Simplest Cider

[c0z]

recently put down my simple cider attempt
3x 3l coles apple pear.
4x 3l berri apple juice
Yeast slurry from Coopers Ginger beer kit.

 

[Franko]

Ive done Franko's cider. Not bad. My misses drunk the whole bloody lot.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...st&p=398723

lol :lol:

The exact problem also exists here at my place.

glad to hear it worked out well

Franko

 

[vykuza]

Just put my first cider down.

5L batch (fermenting in a Tap-A-Draft brown PET bottle 6L capacity)
4L Just Juice Apple
1L Happy Farm Cranberry
2g yeast nutrient
US-05 yeast slurry from a Saaz summer ale. It was a bit beery, so expecting a tiny amount of character from it.
Fermenting at 18c

I'm going to make a cinnamon tea and throw that in when fermentation dies off, and go with a Christmassy theme, though I don't expect it will be at it's prime by then.

Anyone ever tried fermenting a cider with a Saison yeast? I'm finishing one up now, and was pondering if throwing a bunch of juice on it would be a good idea... Might be interesting to have those spicy bubblegummy notes with the apple... hrmmm

Wish me luck!

 

[petesbrew]

Put my first cider down just then.

4x 3L Apple Juice
4x 2.4l Berri Apple/Pear Juice
Champagne yeast (what is it...ec-1113?) Can't remember exactly. the pack's in the bin.
og=1042

Took a sample yesterday. OG=1010
I suppose it tastes okay. But it's gone heaps cloudy. The rumpus room smells like cider.

 

[dgilks]

Took a sample yesterday. OG=1010
I suppose it tastes okay. But it's gone heaps cloudy. The rumpus room smells like cider.

As I understand it, the wine yeasts take a while to clear out. Mine (using Montrachet) is going on 6 weeks now and has cleared out.

 

[petesbrew]

hey lads, what ballpark FG would I expect to get from my cider (a couple of posts above).
Got a 1000 reading last friday.
Cheers
Pete

 

[Gulpa]

With all this excitement about cider, I put one of these down on the weekend to see how it goes. Used US05 slurry from an APA. Interested to see how it turns out.

What kind of differences would you expect to see if you used a real cider yeast?

Cheers
Andrew.

 

[petesbrew]

hey lads, what ballpark FG would I expect to get from my cider (a couple of posts above).
Got a 1000 reading last friday.
Cheers
Pete

Seems to have definitely stopped at 1000. Bottling tonight.
All the best with yours, Andrew

 

[Fourstar]

Seems to have definitely stopped at 1000. Bottling tonight.
All the best with yours, Andrew

From memory, i had mine finish @ 1.004

 

[Fents]

With all this excitement about cider, I put one of these down on the weekend to see how it goes. Used US05 slurry from an APA. Interested to see how it turns out.

What kind of differences would you expect to see if you used a real cider yeast?

Cheers
Andrew.

basically a wine or champagne yeast will finish lower say 1.005-1.000 where as a beer yeast say us-05 or s-04 will finish higher say 1.005 - 1.015 and it will make the end product sweeter....i dont like dry ciders so i always use us-05 or s-04 if im brewing one....if your kegging it you can basicalloy keg it a whatever gravity you like (within reason), force carb and drink it....with bottles you HAVE to let it ferment right out or else risk loosing an eye with bottle bombs.

edit - just re read and you said cider yeast as in liquid cider yeast, sorry my bad, i've never used one so dont know what it finsh's at or what it tastes like.

 

[WarmBeer]

My little experiment with Aldi juice and some US-05 turned out at 1.001, if i remember right.

4 months on, it's drinkable, but dry. Needs to be sweetened with some fresh apple juice to be enjoyable.

Would prefer a beer...

 

[Fents]

what OG did it start at WB? keg it or bottle it?

 

[WarmBeer]

what OG did it start at WB? keg it or bottle it?

Hmmmm, good question...

