Cider

[kwinchee]

ok dudes i was just wondering wat is the best brand of cider to use or is it better to make your own

cool hope you reply

 

[gybrid]

I've made quite a few brews of the cider that Coles sell (can't remember the name, they only have one anyway i think) & it's okay.. i'm not a huge fan of cider tho... made it for my girlfriend, and she likes it.

Important to rack your cider tho, greatly improves clarity... not so important for ginger beer tho i found.

 

[Pumpy]

sorry if it a bit long but I cut and pasted it from a file I had saved no credit to me .

The secret to making a great tasting cider is in the blending of apples prior to pressing. Making hard cider from a single type of apple will result in a bland drink with no real character. Apple cider mills usually guard their secret recipes well. Basicly you what a blend of at least two apples mixed by weight at a ratio of 2:1. For sweet cider use 2 parts sweet verity and one part tart. Reversing the mixture will make a dryer cider. While the ratio remains the same, you can add more complexity and character by using more verities of apples. Our local supplier uses 6 varities and that's all he's saying.
Making hard cider is very much like making wine. Fresh pressed apple cider is fermented without the addition of any sugars. The starting gravity should be between 1.040 and 1.050. This will produce a dry cider with about 4.5% - 5% abv. The key to success is using fresh pressed cider that has not been treated in any way. Cider purchased at the super market will almost always contain preservatives and will rot before it will ferment. State and local laws require producers to treat apples with anti bacterial sprays prior to pressing and many require that stabilizers be added prior to sale. You must ask your supplier for wine or hard cider grade juice. Arrange to pick up your cider the day you will start to make it. The fresher the better!
Got Juice? Here's What Else You Need
Equipment
Ingredients

primary fermenter
glass carboy
airlock & stopper
hydrometer
siphon
sanitizing chemicals
bottles, caps & capper fresh pressed cider
campden tablets
citric acid
pectic enzyme
yeast nutrient
wine or brewers yeast
isinglass optional


A Note About Yeast: The type of yeast you select makes a great difference in the flavor of your cider. In the old days the cider was left to ferment on it's own. That was done out of ignorance of the true nature of bacterial fermentaion. Wine yeast will produce a clean, dry flavored cider with little of no aftertaste. For a dry cider use champagne yeast or for semi sweet cider try Cote De Blanc. Cider with a more rounded, lasting flavor can be made by using brewer's ale yeast.

Here's What You Do
1. Crush up one campden tablet per gallon of cider to suppress any bacteria or wild yeast.
2. Add 1/2 teaspoon of pectic enzyme per gallon to prevent pectin haze in the finished cider.
3. Add 1/4 teaspoon of yeast nutrient per gallon to provide for complete fermentation.
4. Cover and let the juice rest for 24 hours stirring once or twice during that time.
5. Use a hydrometer to record the starting gravity of the must.
6. Open the primary fermenter and sprinkle in one packet of wine or brewer's yeast. Let the yeast re-hydrate for five minutes then stir it in for about a minute. Close the fermenter and attach an air lock which is half full of water. Ferment for 7 to 10 days at 70 degrees.
7. Open the fermenter and check the specific gravity with a hydormeter. It should have dropped by at least 75%. If not, close the fermenter and allow to sit for a few more days. Do not leave the cider in the primary fermenter for more than 10 days. If the specific gravity has not dropped in that time, continue to the next step any way.
8. Place the primary fermenter on a counter ot table top 24 hours prior to the next step. This will provide time to the sediment to settle to the bottle of the pail.
9. Clean and sanitize a glass secondary fermenter along with your siphon equipment. Crush up one campden table per gallon and put them into the secondary fermenter.
10. Siphon the cider from the primary to the secondary ferment. Attach an air lock and allow to rest for 14 days and 70 degrees.
11. Check the cider for clarity. If it is hazy or not quite clear, you can add a fining agent such as isinglass. Add the fining agent directly to the fermenter and stir it in gently. Allow the cider to rest for another week at 60 tp 65 degrees.
12. Clean and sanitize your primary fermenter or another glass carboy and siphon the cider into it. Sample the cider by tasting a small amount. You can adjust it at this time. If it tastes a little bland you can add 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of citric to taste. If it is lacking in apple flavor but the tartness is correct add our apple flavor enhancer. If it is too tart or sour add frozen apple juice concentrate, which contains no preservitites, to taste. Allow the cider to age for another week in a cool place.
Bottling Hard Cider
Hard cider is best bottled in standard beer bottles using regular crown caps. You can make the cider still or sparking by adding priming sugar the same way as is done with beer. Bottles and caps must be cleaned and sanitized just prior to filling.

