How to get started in Cider. The definitive(ish) guide to beginner&#39

Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum

Help Support Australia & New Zealand Homebrewing Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
The easiest way to get a license is to own a farm and grow your own fruit.
 
practicalfool said:
Juice, Coles brand cloudy apple from the cold shelf + champagne or white wine yeast. Ferment dry, no added sugar. Carbonate and age minimum 1-2 months. A bit like apple wine. Develops strong fruity flavours with time.
.
Have you ever blended the cloudy with cheaper juice? I priced that juice at $60 for 23 litres.
 
@ Fletcher, the saison itself. i.e., blending beer and saison in a glass/jug.

@ p_t, nah mate, I've only brewed 4L at a time in a glass demijohn. Still, 60 bucks compares to fwk prices... I like to bottle my cider though or drink it from the fermenter :p
 
Greg.L said:
The easiest way to get a license is to own a farm and grow your own fruit.
Yeah... unfortunately not an option for me at the moment but I will be partnering up with a commercial orchardist so that may help.

Cheers
Dave
 
1st attempt at Cider has been sitting in the ferment fridge at 17 degrees since Saturday.. fridge is smelling delicious.

Used 2 x 1.8L Berri brand Apple,Pomegranate and Rasberry juice, and ~1L of Woolies select Apple juice.

Used Lalvin strain ICV D47 yeast, checked on it today and discovered a fair amount of juice on the floor, seems it climbed out of the 5L demijohn. :ph34r:

cider1.jpg
 
Judanero said:
1st attempt at Cider has been sitting in the ferment fridge at 17 degrees since Saturday.. fridge is smelling delicious.

Used 2 x 1.8L Berri brand Apple,Pomegranate and Rasberry juice, and ~1L of Woolies select Apple juice.

Used Lalvin strain ICV D47 yeast, checked on it today and discovered a fair amount of juice on the floor, seems it climbed out of the 5L demijohn. :ph34r:
nice mate. can you please update on here when it's done? i'd like to know how low that yeast gets as i noticed on their page that it's good for making residual sugar wines. i'm guessing/hoping it doesn't get AS low as other wine yeasts in that case.
 
Judanero said:
Used Lalvin strain ICV D47 yeast, checked on it today and discovered a fair amount of juice on the floor, seems it climbed out of the 5L demijohn. :ph34r:
Where the hell did you get the D47 from?

I've been looking for it (albeit not very hard) for so long that I forgot why I wanted it in the first place!
 
I have weird balls of yeast, about the shape of chick peas that closely resemble tumors floating on top of my cider (21L).

Is this normal? Will it inhibit my getting laid? Chicks dig tumors, right?
 
Matty McFly said:
I have weird balls of yeast, about the shape of chick peas that closely resemble tumors floating on top of my cider (21L).

Is this normal? Will it inhibit my getting laid? Chicks dig tumors, right?
ooh, you have 'growths'? shit son, no chick likes going anywhere near growths

"it's not a rash i swear"
 
Matty McFly said:
I have weird balls of yeast, about the shape of chick peas that closely resemble tumors floating on top of my cider (21L).

Is this normal? Will it inhibit my getting laid? Chicks dig tumors, right?
Not usually normal... which yeast? Any chance of a photo?

Cheers
Dave
 
It was dry sachet of ale yeast that I rehydrated., came in a little white packet. Some English brand, I forget.

Here she is though.

Edit: It may also help to mention I added about 3/4 a cup of sultanas (no preservatives) in there and a little ginger, just to act as a makeshift yeast nutrient. This is just a guess, but I think the yeast may be engulfing the sultanas because well, c'mon, they're tasty.

2cq1iyg.jpg
 
Yep... those are swollen sultanas. Nothing to worry about.

Someone else here got caught the same way.

BTW - adding sultanas probably isn't doing anything to the cider. I'd leave them out next time. People used to use them in the old days as a yeast nutrient. no need now and they don't add any flavour unless you use heaps (which is expensive).

Cheers
Dave
 
fletcher said:
nice mate. can you please update on here when it's done? i'd like to know how low that yeast gets as i noticed on their page that it's good for making residual sugar wines. i'm guessing/hoping it doesn't get AS low as other wine yeasts in that case.
Yeah mate will do, it's my first run at cider so I'll update as soon as it's finished up and into the mini keg..

Fingers crossed it comes out alright!
 
Great post Airgead... I love zoider. If you need to make a cider to extinguish your tough talking mates, make 'Parish' cider. 18l of preservative free juice, 500g of brown sugar and champagne yeast. If they're still good after 2 pints I'll floss with a bike chain!

I love Nottingham yeast as a cider fave, and if you're wont to experiment, get some cherries or blueberries as if you were making a kriek.

InCider.
 
For those kegging cider, I have found the fermenter that God does cider in.

It's not cheap, the best part of $30 but it's perfect.

Because cider doesn't krausen during fermentation, you don't need massive headspace and the standard types of beer 30L FVs are a bit too big if you are doing a keg batch.

BCF (no affiliation) sell a very sturdy - makes other "fermenting vessels" seem like takeaway containers : nominal 20L water drum that is bloody brilliant. I originally bought it as a cold conditioning vessel for a keg size beer brew, but when I got onto cider it got swiftly purloined.


six minute cider.jpg

One advantage is the "well" at the bottom - cider yeast sticks like shyte to a blanket and settles out to a very sticky and compact layer at the bottom of the well, so there is virtually no loss to trub. Usually manage to fill a keg and have a couple of pints out of the FV as well, which is ok for scrumpy style. :chug:
 
O American overlords!

Can you please make this thread sticky!
 
Hi guys,

I'm going to have crack at my first cider, my wife wants a strawberry and lime. So how does the following sound for a 9l trial batch
6l of Coles apple juice
Two .850 tins of pear juice
500g of strawberries - going to chop up and boil to a purée
1 lime, juice in and boil up the zest and add as well
Cider yeast from local HB shop

What do you think? Have I missed anything? Anything I should add?
 
Ok... don't boil the strawberries. unless you want it to taste like jam. Cooked strawberry tasted totally different to fresh.

Strawberries also don't have a lot of flavour. Half a kilo I suspect you will barely taste. I'd be shooting at a kilo at least. Try to grab frozen ones. The freezing helps release the juice. They are also way cheaper than fresh.

You could also try adding the zest unboiled as well. Or make your zest tea and add it post fermentation. You may get more flavour that way.

Cheers
Dave
 

Latest posts

Back
Top