BUDGET CIDER BREWING !!! AROUND 12P PER PINT

[bbshark]

Is this a good kit at a good price?

Would i need anything else to get going? (apart from bottles and ingrediants)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Wine-Making-Ho...item4a9b724d78

[garagekru]

Ok so what the best stuff to buy online cheap to start my own production line?

[Mule]

Is this a good kit at a good price?

Would i need anything else to get going? (apart from bottles and ingrediants)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Wine-Making-Ho...item4a9b724d78

Spending £60 on equipment for your first batch seems a bit overkill to me, I'd try and do it cheaper just to see if you like it first. That kit also has a load of stuff you probably won't need, like the corking machine, corks and labels. Steriliser you can get much cheaper from the baby aisle in your local supermarket. Thermometer you don't really need either, and you can do without the hydrometer, trial jar and stirrer. So basically all you need from that kit is the fermentation container, syphon tube and airlocks.

I've put links to all the equipment needed in the other thread - http://www.digital-forums.com/showthread.php?t=391912

[dibbler]

Id just go into a local wilcos and buy a fermentaion bucket and kit from there.

[Geezah]

Just put my first ever Turbo Cider brew on ghetto style.
2 x 2l 'westons scrumpy dj's'
2 fingers off a rubber glove
3l of Lidl apple juice
1l of Lidl red grape juice
1 cup of tea
1 tablespoon of brown sugar made in to a syrup
Tesco's bread yeast

1 dj is apple juice / 1/2 cup of tea and sugar syrup with 1/2 tsp of yeast
1 dj is apple and grape / 1/2 cup of tea and sugar syrup with 1/2 tsp of yeast



2 hrs in and its started to foam

[Thrush]

why are you using tea?

[Geezah]

The tea cruedly adds tannin to the brew, which reduces the acidty of the apple juice, so makes for a tastier cider.
Or so i'm told by the various posts I have read on brewing forums.

[Thrush]

Tell me how it goes and I'll make some over as well

[Erad]

Am going to give this a bash for myself soon as I've inherited all the equipment from the dad.

My only question is after fermentation when leaving it so it becomes clear, would it be alright to transfer it into a barrel and leave it for a week or two and then drink straight from the barrel, or would I have to syphon it again into another container (just incase there's sediment or anything?).

[Mule]

Am going to give this a bash for myself soon as I've inherited all the equipment from the dad.

My only question is after fermentation when leaving it so it becomes clear, would it be alright to transfer it into a barrel and leave it for a week or two and then drink straight from the barrel, or would I have to syphon it again into another container (just incase there's sediment or anything?).

If you use a syphon like this one it will leave about 1/2 an inch of fluid at the bottom of the demijohn, this will be the majority of the sediment. Some will still get through to the barrel but you could put it through a filter to avoid this or just put up with it and try your best not to disturb the bottom of the barrel.

If it's a large barrel and you'd be combining the cider from more than one demijohn you do risk ruining the whole lot if one batch has gone bad.

Personally I would just use PET bottles, a 2 litre bottle of water from the supermarket is usually only 10p and as it's clear you can see what's going on inside.

[Geezah]

Am going to give this a bash for myself soon as I've inherited all the equipment from the dad.

My only question is after fermentation when leaving it so it becomes clear, would it be alright to transfer it into a barrel and leave it for a week or two and then drink straight from the barrel, or would I have to syphon it again into another container (just incase there's sediment or anything?).

I plan to syphon it to another STERILE DJ after fermentation and leave it in the same enviroment for 2 weeks to make sure its finished frementation and to let it settle, then syphon it in to 330ml plastic 'Gaymers Cider' bottles that I have collected and then add 1/2 a tsp of sugar and crown cap em.
Then they will got out in the shed for a few weeks to mature and clear.

Dont expect perfect clarity, and the longer you leave it to age the better it will taste i'm told.

Elderflower Champagne
Went out for a walk earlier and picked 1/2 a dozen 'heads' of Elderflowers.
I stripped the flowers off the stalks and removed any bugs (by shaking the flowers) and squishing the bugs and poured 1/2l of boiling water over them and left it to cool.
Desolved 200grammes of brown sugar in a litre of boiling water and added juice and flesh of a lemon and a 'glug' of white wine vinegar.
After it all cooled, transfered it all in to a 2l plastic pop bottle and added 1/2 a tsp of bread yeast.
Put on my infamouse pin-holed rubber glove finger airlock and left it so start fermenting.
Will top it up with a glug of whatever juice I have in the fridge when I finally bottle it up in to a couple of wine bottles in a week or so's time.
Not sure how this will turn out, but hey-ho... it will no doubt be alcoholic and will have cost about 30p to make.

