# Latest Cider Blend



## pr1me (29/4/04)

considering how well the black death scrumpy is coming along, i thought I would share the recipe.


16 liters of apple juice(preservative free)
3 litres of dark grape juice(as above)
100 - 200ml of lemon juice(berri lemon squeeze is fine)
1 bottle of blackberry or blueberry puree(available at coles and woolies)
1kg of granny smith apples
500g of red delicious or johnnies

2kg of dark brown sugar
750g pure honey
champagne yeast(grumpys sell a nice french one... oohh la la)


Standard mix applies here
wash your fruit, cut it into quarters and remove blemishes and seeds.

throw in the sugar, honey and puree with 1 litre of boiling water and stir until blended.

throw the juices in and stir some more

throw in the yeast

throw in the fruit

lock it down and swirl the fermenter so the wort swirls around inside.
Swirl it twice a day for about two minutes, i do mine once in the morning and once when i come home.
This really keeps the yeast working well, i dont want no yeasties lazing away on my time 

2 weeks later, remove apples with tongs & rack it into the secondary. Note, definaetly use a very fine filter when you rack, there will be alot of floating sediment from the apple pulp, if you dont get rid of this as much as possible the final taste will be close to eating socks. I recommend using a normal strainer with a stocking over it to get as much as possible.

1 week after racking, rack & filter again into cubes for cold conditioning.
Cold condition for atleast 2 weeks. This really seems to clear the cider and removes any nasty manky rotting apple tastes which can arise from reminant apple pulp rotting in the brew later on.

Usually the OG should be about 1100 - 1110 and if your yeast is working right, it should level out at about 1010 - 1015 for the FG.

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In my next cider brew ill be using only pure honey in the wort and adding cloves and cinnamon for a mulled taste.


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## AndrewQLD (29/4/04)

Gees Pr1me,

I reckon 2 stubbies of that would CURE you of the black death :blink: , thats one hell of a lot of alcohol, can you still taste the apple or does the alcohol override the fruit flavors.
What does it taste like now and how long will you age this for.

it looks really interesting.


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## pr1me (29/4/04)

the alcohol doesnt seem too overpowering, and theres a definite apple/honey/fruit flavour to it, as to the ageing of this brew, after i cold condition i slap it into glas 1.5 litre wine magnums and put a stopper on it, then leave it in the fridge for serving. In this state it matures pretty slowly, usually until i've drank all 20 litres. .. so far that hasnt taken longer then 2 months.

I shared it out during GMK's big brew and a few people seemed to like it alot.


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## pr1me (29/4/04)

just thought i would also attach this handy guide that i snapped from a website the other week. If you intend on making your own cider, some of this is helpful, some isnt unless you own an orchard... but oh well  

View attachment The_Science_of_Cider_Making.pdf


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## Kai (29/4/04)

Sounds... interesting. Doesn't Berri Lemon Squeeze contain preservatives?


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## pr1me (29/4/04)

could well do, but in this case we aer using it to add acidity to the brew primarily, and in a pretty small amount compared to the rest of the brew ingredients.


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## Boots (29/4/04)

I tried (and enjoyed) this at GMK's.

You could tell on first taste, that it was big, but it in no way lets you know it is as strong as it is. The fruit is definitely the dominating flavour. I reckon you could knock off a fair bit of it and the only way you'd know it was 12% would be when you suddenly find yourself in the gutter the next morning (or at the base of Kens destroyed steps) 

It really was obvious that there was a blend of fruits too - so it was a much more complex than a standard cider.

Good stuff


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## pr1me (29/4/04)

i didnt break his steps... there was a faultline, geologic anomaly! an earthquake! a terrible flood! i swear to god it wasnt my fault!!!


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## Jesmol (29/4/04)

How much do you bulk prime this with ?

btw I think you need a new nickname pr1me, I get called passion or penis fingers, cos everything I touch gets f****d....


