Hello from The United States

[MindenMan]

I am fairly new to home brewing, as I have been at it for a year or so. My wife bought me an ale kit for a gift, and the rest as they say is history... I am always looking for a new brew sites as I am interested in what other brewers around the world are doing. I started out making ale, and now I make hard cider too. I find making cider much less predictable than beer, but is probably just my being new. I look forward to any and all help and advise.

 

[Yob]

Poor foolish wives do this all too often, here they are thinking they are 'just' giving a small gift that will be forgotten like last years remote controlled helicopter.. Foolishly not understanding that they have made a life changing purchase..

Welcome aboard. Where abouts in the States are you from?

 

[iralosavic]

Greetings. Welcome aboard! We are a pretty cheeky and sarcastic bunch, but friendly and willing to help. If you find you need knowledge that is specific to your home turf, you should check out homebrewtalk.com The guys over there are like us, only less sarcastic and they have a wealth of technical knowledge and experience behind them too.

 

[Edak]

HBT is indeed a second resource for myself but I find that here on AHB that we are more innovative because we don't have the luxury of cheap brew gear like in the states.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

HBT is indeed a second resource for myself but I find that here on AHB that we are more innovative because we don't have the luxury of cheap brew gear like in the states.

2 pot stovetop method with lauter FTW. h34r:

 

[Bribie G]

Hi, you'll find there are a lot of cider brewers here as well - until fairly recently in Australia cider was a drink for strange guys who wear wooly cardigans or old ladies who couldn't drink gin any more. However a few years ago the Government massively increased taxes on cans of premixed drinks (Bourbon and Coke for example) to try and reduce binge drinking amongst teens and young adults.

So the booze companies heavily pushed cider and from about four brands a decade ago there are now entire cider sections with dozens of varieties in the Grog Shops and everywhere you go there are cider taps springing up on bars etc.

As more people get a taste for the stuff it's spilled over into home brewing as well. I just make a quaffing cider out of supermarket apple juice ( a dollar a litre), proper cider yeast and some sugar for extra kick, and keg it in a Cornelius keg just before it attenuates so it comes out not too dry.

 

[iralosavic]

I might give this cider a go for my missus when she stops breast feeding. So to get it really sweet and fruity, you just crash chill it prior to it reaching terminal gravity? What if the keg warms up, Bribie!? Filter the crap out of it at .45m absolute or something?

 

[Bribie G]

No, I whack it in a 6° kegerator and it halts the fermentation in its tracks, however even at those temps it does continue to slowly ferment and produce its own serving CO2
So it comes out real fizzy, that would not be suitable for beer but just perfect for cider. After about a week it gets noticeably dryer as it uses up the sugars so I just pour a jug and backsweeten with some fresh apple juice, or apple /blackcurrant.

If you serve it to her whilst breastfeeding wouldn't it get the baby off to sleep better? h34r:

edit: wrote "if you give it to her" but that could be misconstrued

 

[squirt in the turns]

If you serve it to her whilst breastfeeding wouldn't it get the baby off to sleep better? h34r:

edit: wrote "if you give it to her" but that could be misconstrued

Cue dickins/creamin' cider joke.

 

[iralosavic]

haha well because she hasn't had much more than a moutful here and there in 2-3 years (2 breast-suckers back to back), she basically falls asleep half way through a bottle, but I expect this will change when the feeding stops. The baby is impervious to any kind of sleep inducing trickery, including magic.

I suppose filtering cider at .45 would get pretty much all the yeast out of suspension though and serve as a reasonable solution. How do the pros do it?

 

[Yob]

How do the pros do it?

any way you like honey :lol:

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

haha well because she hasn't had much more than a moutful here and there in 2-3 years (2 breast-suckers back to back), she basically falls asleep half way through a bottle, but I expect this will change when the feeding stops. The baby is impervious to any kind of sleep inducing trickery, including magic.

I suppose filtering cider at .45 would get pretty much all the yeast out of suspension though and serve as a reasonable solution. How do the pros do it?

It took until after the 4th kid for the missus to have more than a mouthful on extremely rare occasions. The upside is, that when she came back, hoppy beers were my thing, so she came straight into good APAs and now loves Vale IPA as her favourite beer and will have one or two with me on the odd night.

 

[iralosavic]

any way you like honey :lol:

haha :chug:

It took until after the 4th kid for the missus to have more than a mouthful on extremely rare occasions. The upside is, that when she came back, hoppy beers were my thing, so she came straight into good APAs and now loves Vale IPA as her favourite beer and will have one or two with me on the odd night.

I'm hoping I can get her onto something like that. She has taste tested a few brews and been indifferent at best, not being a beer lady previously, but I'll work my way from a fruit saison if I have to.