

chris2286

Quackles wrote: »

Mmmm, just over the 24 hours, I'd say.

thats good im just a small bit impatient waitin for results i sure you could imagine ha ha

Quackles

chris2286 wrote: »

thats good im just a small bit impatient waitin for results i sure you could imagine ha ha

I hear ya! I thought my yeast was dead because it didn't kick in immediately

Khannie

Good luck! It's great craic.

I've done similar a good few times now with the lidl / aldi cloudy apple juice. This is probably cheaper and better for the purpose than squeez as the squeez stuff is from concentrate. I just kicked off a 30 litre batch of it there yesterday. A few things:

You wont get an alcohol level that high. The alcohol will kill off baking yeast before that point (pretty sure of this, but not 100%). If this happens, it will leave some residual sugar behind and may prevent you from adding fizz in the bottle.

If that happens you'll find that your gravity readings will be the same for a while and above 1.000. I would suggest pitching some proper cider or champagne yeast at that point. Only 1.50 for a packet. Half a pack would do you grand for the few litres that are in it. In general cider or champagne yeast will result in a better brew for very little money.

9-11% is very high. It might taste a bit filthy. I usually aim for the 5.8 - 6.5% region myself though I might try a batch with a higher level soon enough.

I artificially sweeten mine. Too dry for my liking otherwise. Splenda is best, but pricey enough compared to the lidl sweetener (which I now use). If you're using splenda, boil up the tablets with a small amount of water or apple juice. The lidl sweetener can just be popped into the bottle as it dissolves naturally in the cider.

I hope it turns out well for you.

BeerNut

Khannie wrote: »

The alcohol will kill off baking yeast before that point (pretty sure of this, but not 100%)

I think it's OK up to the teens, but it's bred for creating carbon dioxide not alcohol, so isn't really suitable for brewing. There's no reason to use it when you can get proper wine or beer yeast off a homebrew supplier. It's not 1985 any more.

sharingan

chris2286 wrote: »

5. took another hydro reading at 0.075roughly that would make my cider from 9 - 11% vol i

Your bread yeast wont ferment all of that. If you get some wine yeast, you can top up your cider with that (prime it first) and it will fully ferment out the cider. Also you will need to do something similar if you want to carbonate it.

chris2286

i appreciate all tips and suggestions and will be taking into consideration for future references every little helps ha ha.

to let all know i checked my batch just 10 minutes ago and its foaming and fizzing on top but nothing happening with the airlock i made sure it was screwed on tight and that there was no other opening is this bad or is it just beginning

BeerNut

Ignore the airlock, it doesn't tell you anything useful.

Khannie

chris2286 wrote: »

to let all know i checked my batch just 10 minutes ago and its foaming and fizzing on top but nothing happening with the airlock i made sure it was screwed on tight and that there was no other opening is this bad or is it just beginning

Sounds like there's a leak somewhere. Wouldn't worry about it if you're seeing the foam on top. I've only used the airlock once.

chris2286

BeerNut wrote: »

Ignore the airlock, it doesn't tell you anything useful.

i presumed it had to be breathing for anything to work ya know thanks

chris2286

Khannie wrote: »

Sounds like there's a leak somewhere. Wouldn't worry about it if you're seeing the foam on top. I've only used the airlock once.

thats good news then i used a balloon on a batch of wine but then read that could be bad cause when the balloon inflates its blowing the co2 back into the bottle

sharingan

chris2286 wrote: »

the main ingredients i bought in tesco bakers yeast, sugar and apple juice i also bought the 5 litre bottle of water just to have the bottle
where i got the idea from is on youtube search easy home brewing - hard apple cider

The kind of cider you are making is best made with cider yeast. It improves the flavour a lot, and the brewing smell improves. I avoid bread yeast for all my brewing projects.

If you need cheap yeast for brewing, get the jars of Youngs Wine & Beer yeast or the super wine yeast compound. Cheap, multiple uses and a big improvement on bread yeast. They are also super vigorous, and good for beginners.

sharingan

BeerNut wrote: »

I think it's OK up to the teens, but it's bred for creating carbon dioxide not alcohol, so isn't really suitable for brewing. There's no reason to use it when you can get proper wine or beer yeast off a homebrew supplier. It's not 1985 any more.