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## pr1me (29/4/04)

I dont actually bulk prime this brew, as most of the time its still quite high in sugar after CC period. I usually get left with a low fizz cider, if you wanted though i would suggest perhaps using honey instead of sugar, i would suggest maybe 100g mixed in some boiling water. I wouldnt over do it with this brew.

Also as a couple of side notes, try to avoid using PET's with cider, it can lead to some pretty poor flavours after a month or so in storage.
And dont skip the grape juice, as this supplies needed nitrogen to the berw for the yeasties to eat, apple juice is apparently rather nitrogen starved. If you dont want to use grape juice, you can try meat(pork) and leave that in the fermenter for a long period.


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## barfridge (3/6/04)

sorry to dredge this up...but why are PET bottles a bad idea???

I'm going to put this cider down on the weekend, quite excited about it too 

I just hope I can keep it at a good temperature, seems to be sitting on about 14 degrees in the brewroom at the moment.


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## GMK (3/6/04)

barfridge

when you rack to the bottling bucket - use a GMK inline filter..

Much easier and better tahn astrainer and stockings.

Stockings belong on women and need to have ladders so that you can climb up to heaven...

Enough said....


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## barfridge (4/6/04)

what is this fabled GMK inline filter, and where do I get one???

I searched, and they've been mentioned, but never any specifics


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## GMK (4/6/04)

It is very Basic and works on the KISS principle.

You buy:
- 2 clamps
- 1m of food grade 12mm tube
- 1 in-line irrigation filter with 13mm barbs.

Cut 12cm off the line and attach/clamp to in-line filter inlet and the other hose to the outlet.
The 12mm line fits snugly over the fermenter taps.
Just pour boiling water thru the filter before use - attach to fermenter tap - dangle bottom of hose at the base of the keg/bottling bucket/fermenter.
Turn on tap and you have a filter that should trap all the hop debris.
You will still yeast thru - which is good for bottle conditioning.

You can buy all this from Bunnings at around 10.00.

Hope that clears it up...


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## pr1me (4/6/04)

PET is apparently bad for cider in that in long storage it allows the cider to breathe. This happened to me with my very first batch of cider which went into long storage, but i didnt know why until i did some research. Any metal except stainless steel is bad for cider too, specially copper which any good cider will eat, even out of brass.

Now days i use glass and plastic, and when i buy another barrel, ill wood age my cider as well.


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## johnno (4/6/04)

pr1me,
I have a basic kit cider that i bottled last year around August or September. As i was experimenting at the time and dint have glass bottles to spare i bottled in PET softdrink bottles.
I have about a dozen left and opened one the other day. Still carbonated fine. The bottles that are left are rock hard. So far it doesnt look like they have lost any gas. 
anyway my 2cents worth.

GMK is there anyway of showing us a picture of the inline filter?

cheers


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## GMK (4/6/04)

Will try and borrow the digital camera and take some pics on the weekend..


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## PostModern (4/6/04)

GMK said:


> <Instructions for making GMK's Inline Filter>
> 
> Hope that clears it up...


 I didn't notice the pun the first time I read this thread....

Ken.... shocking pun.


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## GMK (4/6/04)

PostModern said:


> GMK said:
> 
> 
> > <Instructions for making GMK's Inline Filter>
> ...


 Trust PoMo to filter out the Pun.... :lol:


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## PostModern (4/6/04)

GMK said:


> Trust PoMo to filter out the Pun.... :lol:


 No trub-le.


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## pr1me (4/6/04)

thats interesting Johnno, i did a batch in PET when i first started brewing, did some in glass and some in pet, and the ones in PET have off flavours, and the ones in glass are fine. Both were sterilized in the same wash. Other cider brewers i know in the UK have reported the same thing, so dunno, but I'll always stick to glass from now on.

this a link to a page that can explain a bit better then i can.
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/a...lea/bottles.htm


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## barfridge (13/6/04)

I spent over half an hour today in bunnings looking for the filters you mentioned. But of course stupid me was looking around the plumbing/water filter section, not iriigation....grrr!

oh well, I'm sure I'll find it next time.

