Pics Of My Brewery

[pk.sax]

thats what u can do with a cider! ferment the juice
The purists will say you gotta crush n press the apples too, but plenty of ppl on here make their ciders from store bought apple juice So, yeah, thats a complete brewery too - apple juice + yeast + fermenter + airlock.

U definitely can't Mash a Juice! haha

 

[fasty73]

That whole starting from scratch thing just doesn't appeal to me. I'm sure there is more satisfaction from doing it all yourself, bat atm I am happy with cans of goo.

 

[sydneyhappyhour]

At the risk of re-igniting the infamous 'AG'ers are gods' theory....

Is it technically a brewery if you are only fermenting?

In the wine world the building they just ferment in is still called a Winery. So I lean toward Yes!

 

[fasty73]

Thanks sydneyhappyhour!!!!

 

[manticle]

That whole starting from scratch thing just doesn't appeal to me. I'm sure there is more satisfaction from doing it all yourself, bat atm I am happy with cans of goo.

Making cider from apple juice you buy at the supermarket is even easier than a kit kilo brew. Ladies seem to like cider so I think the suggestion was that 1 in every 8 brews, you make a cider for her to keep her happy. Basically add 18 litres of peservative free juice (can be cheap - homebrand, safeway, aldi etc) to a fermenter and sprinkle in some yeast. Easy and cheap but let it ferment properly.

If she doesn't like cider then forget it (unless you do).

 

[fasty73]

She loves apple cider. So if I use 18 ltrs and just put in 7 grams of brigalow packet yeast. I don't need any more sugar? No cooking anything? How long to leave it ferment and how to bottle? She might like that.

 

[manticle]

Get a better yeast or at least use two packets of the brigalow if you can. US05 will be better which you can get from home brew shop (1 pack is enough of that). Yeast nutrient is a good idea too. However that's as complicated as it gets.

No more sugar, no heating or boiling or squashing or mashing or anything. Just juice, yeast, nutrient, seal her up and ferment under 20 degrees until she's good and ready. Prime and bottle as you would beer.

Warning - FG will be lower so slightly higher alc but you also need to let it really finish to avoid the bombs. Cider will be dry so if she likes sweet then add a bit of sugar or fresh apple juice to the glass as she drinks it.

 

[Bribie G]

6 fermenters!!! Where do you find the time...

ve haf vays

 

[Hatchy]

The ciders I've done are easily the easiest brews I've done. Juice into the fermenter, sprinkle yeast, close lid, wait, bottle. The 3rd one was even easier. Rack cider to bottling bucket & pour juice on yeast cake. I used 4766 for that 1 so figured I should use it twice. The 1st 1 was e118 I think. White wine yeast. The brigalow yeast would make some sort of a fermented beverage but would leave you with a can that doesn't have yeast.

Less than 6 months ago I was saying I'd never have a reason to brew AG. I'm on my phone ATM, if I was on my laptop I'd post pictures.

 

[fasty73]

What nutrient manticle? Going online now to order US05!!!

 

[Hatchy]

I'd recommend wyeast 4766 if you can get it. The nutrient is in the smack pack.

 

[fasty73]

Don't understand the whole nutrient thing. Is it part of the yeast?

 

[manticle]

Online you should find diammonium phosphate (DAP) or yeast nutrient or wine yeast nutrient depending on where you are ordering from. An alternative is to boil up some old dried yeast packets in a bit of water as dead yeast can be a nutrient to living (just not too much).

Nutrient just gives it a helping hand. Like using cutting oil when drilling through steel.

The brew won't produce a lot of froth while it's fermenting so measure gravity at the beginning, then a few days later if you're worried it hasn't started. If gravity drops, she's away. Remember preservative free juice (safeway have some good cheap stuff - last brew cost me less than $20 for 18 L)

 

[fasty73]

OK, I am shopping at craftbrewer. I am getting the 4766 yeast. Is that all I need? (sorry for repeating dumb questions).

 

[Wolfy]

What nutrient manticle? Going online now to order US05!!!

Apple juice has less nutrients in it than beer wort does, so it does not hurt to add a bit of yeast nutrient (you'll find it at most HB shops).
If you're ordering online you could try some different yeast in your apple cider, I quite like Safbrew S33 (which you can get online at CraftBrewer).

If you're not sure if she will like the apple cider or not, you don't even need to brew 18L in your fermenter, just tip a bit of apple juice out of the bottle, put some yeast in and ferment it in the bottle it comes in.

 

[manticle]

Stick with that, you'll be fine. There are different things you can do but keep it simple until/if you decide you want to complictae.

4766 plus 18 - 20 L of preservative frees juice into fermenter, seal and treat similar to beer. FG might be close to 1000. Make sure you let it finish. Prime, bottle, let age minimum of 3 weeks, make the missus happy.

 

[fasty73]

OK, I am on the craftbrewer website. What should I get? Wyeast4766. And what else? I can't find any yeast nutrient? Sorry, but I'm excited now!!!

 

[pk.sax]

yea, the 4766 by wyeast comes with enough yeast and nutrient IN the pack itself. No need to add extra.

But yeah, even if brewing with another yeast, like US-05, yeast nutrient is just a salt (as mentioned above by manticle) packaged in plastic that you buy from the HBS. It basically gives the yeast some trace nutrients to build itself up to the required cell count to ferment the whole batch. Think adding nitrogen fertilizer to some crops, you add what is deficient so that the crop comes out good. The store bought juice is a bit nutrient deficient so it does need a tiny bit of that. just a few grams to the whole thing, dosage is usually on the packet.

EDIT: http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=951

^ Link to yeast nutrient on craftbrewer

 

[fasty73]

Thanks manticle. Will it be ok to bottle back into the original containers? Put about just under 3 scoops of tally scoops of dextrose to a 2 litre container?

 

[pk.sax]

If you're not sure if she will like the apple cider or not, you don't even need to brew 18L in your fermenter, just tip a bit of apple juice out of the bottle, put some yeast in and ferment it in the bottle it comes in.

^ Do that as a test run if u like.... tip a little (a few grams) of dry yeast in to a bottle where u've taken a cup (or ~250 ml) of juice out. Let it ferment in a cupboard or something, let out the built up CO2 by undoing the lid half a turn every few days for a week or so, have a taste, if u like it, just put the bottle in the fridge (with yeast deposit n all), it will slow down the fermentation and let you drink sweet carbonated cider outta the bottle

PS: carbonates every time you leave it in there with the lid tightened in the fridge door. Just the right temp for it.