I have had bread yeast go dormant in a brewing experiment that will live in infamy, when it hit a high percentage.

I actually added more water to dilute it down, and fermentation resumed.

chris2286

sharingan wrote: »

The kind of cider you are making is best made with cider yeast. It improves the flavour a lot, and the brewing smell improves. I avoid bread yeast for all my brewing projects.

If you need cheap yeast for brewing, get the jars of Youngs Wine & Beer yeast or the super wine yeast compound. Cheap, multiple uses and a big improvement on bread yeast. They are also super vigorous, and good for beginners.

ya when i save up abit of cash ill buy a ball of different yeasts, sugars and chemicals to help my brewing once i get into it a bit.

i have tried an orange wine made with orange juice, sugar and bakers fast active yeast and man i was well drunk after a litre of it and it only took a week but was very bitter so i should of let it off for maybe another 2 weeks to sweeten up a bit

sharingan

chris2286 wrote: »

ya when i save up abit of cash ill buy a ball of different yeasts, sugars and chemicals to help my brewing once i get into it a bit.

You dont need a huge amount of cash, the yeast are quite cheap, and I like the jars of them as they last a while. Next time you are online, make sure to pick up a couple.

chris2286 wrote: »

i have tried an orange wine made with orange juice, sugar and bakers fast active yeast and man i was well drunk after a litre of it and it only took a week but was very bitter so i should of let it off for maybe another 2 weeks to sweeten up a bit

If you are adding sugar it will really turn quite alcoholic. Most fruit juices have enough fructose to take them up to 6% ABV without any assistance. I would tend to pass on the sugar for fruit juice wines and ciders, its not needed unless you are bulking up the volume.

Khannie

sharingan wrote: »

You dont need a huge amount of cash, the yeast are quite cheap, and I like the jars of them as they last a while. Next time you are online, make sure to pick up a couple.

You've mentioned them before. Just had a look and this looks like very good value (probably enough for 300+ hundred litres). Would that be suitable for cider do you think? Or would the sachets of cider yeast produce a better cider?

chris2286

sharingan wrote: »

You dont need a huge amount of cash, the yeast are quite cheap, and I like the jars of them as they last a while. Next time you are online, make sure to pick up a couple.



ya but i like to get a good batch all at once to last me a couple years at least instead of paying 5 euro delivery charge for little bits here and there

i know 5 euro aint much but it all adds up.

i came across some 100 gram tubs of wine yeast but out of stock at the moment on the site iv been to but all the sachets are there all purpose wine yeast is 1 im lookin at.

avfc1874

chris2286 wrote: »

homebrewwest the kit was beer/wine kit which was 20euro and i got a few other things like the yeast nutrient sweeteners sterilizers and a test jar which is recommended all n all including p&p 35euro 2 nights ago i ordered and it arrived this morning.
the main ingredients i bought in tesco bakers yeast, sugar and apple juice i also bought the 5 litre bottle of water just to have the bottle
where i got the idea from is on youtube search easy home brewing - hard apple cider

hi where did you buy your kit from i'm looking for something easy to use thanks

u140acro3xs7dm

Sorry to hijack the thread. I am interested in making my own cider but don't really have a clue. Is this all I need? Obviously i know i will need ingredients and bottles as well.

BeerNut

Yep: that, 20L of apple juice, a packet of cider yeast, 20L worth of suitable empty bottles and a bit of sugar for priming. I'd recommend throwing in a cup of strong tea and maybe some Splenda or similar unfermentable sweetener too.

u140acro3xs7dm

Cool, I think I will go ahead and order that. What exactly does the tea do and does it matter on quality of the juice? Would this yeast that was posted above do?

BeerNut

Leah Witty Ugliness wrote: »

What exactly does the tea do

Adds body. Fruit juice is highly fermentable so you end up with a very thin, sharp, dry cider using it on its own. The tea adds tannins to round the flavour and bring out more of the apple taste.

