Cider - Quick question

[MattyV]

The missus would like me to brew an apple cider for her, so I picked up a Brigalows Apple Cider brew pack today. Not knowing ANYTHING about brewing cider, is it ok to use dextrose instead of the 1kg of sugar it says to use? How would this affect the taste? (if at all). Cheers

[grabman]

Matty I've used that kit before but with a few changes. I used Brigalow Yeast, IHS brew kit (light malt, corn Syrup, dextrose total 1.25kg) and 250gm lactose also 6L Harvey Fresh Apple, made up to 20L.

Was a good drop, although if you like them sweet maybe add a bit more lactose!

Grabman

[MattyV]

Cheers mate, but I think I'm just gonna keep it simple this time and mix up the standard brew. Just wanna know how using dextrose as opposed to standard white sugar would affect it. Would it be more sweet? Less sweet? etc. Cheers

[Chris]

Dextrose vs white sugar will have no impact on the sweetness. All the sugar/dextrose is fermented during the brewing process, therefore, no sweetness.

The main difference between the two is that the sugar will impart some "cidery" flavours, that most beer-brewers loath. In the case on cider, this is not a problem, and even desirable.

I'd go with the sugar. If nothing else, it's cheaper.

If you want to sweeten, just add lactose, as grabman previously mentioned.

[MattyV]

Ok, cool. Thanks for your replies guys - mixed it up last night with sugar so we'll see how it goes! Cheers

[mikey]

Ok, cool. Thanks for your replies guys - mixed it up last night with sugar so we'll see how it goes! Cheers

I bought the same kit and mixed it up yesterday. The guy at the HBS warned me it's a thin and watery kit so he suggested boosting it with some real apple juice.

I also added 4 cored and peeled apples as Chris suggested to me in a previous post. The apples will mean a longer brewing time (Chris suggestions comments here?).

[Chris]

The apples do make it go for considerably longer. Mine went for pretty much a month. The trick is to be patient. Let it do it's thing.

Juice is good to add to cider, just make sure there are no preservatives. Added vitamin C is a preservative, so be careful. It is not as bad as the others though.

This is a next-time suggestion (really useful when your brew is already fermenting) just add less water ie. mix it up to 18L. This seems to be pretty common with cider.

A good mix of fermentables for a cider (in case you are ever interested) is 250g malt, 250 maltodext, and 500g- 1kg sugar/dextrose.

I tried that recently, and it was fantastic. (I did it with 1kg sugar- came out at 11.5%. I like strong cider, but if you want less alcohol, use 500g)

[Chris]

BTW, it's not too late to add the apples. Just peel, core, and quarter them, put in a stocking, and throw in the wort.

[MattyV]

Is it possible to add some lactose to the brew, even though it's all sealed up and under way? I'm worried it might be too dry - can anyone comment on what the Brigalows Cider is like (dry, sweet) as standard? If it's ok to add lactose now, how much should I add and how should it be done? .
Cheers

[pharmaboy]

as per the above, i added 250gms lactose, and about 600ml apple juice (tetra pack) with dex.

1 comment - mine tasted very metallic and undrinkable after 12 days in the bottle, but fine after a couple more weeks - yeast seems slower than beer yeast they were undercarbonated at 2 weeks too - now perfect - same as strongbow draught.

PS -blackrock cider kit

[pharmaboy]

you can add lactose to taste at anytime, although to be careful, boiling a solution might be a good idea (personally never have) - if someone likes dry and someone else likes sweet, you can also cut it with a little lemonade when serving to sweeten it up a bit

[Chris]

Add the lactose when you rack. As for carbonation, pharmaboy is right- it can take up to 2 months to carbonate fully, so don't give up on it.

BTW, if you don't rack, you can add it when you bottle (not recommended unless you bulk prime) on you can open your fermenter, and throw it in (preferrably dissolved in water- do a stove top boil).

This isn't rocket science, just brewing