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

[bcp]

Pear cider
After reading all 17 pages here, not so much info on pear ciders, which is what I want to try in a few small batches - starting with store-bought juices. I'm not sure how much pure pear changes anything to the previous discussion here.

I'm after a relatively dry finish, bottle conditioning and maybe back-sweeten a little if it's too dry.
4 litres of pear juice (Bickfords Cloudy or Goulburn Valley)
Maybe some tea - 1 teabag?
Safcider yeast

A few questions:
1. Sorbitol - provides residual sweetness. Since I'll be using only pear juice, how much residual sweetness will that have? Will I get sorbitol from store-bought juices or is it possible they have a process that might reduce/eliminate it (since I don't really know what it is)?
2. Back-sweetening - Thinking of using Giffard's Pear (Poire) Syrup in the glass. Never tried it but since it's made from pears, has a pear aroma, etc. Anyone familiar with it?
3. Yeast nutrient - with smaller batches is yeast nutrient still worth doing?
4. Tea - I'm no expert in the role of tannins in pear cider or what is already present in the juices. Still worth doing?

 

[desmogod]

Great thread guys, thank you.
Going to be brewing a few all grains after many years of not brewing anything (previous was BIAB type brews) for our after drinks on our wedding day.
The bride to be wants me to brew a cider and after reading that it really needs conditioning for a while and the event only being 10 weeks away, I’ll be getting a cider on tomorrow night.
I’ve read the entire thread but have a few questions.
Planning on:
15 litres Aldi apple juice (preservative free)
4 litres of pear juice
1 litre of water boiled with a few tea bags and adding roughly 500g of her grandfather’s honey to the tea mix.
US-05
Malic acid to taste at the end of fermentation.
My only real concern is that it’s still relatively cold here at night (7-9C) and I’m worried the yeast won’t do it’s job.
Or should I just pitch it and hope for the best?

 

[theSeekerr]

Bodge up a fermentation chamber - a cardboard box insulated with whatever comes to hand is better than nothing, but you could get fancy with some foam insulation board from the big green shed. Keep it inside the house if you can get away with it.

A 20L batch in an enclosed space does a pretty good job of keeping itself warm once it gets going.

 

[Wolfman1]

Great thread guys, thank you.
Going to be brewing a few all grains after many years of not brewing anything (previous was BIAB type brews) for our after drinks on our wedding day.
The bride to be wants me to brew a cider and after reading that it really needs conditioning for a while and the event only being 10 weeks away, I’ll be getting a cider on tomorrow night.
I’ve read the entire thread but have a few questions.
Planning on:
15 litres Aldi apple juice (preservative free)
4 litres of pear juice
1 litre of water boiled with a few tea bags and adding roughly 500g of her grandfather’s honey to the tea mix.
US-05
Malic acid to taste at the end of fermentation.
My only real concern is that it’s still relatively cold here at night (7-9C) and I’m worried the yeast won’t do it’s job.
Or should I just pitch it and hope for the best?

Yes, go for it. Build a box and/or blankets or old jackets etc will help.
Are you doing kegs or bottles? If kegs then Consider getting a really nice classy apple juice as a back sweetener rather than the malic acid. I’ve just done that for a mates birthday and 500ml of juice from the farmers market gave it a big lift. Chuck it in a few days before
Congrats on the big day

 

[desmogod]

Yes, go for it. Build a box and/or blankets or old jackets etc will help.
Are you doing kegs or bottles? If kegs then Consider getting a really nice classy apple juice as a back sweetener rather than the malic acid. I’ve just done that for a mates birthday and 500ml of juice from the farmers market gave it a big lift. Chuck it in a few days before
Congrats on the big day

Going into a corny so I’ll take your advice on back sweetening

 

[Dubzie]

My simple strong/sweet cider:

18L Coles Apple juice
2kg Brown Sugar

2L starter of S-04 (cold crashed and decanted)

Fermented at 20*c
OG 1.085
FG 1.020 (into kegs) (i use a Tilt to monitor the gravity)
ABV 8.5%

Kegging and storing at beer fridge temps slows/stops the fermentation, you can let it ferment a bit more if its too sweet for you.
This is still quite sweet, but doesn't taste like its 8%, winner with the wife!

 

[altone]

My simple strong/sweet cider:

18L Coles Apple juice
2kg Brown Sugar

2L starter of S-04 (cold crashed and decanted)

Fermented at 20*c
OG 1.085
FG 1.020 (into kegs) (i use a Tilt to monitor the gravity)
ABV 8.5%

Kegging and storing at beer fridge temps slows/stops the fermentation, you can let it ferment a bit more if its too sweet for you.
This is still quite sweet, but doesn't taste like its 8%, winner with the wife!

Is that the cheap pasteurized stuff at $2 for 2l ? If so, I might give it a go. I'd be aiming for the dryer end of the spectrum.

 

[Dubzie]

Is that the cheap pasteurized stuff at $2 for 2l ? If so, I might give it a go. I'd be aiming for the dryer end of the spectrum.

Yea mate, total cost was like $26? if you included the cost of the DME for the starter, it's REAL easy drinking

 

[Thomas Wood]

18L Coles Apple juice
2kg Brown Sugar

So basically just chuck that all into a fermenter, sprinkle some S04 and she's sweet?

 

[Dubzie]

So basically just chuck that all into a fermenter, sprinkle some S04 and she's sweet?

If you're going to use dry yeast, i'd use 2 packets. (I've got a small bank of saved S-04 that i use to make yeast starters with)

 

[EziTasting]

A friend that makes wine (as if recently) has asked how I stop the cider from Oxydising?