Leah Witty Ugliness wrote: »

does it matter on quality of the juice?

You want unfiltered juice not from concentrate. Lidl Vitafit is the most cost-effective supermarket way to get this.

Leah Witty Ugliness wrote: »

Would this yeast that was posted above do?

Ehh... ooo, no, I don't think I'd trust that. I don't know what it is. This is what I'd go for. Tried and trusted, by me anyway.

u140acro3xs7dm

BeerNut wrote: »

Adds body. Fruit juice is highly fermentable so you end up with a very thin, sharp, dry cider using it on its own. The tea adds tannins to round the flavour and bring out more of the apple taste.

You want unfiltered juice not from concentrate. Lidl Vitafit is the most cost-effective supermarket way to get this.

Ehh... ooo, no, I don't think I'd trust that. I don't know what it is. This is what I'd go for. Tried and trusted, by me anyway.

Thanks for all the info. I am gonna go ahead and order that stuff. no doubt ill be back asking for tips once it all arrives.

chris2286

avfc1874 wrote: »

hi where did you buy your kit from i'm looking for something easy to use thanks

homebrewwest is the site mate

chris2286

Leah Witty Ugliness wrote: »

Sorry to hijack the thread. I am interested in making my own cider but don't really have a clue. Is this all I need? Obviously i know i will need ingredients and bottles as well.

your alright i be curious what answers you get 2 lol

Ratsathome

I made a hard cider from apple juice I bought from Aldi.Made the batch(5L) on 05/06 with OG 1080 and 340 g Demerara sugar.It is still bubbling away.Made it with normal baking yeast.Wanted to get it as close to "inmate brew" as possible.If it is to bitter/sour I will back sweeten it with some "canderal"(non fermentable).

sharingan

Khannie wrote: »

You've mentioned them before. Just had a look and this looks like very good value (probably enough for 300+ hundred litres). Would that be suitable for cider do you think? Or would the sachets of cider yeast produce a better cider?

I have this yeast, and it is super vigorous, though I think that an apple juice cider will respond better to cider yeast (a sachet is good for up to 5 or so gallons). I think these simple ciders need a bit of a help with flavour, and using a proper yeast gets that off to a good start.

sharingan

Ratsathome wrote: »

I made a hard cider from apple juice I bought from Aldi.Made the batch(5L) on 05/06 with OG 1080 and 340 g Demerara sugar.It is still bubbling away.Made it with normal baking yeast.Wanted to get it as close to "inmate brew" as possible.If it is to bitter/sour I will back sweeten it with some "canderal"(non fermentable).

If you want to get it close to prison hooch, you make a wild starter (expose some fruit juice or other sugar solution to collect wild yeast)

chris2286

Ratsathome wrote: »

I made a hard cider from apple juice I bought from Aldi.Made the batch(5L) on 05/06 with OG 1080 and 340 g Demerara sugar.It is still bubbling away.Made it with normal baking yeast.Wanted to get it as close to "inmate brew" as possible.If it is to bitter/sour I will back sweeten it with some "canderal"(non fermentable).

i never actually thought of canderal i think your the first to mention it ill have to google that 1 i think especially that its not ferment-able

Khannie

Ratsathome wrote: »

I will back sweeten it with some "canderal"(non fermentable).

Don't use candarel in the bottle. Aspartame wont ferment, but it breaks down in about 2 weeks. Splenda or something saccharine based (edit: i.e. any of the cheap sweeteners that you can buy in lidl / aldi / tesco) is what you want.

chris2286

just to let everyone know its now been 4 days since i started brewing my cider and its still bubbling and fizzing away mad so i take that as a good thing hopefully now just a few more days before its ready

Ratsathome

Made mine 05/06 and it's still bubbling.

chris2286

Ratsathome wrote: »

Made mine 05/06 and it's still bubbling.

nearly a month and still bubbling man i say that'll be some stuff after that long of fermenting

Ratsathome

Hope so my OG was 1080

Baneblade

Ratsathome wrote: »

Made mine 05/06 and it's still bubbling.

i did a 4L batch and it was done in about 4-6 days
my OG was about 9% mark, cant remember the exact reading

if its been a month i would take another reading, i found its close to 1.000 when its done

