Hello from the Middle East

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Nikitos

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Hi every one am nick. I live in Saudi and attempting to make my own cider for the first time.
I made a post under non beer brewing and I could appreciate any help as I seem to have hit a brick wall.... newbe and allšŸ˜…šŸ˜…
 
Is making alcohol in Saudi Arabia even legal? Donā€™t want to see you end up running foul of the authorities over there. They arenā€™t known for their lenience etc.
 
Is making alcohol in Saudi Arabia even legal? Donā€™t want to see you end up running foul of the authorities over there. They arenā€™t known for their lenience etc.
Saudi is a changed country these days. No one really cares what u are doing as long as u are not shouving it in their face. Plus am doing this strictly for myself. So yeh its pretty much fine.
I appreciate your concern ....
Ps u will be shocked by the amounts of home made moonshine on sale here šŸ˜…šŸ¤£
 
Iā€™m not sure the 81 men who were beheaded on a single day in March this year would agree that it is a changed placed. Certainly not on my list of places to visit, but horses for courses I guess.

Good luck with the cider. I see MHB (Mark) has replied to your yeast question. Heā€™s a font of knowledge and when he speaks, I listen.

JD
 
Regional hostilities mean that you have to be careful when brewing over there...

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Why not give us a list of the kinds of ingredients you can get that you reckon you might be able to make beer, cider, wine etc from.
Thinkgs like fruit, grains, juices, yeasts etc.
 
Well fruits and grain of all sort are available fermenter are easy to DIY.
No hydrometer but a refractometer will do . The main issue remains the yeast. And ofcourse no hops. For the east I can only find bread yeast fresh or dry.
That's why cider is a beverage of choice since I don't need to use yeast all.
 
I've been wanting to experiment with bread yeast for a few years, now, and have never got round to it. I make my own bread and buy cubes of fresh bakers yeast from the bakery, but I would use dried yeast to experiment with. In fact I have a small, unopened can of Allinson's Easy Bake so I might have a go when the weather cools down a bit.
I had a look on the internet and there's quite a lot of conflicting information. The most useful site I found was this one. Can You Use Bread Yeast To Make Beer? (Pros, Cons, & Issues) - Learning to Homebrew

By the way, There used to be a supermarket chain in the UK called Safeway- now long gone- but it used to stock an Australian sparkling ale that came in an oversize (more than a pint) clear glass bottle. While the beer was clear in the bottle, it was impossible to pour a clear pint as the yeast rose up when the lid was removed. It also tasted bready.
It may have been a Little Creatures brew, but it was a long time ago and I may well be misremembering that. I'm sure readers on this forum will be able to identify it. My point being is that cold, sparkling, yeasty beer is a legitimate style and it can taste really good.

I'll see what I can produce with a teaspoonful of Allison's

But I wouldn't be doing it in Saudi. I'd rather move to more civilised parts.
 
Last edited:
I sent an email to Allinson's asking for their thoughts. Here's their reply;


Thank you for your recent email.

We have a number of people that use the easy bake yeast in beer making.

Although we do not have any recipes for this if you have a look on the internet I am sure you will find reference to this.

Kind regards

Jane Johnson
Customer Quality Co-ordinator
Customer Services
 
Hi Nikitos

Having lived in Qatar for a number of years I understand the difficulty you are experiencing.
The challenge will be making a brew which tastes good based on wild or bakers yeast.

Attempting to make cider from a wild ferment would be hard to make taste good as:
  • the apples will be a sweet apple, high in sugar but low on flavour
  • temperature control would be difficult
  • the yeast isn't the best.

To try and overcome these issues:
- buy a mix of sweet and cooking apples to try and give the cider flavour.
- convert an old fridge into a fermentation chamber and run it at 16c, it should help with a clean ferment (in my experience)
- run small batches to try and find a yeast culture that works (wild or bakers)
- use other local fruit in your yeast experiments to help find the right yeast
- chat to your expat or compound mates to see who might be brewing and ask if you can use some of their trub
- look for yeast nutrient substitutes to help your ferments along
- brew some country fruit wine and other brews as some ingredients will mask fermentation imperfections better than others
a good example of this would be honey (ignoring I was shocked by the cost of honey in Qatar).

Good luck
 
Hi Nick, welcome to AHB. What's final?:drinkingbeer:
 
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