Need advice on starting brewing cider.

[Frankmastuh]

Hi, so I've made a few feeble attempts at homebrewing kilju, but I want to try cider now, as my kilju never really took off. I followed some incredibly terrible instructions and don't have anything drinkable. Now what I'd like to do is brew a batch of cider, but I'm on a budget. I've looked around, and can't find any homebrew kits for cider, just some Youngs U Brew kits for wines and lager such as:

http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/Home-Brewi ... 3QXQ%3D%3D

or:

http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/Home-Brewi ... VdOw%3D%3D

However, I just want to brew cider, I don't want to have to buy a lager kit for parts. I'm on a budget of roughly £25 for a batch of around 40 pints like this:

http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/Home-Brewi ... rZZQ%3D%3D

But with something to brew it in etc. I'd rather not use a plastic 5 litre bottle instead of a demijohn or whatever would be used, purely because of a few bad experiences with it whilst making Kilju. Also, I don't mind about using a hydrometer etc, I'll just go with a rough estimate of what it should be from the pack.



So, can anyone help me out?

[Cider Rich]

I've done the Brew Buddy Cider kit - it was very good. Very drinkable indeed.

I bought a Brew Buddy Cider starter kit (bucket, lid, syphon, hydrometer and the actual cider kit) for 30 quid off amazon, including delivery.

If you are not fussed on getting a hydrometer you could just get the fermeting bucket for around a tenner, a syphon for a couple of quid and the Brew Buddy cider kit for a tenner. And away you go. Dont forget you need sugar - about £2 for 1kilo, £2.50 if you get brewing sugar.

You will of course need bottles, but dont pay money for them, go to your local pub or wait for recylcling day and have a look at what people are putting out for collection. Bottle tops are about a quid for 50 and you will need a capper of some description. Make sure you prime your bottles with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar otherwise it will be flat and lifeless.

Hope this helps

Rich

[Frankmastuh]

Thanks for the advice, have you got a link to the cider kit from amazon?
Also, could you direct me to somewhere selling a fermenting bucket etc? I can buy the Brew Buddy kit from my local Wilkinsons, but they don't stock much else.

[Cider Rich]

wilkos do the bucket on its own:

http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/Home-Brewi ... edmw%3D%3D

and this is the cider kit i bought:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/BrewBuddy-Start ... 445&sr=1-1

to be fair, if you dont want the hydrometer its probably cheaper to buy the bucket and syphon and cider kit seperate.

have you checked for a local homebrew shop? try searching yell.com

[Trunky]

[Frankmastuh]

No homebrew shops nearby . And my only gripe with buying online is the P&P, but thanks, I'll probably buy either the kit or the fermentation bucket you linked.
Then again, Trunky's advice seems good as well. :S

[Cider Rich]

my next brew will be apple juice based. but saying that the youngs kit was very good and I really liked the cider. by the time you've bought all the apple juice the kit is not that unreasonable if you can get it for around 11 pound

good luck!

[Frankmastuh]

The kit is £9.99 I think, would that be worth it over the apple juice?

[DREADSKIN]

i made a kit recently and its good. however i add blended bramleys and tea to cheap as chips apple juice and i recon its nicer, tho takes a bit of work at the start.
what is kilji?
and what problems did you have with the water bottles? ive been using them for a while now and dont know of any issues. those fermentation bins work really well too.

[Frankmastuh]

Kilju:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilju

And the problems were mainly around fitting an air lock correctly, had to patch the top with blue-tack.

[Cider Rich]

The kit is £9.99 I think, would that be worth it over the apple juice?

dont know - i've yet to do a full scale apple juice based brew. i've got a small galloon in a demijohn on the go at the mo, if it works im scaling up to 25l.

i would say the brew buddy kit was good, so is the Samson West Country kit im drinking at the mo. Sugar when you prime your bottles is a must.

im gonna have to say best thing would be to try both, start with a kit to get a feel for how it works then try an AJ based one after. for the aj one follow Dreadskins recipes which are quoted quite a bit in this forum!!

Cheers!

Rich

[Cider Rich]

Kilju:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilju

try cider

[Frankmastuh]

Thanks again for the advice, think 'll go with the kit. And kilju is not something I will try again.

[Frankmastuh]

Quick question-is it possible to use 2 liter plastic bottles instead of a keg/beer bottles?

[DREADSKIN]

thats what i use!