Ratsathome

Baneblade wrote: »

i did a 4L batch and it was done in about 4-6 days
my OG was about 9% mark, cant remember the exact reading

if its been a month i would take another reading, i found its close to 1.000 when its done

Just tested it and the reading is @ 0.998(ABV 10.9%)
I used demerara sugar and honey as my fermentation aid.
Now to bottle.Have a nice golden/honey color to it.

chris2286

i just measured it and as its near a week today its at just over 5% vol i did have a glass of it and man it tasted like a cheap or a small bit dead linden village and to be honest i quite liked it ill give it till the weekend

chris2286

Tomorrow i be drinking the **** outta that cider and ill let everyone know how it i got on with the morning effects lol

azzeretti

sharingan wrote: »

If you want to get it close to prison hooch, you make a wild starter (expose some fruit juice or other sugar solution to collect wild yeast)

Jaysus, It'd be very unlikely to get the correct yeast for a spontaneous fermentation in a prison unless you depending on shipping in crates of apples (skins and all)!
Most prison hooch is made with bread yeast until they're destroyed by whatever microbe gets in there and take over, mostly due to the unhygienic manner in which the equipment is maintained.

azzeretti

chris2286 wrote: »

Tomorrow i be drinking the **** outta that cider and ill let everyone know how it i got on with the morning effects lol

Ha! I remember the first brew I made , it was with cans of fresh strawberries from tesco. I couldn't wait to get it into me - tasted like shít!

I would advise you though (maybe on your next run cause it sounds like you're going to get tucked into this one soon!) to leave it ferment out for at least 21 days. If using bread yeast (without some serious nutrients - and not the yeast nutrient stuff you get from Youngs!) I would recommend leaving it for a few weeks. Even with with heavy nutrients bread yeast is a lazy so and so and can take quite a while to get finished. It will get there though, and you can get fairly high end gravities with bread yeast when used correctly .

Another thing to be wary of with turbo ciders is the ultra need to back sweeten - at least in my experience. Also, as mentioned, stay away from concentrates and get some cheap juice in lidl.

chris2286

instead of waiting till today i drank a litre of it last night and man did i have some hangover this morning but the thing was i could of kept drinking no probs it tasted good to me ah well i might have the rest tonight ha ha

Khannie

azzeretti wrote: »

Also, as mentioned, stay away from concentrates and get some cheap juice in lidl.

That lidl cloudy apple juice does make a savage brew. Absolutely delicious. I bought 4L of concentrate based one the other day though as they had them on offer. Couldn't resist. 4L for 3.30 or something ridiculous like that. Worth a punt I thought.

u140acro3xs7dm

I went and bought a different kit like a tool. Got this one instead. I only have 1 fermenter, do i need a second? I also only have a sticky thermometer strip rather than a proper one.

Also a couple of questions on room temp. I dont really have anywhere to put it that has a consistent temp. I got a brew belt with it will this be needed? I could put it in the spare room which when it is hot out is really hot and when its cold out is really cold or maybe the shed.

azzeretti

Leah Witty Ugliness wrote: »

I went and bought a different kit like a tool. Got this one instead. I only have 1 fermenter, do i need a second? I also only have a sticky thermometer strip rather than a proper one.

Also a couple of questions on room temp. I dont really have anywhere to put it that has a consistent temp. I got a brew belt with it will this be needed? I could put it in the spare room which when it is hot out is really hot and when its cold out is really cold or maybe the shed.

Well, you'll need a second vessel for bottling, most people use one of their fermentation buckets for this purpose but any food grade bucket might do for staging.

At this time of year, in Ireland, you should be OK leaving the fermenter at room temperature. This will fluctuate during day and night but it shouldn't drop enough to bother the yeast. Depending on the yeast you're using you should be fine in the room temp range (as long as it doesn't get very hot or very cold). Obviously a constant temperature is ideal (for example I have a modified a fridge with a temperature controller that keeps the fermenter at whatever temp I need (+/- 1 degree). However, I was brewing at room temperature for years without any* real issues.