Mixed Berry Cider

[koomber]

Thought I'd have a stab at making a mixed berry Cider.

Ingredients
1 x Can Young's Brew Buddy Cider
2 x 440mL bottle Lowicz Raspberry and Lime Flower Syrup
2 x 440mL bottle Lowicz Blackberry Syrup

Starting Gravity
1.056 (ish)

Make up to 20L with water. Pitched the yeast that came with the kit. I'll keep you chaps posted on how it turns out.

[Pinto]

Rather boozy @ 8% odd and as sharp as a fruity razor blade The syrups are very fermentable so I think a touch of stevia or sucralose will help - perhaps even a small addition of maltodextrin if you happened to have some

[koomber]

Rather boozy @ 8% odd and as sharp as a fruity razor blade The syrups are very fermentable so I think a touch of stevia or sucralose will help - perhaps even a small addition of maltodextrin if you happened to have some

God willing it should get down to 7% (According to the destructions that came with the can it should be about done by 1.002, so it shouldn't get much above 7%). From some of the reviews I read online, the 19L Volume gives a better body when using the can on it's own, so I figured it would be a good volume to aim for.

I fear I may have overdone it with the syrups to be honest. I certainly didn't expect it to stroll in at 1.056 before I added them all, but I asked the wife how much I should use and she said since I had them I might as well use them lol. I just know that if it winds up being fowl, then that previous sagely advice will be completely forgotten lol.

Curious about what you mean about it being sharp? Do you mean it will be dry? The wife isn't keen on dry ciders. The stevia et al. are unfermentable sugars are they? That would be a good idea. I'll get some ordered pronto just in case.

[Pinto]

Yep - sharp as in very dry; whilst I dont personally mind bone dry drinking, it can actually make the fruit flavours very bitter, verging on unpleasant. Its much more likely that your cider will end up at an FG of 1.000 - 0.980 as you've added a lot of simple sugars into the mix.

Sucralose is a slightly modified version of natural sugar and hence is undigestable by yeast, Stevia sweetness comes from another chemical family closely related to sugars, again indigestable by brewing yeasts. Adding these will "backsweeten" your brew and take that dry, sharp edge away. I've used both successfully, but Stevia is usually quite a bit dearer than Sucralose (Tesco's own brand Sweetner is sucralose) Do keep an eye out on the ingredients - steer clear of those containing Aspartame (go google it to find out why - tis not nice stuff !)

I also mentioned Maltodextrin (maltose); this is a natural sugar, but has low fermentability - it provides little in direct "sweetness" to the brew, but does add more mouthfeel to the cider

[koomber]

Top tips!

[WalesAles]

Yep - sharp as in very dry; whilst I dont personally mind bone dry drinking, it can actually make the fruit flavours very bitter, verging on unpleasant. Its much more likely that your cider will end up at an FG of 1.000 - 0.980 as you've added a lot of simple sugars into the mix.

Sucralose is a slightly modified version of natural sugar and hence is undigestable by yeast, Stevia sweetness comes from another chemical family closely related to sugars, again indigestable by brewing yeasts. Adding these will "backsweeten" your brew and take that dry, sharp edge away. I've used both successfully, but Stevia is usually quite a bit dearer than Sucralose (Tesco's own brand Sweetner is sucralose) Do keep an eye out on the ingredients - steer clear of those containing Aspartame (go google it to find out why - tis not nice stuff !)

I also mentioned Maltodextrin (maltose); this is a natural sugar, but has low fermentability - it provides little in direct "sweetness" to the brew, but does add more mouthfeel to the cider

Pinto,
You are a fountain of knowledge which is greatly appreciated by your adoring fans! Was that tooooo much over the top? Anyway, thanks for the advice!
WA

[koomber]

Just a wee update on the brew, it had got down to 1.044 with no signs of life (it did have a 'krausen' for a few days and the airlock was bubbling but this stopped on Friday). Added 1 tsp of yeast neutrient and roused it. Going like a choo choo now.

[fatbloke]

Just a wee update on the brew, it had got down to 1.044 with no signs of life (it did have a 'krausen' for a few days and the airlock was bubbling but this stopped on Friday). Added 1 tsp of yeast neutrient and roused it. Going like a choo choo now.

Where'd ya get the syrups Graham ?

[koomber]

Tesco/Asda/Morrison's check the Polish food section. They are usually in there. Frustratingly, they all seem to stock a different variety. They do Cherry, Strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, raspberry and lemon, raspberry and lime flower. Those are the ones I've seen anyway, but no one shop stocks them all. Grrr.

[afur130173]

local polish shops tends to stock them all. my local one does anyway. it also had a cola variety for a while along with quite a few others including orange, lemon and a lemon tea variety.

[koomber]

So I checked the SG again today and it has been at 1.010 for a couple of days. Has a fairly pungent sulfur-y aroma to it and is cloudy as hell. Racked it into a corny, purged the air space and degassed it (shook like buggery) doesn't smell too bad now. Very astringent taste to is, but with the high SG I'm not sure if it is lack of sugar that is causing it. I've stuck it in the kegerator just now and dropped the temp to around 1°C to drop it clear. Let's hope it doesn't ming.

[Pinto]

One of your ingredients contained lime so you might be getting a citrus thing - Just means that you need to add a little more backsweetening.

Are you going for a flat scrumpy style or planning on some carbonation ?