First Cider Help Needed

[birusuki]

So I`m just about to try a cider, using juice from the super market.
Now the thing is I`m in Japan and cant tell if it has additives or not.
I bought one litre and put some in a jar with a bit of yeast and it seemed
to ferment ok. So I`m guessing it will be ok. $1 a litre.

I can also get berri apple juice, is that ok? it has big japanese lables pasted over the
back so I cant read it.

I was just planning to do a 20ltre batch with some apples thrown in.
using young`s cider yeast (UK Ebay)

Questions.

will the above simple recipe be dry, or medium?
Does the juice need to be boiled, pasterized?

Iread somewhere of people using a small amount
of malt to give it some body say 100-150grm

I dont want a real sweet cider medium to a little dry.
and am looking for around 6%.

The above juice is quite sweet, will that be taken away by the fermentation?
Anyone tried youngs cider yeast before?
Have some wyeast on order but it wont get here till next year.

cheers.

 

[Tanga]

Brewing your own in Japan? Are you crazy man? Their bottle-os are so cheap. =p. Got into shochu yet?

If you want to post a copy of the label here I may be able to check some of it. But Berri juice seems to do it's thing pretty well here, and presumably it's the same stuff. It was like that when I was over there (they just imported the OS stuff and stuck their own labels on it).

I've got no idea about the tolerance of the yeast you posted, but it's probably higher than the juice's potential - ie it's going to ferment out very dry. I'm not experienced making cider from juice, but I did find when making the kit stuff that lactose was great for taking the edge off and adding a bit of sweetness. I've no idea where you'd get that over there - sorry. It should be a fine off-white powder and when you taste it has no flavour other than sweetness. Here is a page with a bit of info on adding it:
http://www.abc.net.au/tasmania/stories/s1688101.htm

You don't need to fluff around with the camden tablets because the apple juice you have won't have wild yeasts, etc. According to that I'd probably add about 100-200g of lactose powder. I'd send you some but I don't think sending white powder through the mail would be a good idea =/ - sorry. Plus I'm in the boonies at the moment and am not sure how I'm going to get some for my own use. Can you get some from the same place that will send you the wyeast? An official carrier might have more luck getting it through. If you want to get started just do it. You can always add sweetness later (a bit of juice in the glass along with the cider seems to work well).

This is just the basics. Do a forum search for more info from those in the know. Here's one I prepared earlier:
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...ghlite=%2Bcider

Good-luck!

 

[Tanga]

PS - forget the apples. Too much effort (need to use camden tablets, etc) and they'll still be a vector for infection. Just stick with the juice.

Also if you're only going to be doing small batches I'd recommend giving oztops a go. You can get them through suppliers and off ebay - $25 including postage - and then you just pop in the yeast and put the top on and you're good to go.

 

[birusuki]

Thanks Tanga,

Just ordered some lactose today. there are a couple of online homebrew stores here, one with partial english
it had some lactose. yeah.

I plan to do around a 20ltr batch + I`ll add the lactose.

Warming up in Adelaide yet? I`m from Broadview myself. not far away.
oztops I`ll have a look sounds good. thanks for the headsup.

 

[Tanga]

It was, but it's cooled down again now. I'm not in Adelaide at the moment - I'm in the country (Arno Bay - between Whyalla and Port Lincoln). The Snapper season has just started again and I'm trying to talk my brother into taking me out fishing. Pity I don't have any of my brew here to enjoy with that. =( Might have to make do.

I'm about to purchase some oztops myself for a bit of a play with fruit juice. I'll let you know how it goes. =)

What are you guys doing in Japan? Working as an English Instructor?

 

[manticle]

PS - forget the apples. Too much effort (need to use camden tablets, etc) and they'll still be a vector for infection. Just stick with the juice.

Big effort sure but you don't have to use campden and infection is not a guarantee.

If I had better equipment I would make more frequent, sulphite free all apple cider.

 

[SuiCIDER]

If you need to backsweeten, check my thread on bottle pasteurisation. I've had people from Japan ask me about it on another site! I think Berri has preservatives in it, you need to be careful of any sorbates used (you can overcome most other preservatives by pitching onto a yeast cake or warming, whisking and letting sit for a day or two).

 

[Airgead]

PS - forget the apples. Too much effort (need to use camden tablets, etc) and they'll still be a vector for infection. Just stick with the juice.

A lot of effort but can be well worth it...

Probably not worth juicing a few to throw in with shop juice (unless they are something like granny smith to add some acidity.. that could be worthwhile). But all fresh juice cider can be fantastic. You can blend different varieties of apples to get just what you want.

I juiced 45kg of apples this year for my cider. Ended up with 30l of really, really nice cider. And my crab apple cider from last year was to die for. Depending on apple prices (and whether I can get a proper press) I might do a couple of hundred kg next year.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Tanga]

Proven wrong. I guess I'm pretty lazy, but yeah, I wouldn't bother for a couple. If I had a juicer I might give it a go - but I would probably use some kind of sulphite because the one and only time I tried to make the real deal I ended up with a very funky result (that was way before I learnt about sterillisation, etc). Potentially awesome. I'm just sad because I'm unable to take advantage of Foodland / IGA's fruit juice special. 1/2 price for real juice whatever - yes please... no wait =(.