Pumpy

 

[Pumpy]

Some of the best cider I have tasted has pear juice and sultanas in the mix perhaps its not strictly cider I think they call it Perry .

I have tasted plenty of cider in my life but rarely made any just careful with the kits they tend to turn out tasting like Aero plane fuel .

I think because they dont have enough unfermentable sugar left and lack flavour if it is anything like brewing all grain beer you should get better results with real apples ,dont worry too much about clarity some of the nicest cider I have tasted was cloudy .

Pumpy

 

[Pumpy]

I bought my missus a Breville juicing machine for Christmas ,I thought this may be useful not for juicing carrots ,celery ,and Tomatoes which I will be explaining how veges high in antioxidents are good for her but I recon it will do a good job on apples and Pears so I can see if I can get good results with real juice ,I may add that cider is normally pressed to get the juice .
Cider is popular drink in England.

Pumpy

 

[sluggerdog]

Half cider and half beer in a pint glass with a little bit of that red stuff they have at pubs - called a snake bite, irish thing, really smeaks up on you and kicks you in the ass..

Bloody nice though

 

[kwinchee]

Ok thanks heaps 4 the replys ill make that recpie just a few questions

what are
glass carboy
campden tablets
pectic enzyme
isinglass optional


and dose any body have any ideas on altenetivs to brew other than beer wine and spirits

hope u reply

 

[Doc]

Ok thanks heaps 4 the replys ill make that recpie just a few questions

what are
glass carboy
campden tablets
pectic enzyme
isinglass optional


and dose any body have any ideas on altenetivs to brew other than beer wine and spirits

hope u reply

kwinchee, do a search on this site and you will find the majority of the info you require.
However based on your other postings are you interested in beer or other beverages. If other then this site is probably not a good fit for you as we are pretty focused on beer.

Doc

 

[kwinchee]

i brew beer it just that i wanted to try sumthing different

 

[kook]

A Note About Yeast: The type of yeast you select makes a great difference in the flavor of your cider. In the old days the cider was left to ferment on it's own. That was done out of ignorance of the true nature of bacterial fermentaion. Wine yeast will produce a clean, dry flavored cider with little of no aftertaste. For a dry cider use champagne yeast or for semi sweet cider try Cote De Blanc. Cider with a more rounded, lasting flavor can be made by using brewer's ale yeast.

I'm not a big cider drinker, but of the ciders I've tried the only ones I've really enjoyed have all been naturally fermented farmhouse ciders (and a perry!). They're brewed pretty much the same way as lambics. They also taste very similar (sour tart finish, barnyard/wet leather aroma etc).

If I was to try to brew a cider now i'd definately experiment with a mixture of cider yeast (WY3766) and Belgian Lambic Blend (WY3728).

 

[pr1me]

Leaving ciders to brew on their own is not "ignorance", they are fermented using the wild yeasts found in the apple itself. They are just as viable a method of fermentation as using a cultured yeast.

Blends do not always yield the best results, single variety cider are just as tasty, the key isnt the blend of random apples, but the varieties you use.

Sweet
Bittersweet
Bittersharp

true Cider apples fall under the last two varieties, dessert apples such as jonathon, fuji, pink ladys etc fall under the first. If you want to make a cider, juicing can take forever, and kit ciders are usually crap. Go to an orchard and buy 50 litres of juice and start with that.

Yeast choice is important, if you want a sweet cider, try using a sweet mead yeast, if you want something drier, you can use the UK english cider yeast and everything else including ale yeast up to champagne yeast for an extra dry result. Alternatively, just leave it with some yeast nutrient with no additional yeast, and let it ferment by itself.

You dont need:
campden tablets(if you rack)
pectic enzyme(because you just dont bloody need it)
isinglass(see above)

A carboy is just a glass fermenter. Plastic or wood will work just as well to ferment in.

If you have any more questions, drop me a PM.

 

[Backlane Brewery]

No offence, Pr1me, but you may be wasting your breath/keyboard fingers on this.
This is the guy who said he was already a brewer, but had to ask what "brew enchnacer" is.
Check some of his other posts, if only for the inventive spellings.
I took him seriously for a day or two as well.

 

[pr1me]

lol no offence taken mate, but my post was mostly in response to Pumpy's post. Theres alot of misinformation about cider floating around the net, mostly it seems from the states from "experts" who make "hard cider". I try and nip it in the bud whenever I can.