Apple Cider Kit Modified.

[Backlane Brewery]

The all juice cider we made using lactose ( & honey, sultanas, cloves, cinnamon etc) went in the bottle on the weekend.
It's is an extraordinary drink- strong (don't have SG/FG numbers to hand, but up around 9% from memory) spicy (too many cloves?) and has just the right amount of sweetness from what residual lactose made it through.
We primed most if it, but left a few unprimed. Think it will come into it's own drunk warm, like mulled wine.
May need to try this with better quality juice next time. So far nothing has beaten the Pink Lady juice used in our first batch.

 

[pr1me]

if you want to make a nice cider there are some orchards in Vic that sell proper cider apples, looke for varieties such as Kingston Black or Bulmers Norman, they IMHO, make the best scrumpy.

Pink Ladys like most of the varities we get here are dessert apples, nice enough, but wont yield a result like a true cider apple which is much higher in tannin characters.

 

[kman]

the cider i ended up with has been dubbed Death Cider, or alternatively, Liquid Evil.

Didnt take any SG readings, but id guess it is somewhere aroung 7-9%

Very deadly

 

[Backlane Brewery]

Yeah, there is something about cider/apples like that- we have named our various lots Snow White's Curse, Delicious Demon, Ugly Sister, Supreme Gravy (named after the 7.5l fermenter's original contents) & Poison Apple.
Also some things percolating about Eve- St Kilda Temptation, Serpent's Gift etc but even we thought these were a bit po-faced.
I liked the sound of "Old Fashioned Donkey Poison & Brass Polish" for the first lot of Berri juice stuff, but was outvoted.

 

[barfridge]

I love a good cider. My first effort was based on pr1me's black death scrumpy. Its a huge brew, and with a champagne yeast fermenting it right down, it came out at about 12%. I call it sewercider.

I love the flavour, but I think next time I'll use a yeast that wont attenuate as much, and hope to keep a bit more sweetness, at the expense of the drop-you-on-your-arse alcohol content.

 

[pr1me]

Try the same sugar levels as black death but use an ale yeast, most of them dont do much beyond 8%. Multiple racks will stick the ferment too, so do that when your gravity readings look about right for you after secondary.

I did one for my wedding called old rosie, based on apples and strawberries, which came out very nice.

Next in the line will be "Johnny Jump Up" based on a cider from wartime Ireland. Should even out at about 20% when done.

 

[Jase]

just finished putting on my apple cider, so we will see how it goes.

[post="33886"][/post]​

Hi Kman,

How'd the cider turn out?

Cheers,
Jase

 

[facter]

...after secondary, what FG do you guys usually bottle at? Mine, using a modified Black Rock base, atm is around 1.002 - i was wondering if it needed to get all the way down to 1.000 and ferment right out in order for it to be okay to bottle?


I will be doing an experiment with this batch, and using powdered Stevia as a primer to sweeten it

 

[Airgead]

if you want to make a nice cider there are some orchards in Vic that sell proper cider apples, looke for varieties such as Kingston Black or Bulmers Norman, they IMHO, make the best scrumpy.

Pink Ladys like most of the varities we get here are dessert apples, nice enough, but wont yield a result like a true cider apple which is much higher in tannin characters.

[post="38280"][/post]​

Pr1me

Do you have any addresses for cider apple orcahards? The only one I know of here in NSW pulled out all their cider trees last year *sob*. Dessert apple juice with added acid and tanin just isn't the same. I have 2 crab apple trees and I juice the fruit but thats only enough to adjust one batch of cider.

Cheers
Dave

 

[facter]

Do you have any addresses for cider apple orcahards? The only one I know of here in NSW pulled out all their cider trees last year *sob*. Dessert apple juice with added acid and tanin just isn't the same. I have 2 crab apple trees and I juice the fruit but thats only enough to adjust one batch of cider.

Yeah, I'm looking for orchards here in WA but not having much luck, heard there may be some down south but...eh.