# Another New Cider Brewer!



## 1sttimebrewer (21/11/11)

Hi,

I am Jenny and we put down a keg of Apple cider on the 26th October. From reading through the posts, I am thinking my brew might be DED!!! We followed all directions that came with the brew base (Brigalow Apple cider) but there has been no bubbling in the air lock, there is sediment in the bottom of the keg and the colour of the brew has darkened.


Can anyone give me an idea as to what might be happening or should I just chuck it and start again?


Thanks heaps,



Jenny. :icon_chickcheers:


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## bradsbrew (21/11/11)

The couple of ciders I have recently brewed did not have any krausen (foam) on top, take a reading with the hydrometer.



Cheers


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## pimpsqueak (21/11/11)

bradsbrew said:


> The couple of ciders I have recently brewed did not have any krausen (foam) on top, take a reading with the hydrometer.
> 
> 
> 
> Cheers


+1 for a hydro reading. The only 2 ciders I have made both had no krausen.


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## hsb (21/11/11)

Try tasting it if you have a way of getting a small sample out sanitarily. Should be obvious if you have alcohol present.

+3 for using a hydrometer if one was included in the kit, only way to be sure on how it is going.

With some more details (OG? Current Gravity? Temperature when pitching yeast?, temperature since?) a picture will form - probably of a nice keg of cider coming your way.

Don't chuck it! It sounds like it might be fine. *Never* trust an airlock!


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## Chookers (9/12/11)

speaking of making cider from bought juices, does it matter if you are using cloudy apple juice or clear?? fridge section or longlife..

also alot of the bought juices have ascorbic acid added.. I think thats just vitamin C.. but does it matter if its present??



Thank you


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## pk.sax (9/12/11)

Q1: no, it's upon taste. Cloudy tastes better to me.

Q2: well, no, apparently as far as I've heard. I actually bought some to add to mead b4 bottling to give it shelf life and a little extra acidity on top of the malic acid I plan to add as well.


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## Chookers (10/12/11)

practicalfool said:


> Q1: no, it's upon taste. Cloudy tastes better to me.
> 
> Q2: well, no, apparently as far as I've heard. I actually bought some to add to mead b4 bottling to give it shelf life and a little extra acidity on top of the malic acid I plan to add as well.




Excellent... thanks Practicalfool


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## CosmicBertie (13/12/11)

Chookers said:


> speaking of making cider from bought juices, does it matter if you are using cloudy apple juice or clear?? fridge section or longlife..
> 
> also alot of the bought juices have ascorbic acid added.. I think thats just vitamin C.. but does it matter if its present??
> 
> ...




I've never made cider, but I've had a good look into doing it, and its on my list of things to-do. However, you want to make sure that theres no preservatives in the apple juice as this will more than likely kill the yeast. I think longlife would be ok, as long as its only been pastuerised.


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## Maschenbrau (13/12/11)

At the end of the day you can only trust your hydrometer. Its no different to brewing beer because you can't trust the airlock. If th elid is not on the fermenter tight enough or if the grommet around the airlock has a leak then your cider could quite easily have been fermenting without any noticing any airlock activity.


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## troopa (13/12/11)

The sooner you throw the airlock away the better ... glad wrap and a lacky band beats most things


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