Hi again guys, joined a while back but never really got active here. I've recently bought my own house and have been unpacking stuff from various stashes and came across my fermenters so I decided I'd have another crack. Previously I made 3 batches of K&K (can't even remember what they were now) with 2 successes and 1 that tasted very average. When I found my fermenters I also found the 16 or so longnecks of this 'average beer'. Wasn't all that good after 5 years and one even smelt (and tasted) of vegemite.
This time round I've made 2 ciders (aldi juice style) and have been using the forums for inspiration and learning. Cider 1 is an all apple juice (20L Apple juice, 500g honey, 500g lactose, 1l black tea, 1 lemon juice and S-04) and Cider 2 is an apple and blackcurrant blend (10L Apple, 10L apple and blackcurrant, 750ml blackcurrant syrup, 500g honey, 500g lactose, 1l strong tea, 1 lemon juice and S-04 again). Both are fermented out (went 1.001 approx) but with some residual sweetness from the lactose as expected. I hadn't found my hygrometer for the initial gravity so I have no gauge of the actual alcohol but they are both pretty good strength wise without being 'rocket fuel', my guess is around 6-6.5%. I have these bulk ageing in some 20L drums and will do so for about a month before bottling (going for still, not carbed).
The apple and blackcurrant is definitely the favourite and for my next few batches I have planned another one, plus an apple and mango one also. Both using 20L of the same juice (rather than half apple only) as I felt that splitting the juice in the first blackcurrant batch took away from the flavour, thats why I added the syrup. I also have 2 new yeasts to try and am considering doing 3 blackcurrant batches (have 3 ferms) at same time, trialling the S-04, US-05 and MJ cider yeast I have on hand.
Anyway, this was just a quick thanks to this forum and the info it provides and getting me back into the homebrew scene :beerbang: :beer: :chug:
This time round I've made 2 ciders (aldi juice style) and have been using the forums for inspiration and learning. Cider 1 is an all apple juice (20L Apple juice, 500g honey, 500g lactose, 1l black tea, 1 lemon juice and S-04) and Cider 2 is an apple and blackcurrant blend (10L Apple, 10L apple and blackcurrant, 750ml blackcurrant syrup, 500g honey, 500g lactose, 1l strong tea, 1 lemon juice and S-04 again). Both are fermented out (went 1.001 approx) but with some residual sweetness from the lactose as expected. I hadn't found my hygrometer for the initial gravity so I have no gauge of the actual alcohol but they are both pretty good strength wise without being 'rocket fuel', my guess is around 6-6.5%. I have these bulk ageing in some 20L drums and will do so for about a month before bottling (going for still, not carbed).
The apple and blackcurrant is definitely the favourite and for my next few batches I have planned another one, plus an apple and mango one also. Both using 20L of the same juice (rather than half apple only) as I felt that splitting the juice in the first blackcurrant batch took away from the flavour, thats why I added the syrup. I also have 2 new yeasts to try and am considering doing 3 blackcurrant batches (have 3 ferms) at same time, trialling the S-04, US-05 and MJ cider yeast I have on hand.
Anyway, this was just a quick thanks to this forum and the info it provides and getting me back into the homebrew scene :beerbang: :beer: :chug:
