# Bulmers Cider Clone Recipe



## Fents (18/12/07)

Tried one of these ciders at that Irish pub on the corner of Alexandra and Smith St in melb a while ago and was mighty impressed. Pints on tap.

Anyone care to have a crack at a recipe or is it not worth it and i should just stick to buying juice in bottles and fermenting it?

had a squizz on their site and there is negative info about how they make it. http://www.bulmers.ie/

if no one comes up with somthing i'll e-mail em.

Cheers. B)


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## Fatgodzilla (18/12/07)

Fents said:


> Tried one of these ciders at that Irish pub on the corner of Alexandra and Smith St in melb a while ago and was mighty impressed. Pints on tap.
> 
> Anyone care to have a crack at a recipe or is it not worth it and i should just stick to buying juice in bottles and fermenting it?
> 
> ...





Had a look at Jim's Home Brewing site in England and they all into Turbo Cider (4 litres juice + champagne yeast = turbo cider in a week). No joy there for any Bulmer clones - apparently they are all hairy lipped SCRUMPY men.

This cider thing discussed recently - I'm sure you followed it, but not much joy there either. The main things raised were apple juice is from table apples, not cider apples and use nutrients with your yeast.

My only attempt was from a tin - produced 15 litres of liquid crap.

I found a series of pictures from Jim's Homebrew Site that I'm trying to put into the gallery. I don't think I'll go this far to make a cider.

If you get anything good, post it. Hundreds and I'll be watching.


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## bigfridge (18/12/07)

Fents said:


> Tried one of these ciders at that Irish pub on the corner of Alexandra and Smith St in melb a while ago and was mighty impressed. Pints on tap.
> 
> Anyone care to have a crack at a recipe or is it not worth it and i should just stick to buying juice in bottles and fermenting it?
> 
> ...



Did you find the sections on the RHS of the 'About Us' link ?

Seems to give pretty good info on fermentation temps, processing methods, aging etc.


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## Fents (18/12/07)

Fatgodzilla said:


> My only attempt was from a tin - produced 15 litres of liquid crap.



Same boat here robbo.

I'll e-mail them.


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## Fents (18/12/07)

bigfridge said:


> Did you find the sections on the RHS of the 'About Us' link ?
> 
> Seems to give pretty good info on fermentation temps, processing methods, aging etc.



Nope did not see that bit at all. Thanks loads BF, sometimes many eyes are better than just mine. I'll have a read and see if i can come up with somthing.


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## Fents (18/12/07)

Aight gonna need an apple press.

And a oak barrel...i have a 100lt barell waiting to be used for port, might have to turn it into a cider barell and buy another one.


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## Fatgodzilla (18/12/07)

Fents said:


> Nope did not see that bit at all. Thanks loads BF, sometimes many eyes are better than just mine. I'll have a read and see if i can come up with somthing.






> The best apples are selected during the harvest at the 250 acre Bulmers Orchards in Clonmel and from the Apple Growers in Northern Ireland. After the fruit is weighed and checked for type and quality, it passes through a water bath.
> The apples are pushed along canals by streams of water to the presses where they are reduced to a pulp and the juices are extracted by pressing. The pressing is done using the traditional 'cheese' which consists of slatted frames woven with envelopes of pulp. Building a 'cheese' is one of the core skills of a cider-maker. At Bulmers, the very same presses used to make Bulmers 50 years ago are still used today. This accounts for the consistency of the quality of Ireland's most popular cider.
> The squeezed apple juice flows to a small vat picking up wild natural yeast on its way and it passes through a series of filters. It is then pumped into a Vat House for fermentation. The apple juice ferments for eight weeks and is then drawn off from the residue into another vat. Here it may be held indefinitely, provided the vat is made airtight by topping up with additional cider. Bulmers Original Cider is fermented in the Vat House between 18 degrees and 24 degrees Celsius.
> Bulmers Original Cider matures over a period of several months. Samples are then drawn off and laboratory tested for purity and alcohol content. They are then put through several filtering processes. Careful blending of bulk ciders is essential to produce the consistent product that consumers enjoy.
> After chilling, further filtering and carbonating, Bulmers Original Cider is then packaged and ready for distribution.




Okay, I can see why a clone may be a tad difficult.


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## Fents (18/12/07)

yep all looking a bit pear shaped innit.


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## PostModern (18/12/07)

Home cider makers are has hardcore has AG brewers in the Northern hemisphere. They make their own presses and everything.


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## sinkas (18/12/07)

I am pretty sure the mega swill ciders like bulmers are made from eastern europren apple concentrate.


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## drsmurto (18/12/07)

The breton cider is amazing, nothing like Bulmers which is damn near fluorescent orange. I have spent the last 12 months researching off and on and came up with the same conclusion - we dont have access to the right apples. Except..... i have an apple tree in my yard that is older than my house which puts in at > 80 years. Noone can tell me what variety it is. I was hoping to juice a load of it this year and trial some ciders but the codlin moths beat me to it. The french cider makers use a combination of sweet, bitter and tart apples. So we could sub jonnies/red del/pink ladies for the sweet and use grannies for the tart but i havent come across a bitter apple variety yet. Any ideas?

And i was talking to a few people who suggest the english like to throw chicken wings (uncooked) into the cider whislt fermenting - scrumpy jacks?


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## Fents (18/12/07)

sinkas said:


> I am pretty sure the mega swill ciders like bulmers are made from eastern europren apple concentrate.




well unless they are blatently telling fibs on their website, they say they use fresh apples grown on an orchard.


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## dicko (18/12/07)

Fents said:


> well unless they are blatently telling fibs on their website, they say they use fresh apples grown on an orchard.



IIRC there was a Bulmers Cider factory (brewery?) in Campbelltown in NSW many years ago. 
Does anyone remember it?
Mabe Linz or some of the other Macarthur brewers may remember.
I allways assumed that they used local apples.
In any case I never took a lot of notice as apple cider gives me heartburn whenever I drink it.
Cheers


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