PS. are these filters reusable, or single use only?


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## GMK (13/6/04)

Chimay

Do i need to say anything.....


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## deebee (14/6/04)

I am going to boldly display my total lack of class as a boorish and unsophisticated phillistine but I don't care: I made a bloody good scrumpy with cloudy apple juice and a sprinkle of yeast, whacked an oztops lid on it and let it ferment out. Bewdifully yummy. Dry but not puckering. Tasty and alcoholic. Most importantly, extremely quick and easy.

I'm sure yours craps all over mine from a great height, pr1me. But for easy cider, oztops is a good option and pretty tasty too. So much better than strongbow or any of those "ciders".

But I might add some grape juice next time as an experiment.


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## pr1me (15/6/04)

I agree deebee, oztops does make a nice drop, and I do them regularly along side my other cider. I was more interested though in experimentation though with this drop, and trying different methods and ingredients, working out some of the science of how cider is different from beer brewing. The cider itself was a side issue, a tasty one albeit. :-D

Instead of the grape juice im eventually going to try a leg of pork in the traditional method. Might do this with a larger fermenter rather then a small 30l.


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## barfridge (15/6/04)

when you do the pork thing, just dont tell anybody. I'm sure lots of people would be put off! Hell, I even neglected to tell my vegan friend that the recipie has honey in it, whihc is still a long way from pork


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## GMK (15/6/04)

Pr1me

Better not let any jewish people drink the porky cider...

Unless you want to tell them Porkies!


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## PostModern (15/6/04)

barfridge said:


> Hell, I even neglected to tell my vegan friend that the recipie has honey in it, whihc is still a long way from pork


 You knew your friend was vegan, you knew they didn't eat honey yet you still served them a honey beer???? What a good mate! Would you quietly slip them a pork cider too?


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## deebee (15/6/04)

Veganism is unethical, unnatural and ecologically unsustainable. They've got it coming to them.


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## Kai (15/6/04)

Yeah. they should all be quietly slipped the pork sword.


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## barfridge (15/6/04)

It wasnt quite that underhanded pomo.
The conversation went something along the lines of:

them: this cider you're brewing sounds fantastic
me: yeah, sounds pretty good, but I wont mention that its got bee poo in it
them: yes, please dont mention that, if I dont know that I'll be able to drink it *nudge nudge* #wink wink#
me: say no more!

She's a strange sort, uses all sorts of tricks to convince herself of things. She then prceeded to rationalise along the lines of 'its not like taking honey harms the bees in any way, its not like any get killed'.

She's a conscientious vegan, has no objection to others eating meat, she'll even cook meat and tofu together in the same pan.

...have I dug myself out of the hole yet???


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## PostModern (15/6/04)

Sorry, I didn't read your post that way.

Vegans are a little hardcore. I'm a demi-vegetarian (no mammals, birds, amphibians or reptiles in my diet), so I sympathise with their ethics somewhat. Knowing that there was honey in the brew, drinking it anyway... no sympathy from me now.


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## barfridge (16/6/04)

yarr! enough girly talk, back to talking about manly things!

<scratches self>
so...how about that local footy team?


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## PostModern (16/6/04)

*scratches nuts*

Yar, Excellent second half...

*wanders off to opposite side of room*


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## deebee (16/6/04)

Pomo,

All respect and no offence intended. I am convinced that veganism is a viable alternative to eating Coles' feral cow squished between polystyrene and plastic. I was just stunned at the realisation that they refuse honey. Its gets you thinking - is yeast a vegetable or animal? Doesn't it make alcohol? Where do you stop? Are they allowed to use animal manure on their cabbage patch?

Errrrh... I mean, check out the tits on that one.


