is this going to work???

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Hudson1984
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is this going to work???

Post by Hudson1984 » Tue Apr 28, 2020 2:50 pm

Ok, so, first crack of the whip.

4 ltrs Apple juice
small cup tea - 4 bags
1/2 sachet youngs cider yeast.

that's the lot. Nothing else in there.

is this going to produce cider??

I do hope so, got another 12 ltrs of juice left, would like to cycle production.

Also, I plan to bottle, how and when do I do this - i.e I'd like a fizz, so adding sugar seems to be correct. Which sugar? how much? etc etc

Essentially, I plan to leave this brewing for a week, then bottle direct from the DJ.

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Cobnut
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Re: is this going to work???

Post by Cobnut » Tue Apr 28, 2020 2:57 pm

I hope you like your cider dry...I made cider like this a while back and it turned out very dry.

I bottled in much the same way as for beer - 1/2 teaspoon of sugar per 500ml bottle.

I did add some sweetener to some of the bottles - it's unfermentable. Not that I'm a big fan of sweetener, but boy was that cider dry without it!
Fermenting: nowt
Conditioning: English IPA/Bretted English IPA
Drinking: Sunshine Marmalade, Festbier, Helles Bock, Smokey lagery beer, Irish Export StoutCascade APA (homegrown hops), Orval clone, Impy stout, Duvel clone, Conestoga (American Barley wine)
Planning: Dark Mild, Kozel dark (ish), Simmonds Bitter, Bitter, Citra PA and more!

Hudson1984
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Re: is this going to work???

Post by Hudson1984 » Tue Apr 28, 2020 2:58 pm

Yeah quite like dry cider.

Just normal sugar? I do have some brewers sugar if that’s better

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Cobnut
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Re: is this going to work???

Post by Cobnut » Tue Apr 28, 2020 4:23 pm

I just used white table sugar.

And I do mean dry! Sharp dry.

But you're only making 4L, so if it's awful, it's not a big waste.
Fermenting: nowt
Conditioning: English IPA/Bretted English IPA
Drinking: Sunshine Marmalade, Festbier, Helles Bock, Smokey lagery beer, Irish Export StoutCascade APA (homegrown hops), Orval clone, Impy stout, Duvel clone, Conestoga (American Barley wine)
Planning: Dark Mild, Kozel dark (ish), Simmonds Bitter, Bitter, Citra PA and more!

Hudson1984
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Re: is this going to work???

Post by Hudson1984 » Tue Apr 28, 2020 4:31 pm

Anything I can do to fix it? Don’t really have a lot on hand sadly but yeah only four litres

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Re: is this going to work???

Post by guypettigrew » Tue Apr 28, 2020 5:24 pm

Is this of any help? No idea where you'd buy it, though!

Guy

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Re: is this going to work???

Post by Cobnut » Wed Apr 29, 2020 8:45 am

IIRC I used sweetener "pills" - like those people who like sweet tea/coffee add instead of sugar.

There are other forms of unfermentable sugar you can get. Just my addled brain can't remember them!

I'm sure the hive mind of JBK will be able to tell you, though.
Fermenting: nowt
Conditioning: English IPA/Bretted English IPA
Drinking: Sunshine Marmalade, Festbier, Helles Bock, Smokey lagery beer, Irish Export StoutCascade APA (homegrown hops), Orval clone, Impy stout, Duvel clone, Conestoga (American Barley wine)
Planning: Dark Mild, Kozel dark (ish), Simmonds Bitter, Bitter, Citra PA and more!

Hudson1984
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Re: is this going to work???

Post by Hudson1984 » Wed Apr 29, 2020 9:02 am

Shame, was hoping to avoid sweetener really. Oh well

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Hairybiker
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Re: is this going to work???

Post by Hairybiker » Wed Apr 29, 2020 9:44 am

A "sucrose" (or similar spelling) sweetener doesn't leave the saccharine taste. Splenda is one, Aldi/Tesco/etc all make one just check out the ingredients.
Being a diabetic I use it for making cakes etc and I hate the taste of saccharine.

guypettigrew
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Re: is this going to work???

Post by guypettigrew » Wed Apr 29, 2020 10:04 am

Just to clarify. You're looking for 'Sucralose'. Sucrose is sugar and will ferment out.

Guy

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k1100t
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Re: is this going to work???

Post by k1100t » Wed Apr 29, 2020 11:15 am

After making a large batch of exception ally dry cider, I made a sugar syrup and just put a bit in the glass before I poured each bottle. I kept the spare syrup in the fridge.
I like beer --- Currently rebuilding the brewery, this time with stainless...

guypettigrew
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Re: is this going to work???

Post by guypettigrew » Wed Apr 29, 2020 12:08 pm

k1100t wrote:
Wed Apr 29, 2020 11:15 am
After making a large batch of exception ally dry cider, I made a sugar syrup and just put a bit in the glass before I poured each bottle. I kept the spare syrup in the fridge.
Excellent lateral thinking! And so easy to adjust to taste.

Guy

steviebobs83
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Re: is this going to work???

Post by steviebobs83 » Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:04 pm

If you're drinking it fairly quickly and have a big enough fridge, you could always bottle it with a little extra priming sugar and bung it in the fridge after a day or 2. There should be some carbonation and (as yet) unfermented sugar for sweetness. I'd use plastic bottles though, just in case.

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Re: is this going to work???

Post by Dave1970 » Sun May 03, 2020 2:32 pm

Too late if it's in bottles now, but a bit of precipitated chalk is good for reducing the acidity which helps with the sharpness.
For this time a bit of apple juice in the bottom of the glass before pouring will help.

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Re: is this going to work???

Post by Hudson1984 » Mon May 04, 2020 8:47 pm

so, just bottled up. Just used carb tablets in each bottle. Was just easier - not sure it'll be fizzy, but hey first go so who really cares.

Had a little taste and was pleasently surprised! tasted ok at this stage, little like scrumpy....looked like scrumpy too!

so, 8 bottles in the fridge (is that ok?) 1 tablet in each bottle. Will leave for a week or so and see how one tastes.

I've had a 40 pint muntons set arrive yesterday and we've a new fridge coming tomorrow so the brew fridge build will be started tomorrow, looking at the measurements of my fridge, I should be able to fit 2 Djs and my Fermenting bin in there at a time, which means, 1 DJ for wine for the wife, 1 DJ for Turbo and 1 fermenting bin for the bulk stuff, and now we've got the new fridge coming it means I've more room for finished bottles.

so, we're getting "somewhere" not sure where we're getting but hopefully it's a bit alcoholic.

I did take an S.G reading but not sure It was right as it was only a little past zero....so i've made apple water it seems.

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