[Geezah]

Well, the first brew stopped fermenting so I bottled it up with 1/2 a tsp of sugar per bottle.
I left 1/2 a glass with 1/2 tsp of sugar in the fridge and tried it tonight and its not bad, but lacks body.
We'll see if time improves it.

put another 2 brews on tonight, this time a little more technical...

Brew 1
5l plastic dj
1.5 Bramley Apples grated and gently simmered in 1l of apple juice
added 1/2 cup of strong tea
3l Lidl apple juice
200g of brewing sugar added
1tsp of yeast nutrient
1 tsp of youngs wine yeast

Will top up in 36hrs after frothing has subsidsed with more aj
OG was 1060 so hoping it will finish at 1.0 giving me something around 8% ?

Brew 2
5l plastic dj
1.5 Bramley Apples grated and gently simmered in 1l of Red grape juice
added 1/2 cup of strong tea
3l Lidl apple juice
200g of brewing sugar added
1tsp of yeast nutrient
1 tsp of SB7 Champagne yeast

Will top up in 36hrs after frothing has subsidsed with more aj
OG was 1070 so hoping it will finish at 1.0 giving me something around 9.5% ?

[Erad]

Set 2 gallons on the go yesterday in two glass DJs with airlocks.

I put about a level teaspoon (maybe a bit more) of cider yeast in each, but its been over 24 hours and nothing major is happening, alot of people say it starts to foam but so far its just light bubbling throughout.

Am I on the right track here? Been reading alot but can't seem to find an answer or whether i've cocked it all up. Its sitting at room temperature also.

Also if anyones interested:

1st Gallon - going for cheapo cider and see how it tastes

4.5L Sainsburys basics apple juice from concentrate
250g demera sugar
1tsp youngs cider yeast
1 large dollop of basics honey
1 strong cup of tea

Gave an SG of 1065 ish

2nd Gallon

4.5L of sainsburys own (not basics) AJ from concentrate
250g demera sugar
large dollop of honey
large sloshing of elderflower cordial (undiluted)
1 strong cup of tea
1tsp of youngs cider yeast

Gave an SG of 1070

[prezzy]

My current recipe is:

8 litres of cheap apple juice
1 litre of strong tea (5 teabags in just over a litre of tea)
520 grams demerara sugar
some pectolase (helps to clear the cider)
14 grams malic acid (adds some bite to the cider to give the taste of biting into a fresh apple)
1 sachet of youngs champagne yeast
put into two dj

Let it ferment till nearly finished 1-2 bubbles per minute through the airlock - usually under a week

Then I syphon off into grolsch style swing top bottles which I prime with about half a teaspoon of sugar - need to do this before it has completely finished fermenting to get the finished cider nice and fizzy - although do it too soon and your bottles gonna explode - leave it too long it gonna be totally flat - with the grolsch style bottles the lids just pop off

Leave for another week or so to finish fermenting in bottle to create fizz then stick somewhere cool to age for another week or so - have found this stuff does improve with age

around two weeks from start to being able to drink it

[prezzy]

Am I on the right track here? Been reading alot but can't seem to find an answer or whether i've cocked it all up. Its sitting at room temperature also.

Sounds ok if it is bubbling through the airlock then should be ok may just take a bit for the yeast to get going.

[Erad]

Sounds ok if it is bubbling through the airlock then should be ok may just take a bit for the yeast to get going.

How do I tell it's bubbling through the airlock? Just looks like nothings happening

[prezzy]

How do I tell it's bubbling through the airlock? Just looks like nothings happening

I use one of these half filled with water stuck in a rubber bung, as it ferments the gas is forced through the water so can keep an eye on how it is doing



If you are using one of those it should be bubbling through after 2 days - if your not using one of them but can see activity / bubbling in the cider it should be ok.

[dibbler]

I use one of the airlocks above. I find the cider starts to bubble with in a couple of hours.

[Geezah]

How do I tell it's bubbling through the airlock? Just looks like nothings happening

1 of my 2 brews I put on yesterday didn't start so I think I've got a tub of dead wine yeast which will be returned to the shop next visit. I dropped 1/2 a tsp of the SB7 yeast in it and it started fermenting within minutes.

Make sure you get it fermenting soon as it may get contaminated and go bad within a few days.

[Erad]

I use one of these half filled with water stuck in a rubber bung, as it ferments the gas is forced through the water so can keep an eye on how it is doing



If you are using one of those it should be bubbling through after 2 days - if your not using one of them but can see activity / bubbling in the cider it should be ok.

Definately have the same thing, but with no water in

Will throw a little bit of water in and see how it goes