IIRC, it was around about the 1040 mark, so will be marginally higher %alc/vol than a similar gravity beer.

It really was a p1ssy little 3lt Aldi juice that I chucked a little dribble of US-05 slurry into, then only half screwed on the lid. Made 5 stubbies worth, but I figure for a total cost of < $3, it was worth the (minimal) time and effort.

Now, at least, I know my wife doesn't like home-made cider, and I can go back to brewing beer instead :lol:

 

[vicelore]

Iv just started reading this thread and told my mates about it.. ( all big cider drinkers) and we are gonna through down 60L tonight of Aldi juice and S05.. Looking forward to kegging it and giving it a try

Cheers Vice

 

[WarmBeer]

Iv just started reading this thread and told my mates about it.. ( all big cider drinkers) and we are gonna through down 60L tonight of Aldi juice and S05.. Looking forward to kegging it and giving it a try

Cheers Vice

It's going to be drier than a dead dingo if you just go down that path. You don't want to let the apple juice fully ferment out, as it has higher fermentability than malt, and the end result will be "unpleasant".

Given you're kegging, rather than bottling, you've got a couple of options open to you.
- Let it fully ferment out, then add some lactose to sweeten it. The lactose won't ferment, but will retain some sweetness and body.
- Back-sweeten it with apple juice in the keg. You will need to make sure you keep your kegs cold, otherwise the yeast will rouse back up and ferment out the sugars in the additional apple juice.
- Back sweeten in the glass - easy and flexible
- If you're feeling adventurous, try to "neutralise" the yeast at a specific point during fermentation. I would guess you want to let it ferment out to around 1010-1012, then somehow kill off or remove the yeast. This could be done with a fine filter, a Campden tablet, or if you're game, heat treatment (you would need to bring the cider up to about 70 deg pasteurisation point, not sure if this would affect the alcohol, I'm not a chemist).

Give it a go, let us know how it turns out.

 

[Fourstar]

Food for thought hey? 4 kegs full of grain, thats at least a sack freight free !

I'm in on this, need a bag of Galaxy.

Batz

It's going to be drier than a dead dingo if you just go down that path. You don't want to let the apple juice fully ferment out, as it has higher fermentability than malt, and the end result will be "unpleasant".

Mine is 'dry'. It finished @ 1.004 with US05 following this method. I filtered my yeast out and popped in the frige in a keg. Its a tasty treat. As its getting older it is getting 'tarter' but i wouldnt say dryer. Its almost lactic zingy but definitely not infected.

On my next attempt i might filter at my desired ABV 4.2-4.7, transfer to a keg and add a campden table. Leave for a few days at ambient, then purge CO2 to push out excessive sulfur (if present).

 

[vicelore]

Thanks for the replys guys..

4 Star just wondering how you filtered out the yeast ???

I think i might go the tablet option sounds the easiest, Ill just taste along the way and kill it when im happy with it..

I do like a Dry cider tho.

Cheers Vice.

 

[vicelore]

Well we put down that cider last night .. All went well except for my mates mucking up the ratio of star san to water.. They used 14mil for 2L or water... when i looked at it it was meant to be 2.8mil per 2L ... Im hoping it will be ok tho as its allot of juice to lose hehe..

Safeways didnt know what hit them.. got the juice for 93c per litre.. allot cheaper than aldi at $3.50 per 2L.

Heres some pics from last night..

Cheers Vice

 

[Fourstar]

Safeways didnt know what hit them.. got the juice for 93c per litre.. allot cheaper than aldi at $3.50 per 2L.

h34r: Did it have preservative in it?

4 Star just wondering how you filtered out the yeast ???

Just used by beerfilter from craftbrewer and soaked the bejeebus out of it with nappisan, changing daily for 3-4 days to get the 'cider taint' from it. Worth the effort for a 7 day turnaround of delicious cider! :beerbang:

 

[vicelore]

Nah 4 star.. it was presertive free.. Good stuff..

Cheers Vice