I don’t recall reading about oxidizing effects... I have seen someone mention camden tablets (not that I can find it now) ... are they necessary?

Cheers
EZ

 

[gap]

A friend that makes wine (as if recently) has asked how I stop the cider from Oxydising?

I don’t recall reading about oxidizing effects... I have seen someone mention camden tablets (not that I can find it now) ... are they necessary?

Cheers
EZ

You should have very little headspace in your fermenter to help minimise oxidation.
Cider does not throw a large krausen.
Besides apple juice starts oxidising as soon as you crush the apples.

 

[EziTasting]

You should have very little headspace in your fermenter to help minimise oxidation.
Cider does not throw a large krausen.
Besides apple juice starts oxidising as soon as you crush the apples.

Thank you @gap.
I take it the same applies when bottling!?!

 

[gap]

Thank you @gap.
I take it the same applies when bottling!?!

Same headspace as bottling beer is OK

 

[Luchadore Brewer]

I've posted this in a few other forums since I've joined here and have been getting good advice.
Interested to know your thoughts on my attempt, and where I can improve to make an otherwise "Meh" cider sweeter a great cider.
I think I lost the flavours somewhere in fermentation.

In a 5L glass bottle:
4x 1L cartons of Dewlands Apple Juice
1x 480ml Herbapol Blackcurrant Syrup
1Cup sugar
1tsp Yeast Nutrient
1tsp Pectinase
1tsp Mangrove Jack Cider Yeast activated in apple juice


It was suggested that next time don't add the sugar, as the syrup and the apple juice had enough sugar on it's own. Primary fermentation finished in a week.
I don't drink a whole lot (and I used to work in a winery, funny that), so I don't know what to look for in the flavour of the final product, only what I think it should taste like.
In my next attempt I will ditch the extra sugar and add more syrup.

 

[Rob Oxenbridge]

Hi folks,

I'm completely new to brewing cider. I spent some weeks reading forums and articles before starting then thought I'd start simple with a Mangrove Jack's kit. Day 5 in the fermenter and I've just had a taste test. It's going very nicely but certainly needs some more time yet before bottling.

But I'm already thinking about my next batch and I'd like to use juice rather than a concentrate pouch. I have a recipe in mind based on everything I've read and what I would like.

My question is this. The kit includes the M02 yeast (which produces a nice drop by all accounts). Will it work to bottle off the current batch, leaving enough in the bottom as a starter, then add 20L of juice onto it? I'm thinking yes, but I've seen conflicting opinions. One person says add the fresh juice no worries. Others say skim off some yeast and wash it. Others say you only need a small amount from the original batch. One thread on reddit included a couple of people who claimed to work for commercial breweries and that they just re-use the raw liquid up to 10 times.

Can anyone add their experience based thoughts on which way to go? Seems a waste to tip it out and start with a new dry packet.

Thanks!

 

[drewbert]

Hi everyone. Have been reading this htread in depth and pulled the trigger for my first cider (second brew ever too)

Into a typical Cooper's FV went:
21 litres of Golden Circle Applie Juice
2 litres of Golden Circle Pear/Apple/Raspberry Juice (60% pear, 38% apple, 2% raspberry)
1 kilogram CSR Brown Sugar
5g (1 packet) Brigalow Brewing Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae)

pitched at 20 degrees.
Planning for a 3-4 week fermentation, then into bottles with those Coopers sugar tablets.

OG was 1059 which im hoping would go to 1020 or lower.
Im not sure how it would go in the end, as the Pear juice + the fact the yeast is an ale yeast so would (should?) not go too the same dryness and FG of a champagne yeast.

Is there anything that i would be wise to be on the look out for while it does its thing?
Thank you in advance for the shared advice in the past 18 pages, this is going to be fun!

 

[McDuck]

After reading a bit here, regular brewing of cider will leave it dry, unless you use sweeteners that are unfermentable.
So what if once you get to bottling stage, adding 50ml? Of the same juice used to the bottle then the 2 carbonate drops in the 740ml per bottles? Will the secondary fermentation eat it up? Will it go boom?
Or just try someone’s else recipe/keep researching.
Cheers

 

[captnhaddock]

So what if once you get to bottling stage, adding 50ml?
Of the same juice used to the bottle then the 2 carbonate drops in the 740ml per bottles? Will the secondary fermentation eat it up? Will it go boom?
Or just try someone’s else recipe/keep researching.
Cheers

1) No, do not add raw cider/juice & carb drops pre-bottling, you will kick off fermentation again and at best over-carb, at worse create a bottle bomb. Also, the yeast will take any raw cider/juice back dry, thusly negating the purpose of the addition.
2) As you've mentioned you'll want to add unfermentable sugars to achieve both mouth-feel and sweetness. I would recomend adding the unfermentable sugars at the beginning of the process rather than at the end.
3) don't over think it, just have a go at it, see if you like it, and make small & incremental changes to the next batches.

 

[Elmar]

1) No, do not add raw cider/juice & carb drops pre-bottling, you will kick off fermentation again and at best over-carb, at worse create a bottle bomb. Also, the yeast will take any raw cider/juice back dry, thusly negating the purpose of the addition.
2) As you've mentioned you'll want to add unfermentable sugars to achieve both mouth-feel and sweetness. I would recomend adding the unfermentable sugars at the beginning of the process rather than at the end.
3) don't over think it, just have a go at it, see if you like it, and make small & incremental changes to the next batches.

Try this recipe, works well.
I didn't worry about pectinase.

homebrewingaustralia.net/recipe-crisp-apple-cider/