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## PostModern (16/6/04)

No offense taken, deebee. I find many people have weird opinions about vegetarianism - usually I think it's to justify their own dietary preferences... if you can't defend your own position, attack the opposite. Effective means to obfuscate the real argument... so anyway, I try not to impose my beliefs on anyone else and just ignore wild generalisations.

Yeast is a fungus, if I'm not mistaken. Quite OK to use that.
I don't use gelatine based finings (nor any at all for that matter, but I _wouldn't_ use it if given the chance.

I do eat fish, crustacea, molluscs, free range eggs and dairy products (preferably without rennet). Basically I draw a line thru the animal kingdom dividing those creatures that _I believe_ to be self-aware and choose not to kill or eat any creature on the same side of the line as me (killing of rodents, rats and other household vermin excepted).

There are various levels of vegetarianism ranging from demi's like me to pure veganism. Some do eat honey and still call themselves vegan, because it's easier to say than "vegan honey eater". Level 5 veganism - eat nothing that casts a shadow.


*cough/scratch/ogle passing female office worker/slurp coffee* 

Has anyone made a cider from fresh apples alone? My dad has a farmer friend who can get me lots of apples for about 50c/Kg. What's the process for making cider from raw apples? I read a thread somewhere where they were cooked and reduced then recombined with water and... it seemed too complicated. Can I just skin, chop and pulverise them, then combine with sugar or malt solution boiled with yeast nutrients and pitch champagne yeast, maybe racking off the pulp after a few days or something?


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## GMK (16/6/04)

PoMo

Why not buy an electric juicer - run them through that - then boil the juice with some spices - clove, cinamon, nutmeg and some malt.

NO HONEY...

Buy the wyeast cider yeast or go for a pinot noir or if you want a high alcohol liqueur cider - go for Zinfadel yeast - upto 18% yeast tolerance.

Hope this helps


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## PostModern (16/6/04)

What is the purpose of the boiling? To drive of rogue yeast and enzymes in the apples? 

I've heard of people just letting spontaneous fermentation take place. Doesn't seem controlled or necessarily sanitary to me.


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## pr1me (16/6/04)

> Yeah. they should all be quietly slipped the pork sword.



He who lives by the pork dies by the pork? Being porked to death... i could live with that... infact thats how I planned to go anyway!


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## pr1me (16/6/04)

PostModern said:


> Has anyone made a cider from fresh apples alone? My dad has a farmer friend who can get me lots of apples for about 50c/Kg. What's the process for making cider from raw apples? I read a thread somewhere where they were cooked and reduced then recombined with water and... it seemed too complicated. Can I just skin, chop and pulverise them, then combine with sugar or malt solution boiled with yeast nutrients and pitch champagne yeast, maybe racking off the pulp after a few days or something?


 If you want to make reall 100% traditional scrumpy you can use an apple press, keep in mind as little metal as possible should be involved.

This website is a treasure trove if you want to make traditional scrumpy using whole apples. 

Wittenham Cider Site

Explains methods, equipment everything.

And yes you can boil to get rid of the wild yeasts, or you can risk it with them in the brew, I risk it now days because I havent had a bad result.. YET..


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## PostModern (16/6/04)

pr1me said:


> If you want to make reall 100% traditional scrumpy you can use an apple press, keep in mind as little metal as possible should be involved.
> 
> This website is a treasure trove if you want to make traditional scrumpy using whole apples.
> 
> ...


 That site has a little too much information for me. I might try my hand at an apple ale first... I have about 3Kg of apples that seem a little too tart to eat.

Something like this:

3Kg apples, peeled, cored and chopped roughly.

Mash:
500g Caramunich
1kg Pilsner Malt

Boil:
2kg DME
15g POR 30 mins


Top to 20litres with filtered water.
WLP007 Dry Ale Yeast.

Chuck that in the fermenter and see what happens, hey?
I might rack twice - 1 week and 3 weeks.


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