# Yes Another Cider Question...



## DigitalGiraffe (4/12/10)

So I have grabbed myself 23litres of juice from the supermarket (preservative free as mentioned in many threads on here). I also picked up a can of goulburn valley pear juice (it says its preservative free also). Will this be ok to add to get a bit more sweetness?

My LHBS gave me some SN9 Premium Wine Yeast and said it would do the job. Thoughts?

I also have 500g of lactose that I will add. Should I boil this up before adding it to my fermenter?

My main question is when it comes to bottling time do I have to prime my bottles with sugar? I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere when bottling is talked about?

Cheers,

Paul


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## Airgead (4/12/10)

DigitalGiraffe said:


> So I have grabbed myself 23litres of juice from the supermarket (preservative free as mentioned in many threads on here). I also picked up a can of goulburn valley pear juice (it says its preservative free also). Will this be ok to add to get a bit more sweetness?
> 
> My LHBS gave me some SN9 Premium Wine Yeast and said it would do the job. Thoughts?
> 
> ...



Yes the pear will be OK to add. Reports say that adding pear gives some residual sweetness.

The wine yeast should do OK. It will ferment out dry though which may or may not be what you want.

If you add the lactose, boil it up in a little water to dissolve before adding it. Doesn't matter of it goes in the fermenter or gets added later as it is unfermentable (mostly anyway).

If you want sparkling cider then yes, prime with sugar (or your fermentable substance of choice... honey works nicely in a cider). 

Cheers
Dave


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## Chookers (4/12/10)

priming your bottles will have more to do with what the S.G is at bottling I guess, unless you plan to pasteurise your bottles to retain some sweetness.. have a look at SuiCiders pasteurising technique.


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## DigitalGiraffe (4/12/10)

Thanks for the quick response guys. Much appreciated.

One more question... Do I just sprinkle the yeast on as you do with beer or should I stir it through?

Thanks again!


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## pk.sax (4/12/10)

Doesn't make too much difference, I proof the dry yeast in a bit of warm (not hot) water with a sprinkle of sugar before adding it. It all works and makes cider.


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## manticle (4/12/10)

Hi digital.

Making cider isn't amazingly different from making beer - same principles apply. The main difference (besides the fact the main ingredient is different) is that cider tends to attenuate a lot more.

If you sprinkle the yeast on your beer, then do the same with your cider. Personally I make a starter but I do that wih my beers too.

It's advisable to use a bit of yeast nutrient with ciders too.


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## DigitalGiraffe (4/12/10)

What is yeast nutrient? I did read somewhere that you can boil up some yeast to add as a nutrient?

I have three packets of yeast in the fridge from kits that I have made and not needed the provided yeast. Worth doing anything with these?

This cider is just a tester to see what it comes out like. I just wanted to get the procedure sorted. Net time I may get a bit more technical with it all.

Thanks again!


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## manticle (4/12/10)

Diammonium phosphate is a nutrient used for winemaking. Some homebrew shops sell 'yeast nutrient' which may be a blend of various things including the DAP and some dead yeast. You can also make your own by boiling up old yeast (as you have suggested).

If you want to do a tester, simply blend any varieties of juice you have and ferment them in one of the jice bottles. Take note of the proportion of exh juice etc.

Making juice based cider is the easiest fermenting procedure there is. Mix together juice, yeast and nutrient. Close vessel with some allowance for CO2 emission, keep cool and wait till FG reached.

Prime, age, drink.


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## DigitalGiraffe (4/12/10)

Thanks manticle.

I think I'll keep it is simple as possible for my first attempt.

Next attempt I'll add the spare yeast packets to see if there's a noticeable difference.

Thank for your help guys. I'm off to mix it up now.

Cheers,

Paul


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## DigitalGiraffe (20/12/10)

O.K. my cider has stopped fermenting and is ready for bottling.

I have a whole bunch of 500ml Bulmers bottles that I am going to use. Should I add 2x Carbonation drops (which is recommended for 750ml longnecks) or using the sugar scoop just under the full amount for a long neck?

will 2x carbonation drops be likely to cause a bottle bomb?

I also have a ginger beer that is ready for bottling and I'm wondering if two of these drops will be too much for a 500ml bottle.

Cheers,

Paul

P.S. The cider tastes very dry, I knew it would probably do this but hoped it wouldnt. Oh well.


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## manticle (20/12/10)

I wouldn't add 2 drops. Even if it doesn't cause bottle bombs (which it might) the cider will be way overfizzed.

If you have a commerial beer example in mind of your desired fizz level, you can work out the approximate carbon dioxide level and the amount of sugar needed to get you to that level. Then either bulk prime (easy as) or divide by number of bottles to get the correct does.


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## DigitalGiraffe (20/12/10)

Hrmm bulk priming hey. I've never done that, sounds a bit scary!

I have 20 litres of cider in my fermenter (will double check this when I get home from work) and would like to have it just like a normal beer I guess? 

Roughly how much sugar would this work out to be?

Is it worth adding some pear juice to my cider to help bring some sweetness back or is this likely to cause the yeast to fire up again and blow all my bottles to bits?


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## manticle (20/12/10)

Bulk priming is really easy. Most guides tell you to transfer to another vessel but you can do it in you primary vessel if you don't have a second one.

Calculate the amount of sugar you need. For you I would suggest 2.5 -2.7 volumes of CO2. I would look at between 140 and 180 grams of sugar or dextrose, dissolved in water and added gently to the fermenter. Stir gently, let sit for 20-30 minutes, then bottle. Obviously volume changes amount - 180 would be too high for me but I don't like very fizzy things. Please double check my recommended amounts on a calculator first. Here's the one I use: http://hbd.org/cgi-bin/recipator/recipator/carbonation.html
Google 'bulk priming calculator' to find another just to cross reference. 

There are all sorts of temperature guidelines that you can read about to make bulk priming more complicated. Did you crash chill the brew immediately after fermentation? If not you may not need to get too concerned.

If you are going to add pear juice for sweetness, you should either let it ferment out again or take the amount of sugar in the juice into account when priming (you can potentially just prime with juice). I have no idea of the formula required for that but someone else may help.


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## DigitalGiraffe (20/12/10)

Thanks for your help manticle, its greatly appreciated!

I haven't crash chilled I just let it ferment out like a normal home brew.

I'll give the pear juice a miss this time and see how it turns out so I have a base to work off next time.

140-180grams of sugar doesn't seem like a lot for ~20litres of cider?


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## super_simian (20/12/10)

I gave up bulk priming, 1 carb drop per 500ml bottle works A-OK.


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## DigitalGiraffe (20/12/10)

Going to give bulk priming a try.

I'm adding 160g of white sugar dissolved in warm water. Fingers crossed it all works out!

Thanks again for the advice manticle.


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## manticle (20/12/10)

No worries but I'd suggest boiling your sugar solution for 5 -10 minutes. Just ensures both sanitation and proper dissolution of the sugar.


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