Cider - Any sugar tips?

Ham-C · Post by **Ham-C** » Wednesday Mar 29, 2006 4:26 pm

Hey all, I'm new here! Been brewing beer for a few months now, with success.

I decided I'm going to brew some apple cider (using a kit) and wanted to ask if theres any sugars better than others that i could use? I have a whole heap of dextrose, but I'm unsure if its okay to use it with cider.

Thanks in advance.

SUBREW · Post by **SUBREW** » Thursday Mar 30, 2006 8:11 am

Yep I think Dextrose is fine, I also believe caster sugar is fine for cider, the fruity tones it can add don't matter quite so much as they do with beer?

I made a Brigalow apple cider and used the following

Brigalow Kit
3L Bottle of Apple Juice from the supermarket
1K Dextrose
200g Lactose.

20L, Kit Yeast , at about 24c.

Added the Lactose as my wife likes sweeter ciders... and I must say it turned out pretty well.

Good luck, give it ago... which Kit are you using?

Subrew

Rubber.Piggy · Post by **Rubber.Piggy** » Thursday Mar 30, 2006 8:19 am

yeah, i think dextrose is the norm for cider kits. I use the following recipie which I pinched from Oliver's list of recipies, I added lactose (lactose does not ferement) on the advise that the dextrose makes it very very dry, also my wife likes them sweet.

1x Blackrock Cider Kit
1kg dextrose
250g Lactose
3 granny smith apples, peeled and cored

make up to 18L

kit yeast

Post by **Oliver** » Thursday Mar 30, 2006 11:00 am

Ham-C,

Do a search for apple cider and you'll turn up quite a few recipes.

The reference by Rubber.Piggy to my ciders and the addition of lactose is spot on. The Black Rock kits made with only dextrose are very, very dry.

Cheers,

Oliver

mikey · Post by **mikey** » Thursday Mar 30, 2006 1:00 pm

The Brigalow kit is weak as so boost it with the cored apples and a few litres of fresh apple juice ie no preservatives as they can have an adverse affect on the brew I heard.

gregb · Post by **gregb** » Thursday Mar 30, 2006 2:46 pm

Big box of Granny Smiths throught the juicer. Add yeast.

Cheers,
Greg

drtom · Post by **drtom** » Thursday Mar 30, 2006 3:21 pm

no campden tablets then?

Tom

Ham-C · Post by **Ham-C** » Thursday Mar 30, 2006 4:18 pm

Thanks for the tips, guys.

It's a Brigalow kit that i'm using. I'll grab some lactose and apples then.

Happy brewing!

r.magnay · Post by **r.magnay** » Saturday Apr 01, 2006 6:44 am

I made a Brigalow kit as per the instructions on the tin, it was for some freinds, I am more of a beer man, they reckon it was spot on except for the carbonation, it is not very gassy, does anyone have any tips on increasing the carbontion.....safely!!!? I have another brew on now and hope to improve the carbonation on this one.

mikey · Post by **mikey** » Saturday Apr 01, 2006 7:36 am

r.magnay wrote:I made a Brigalow kit as per the instructions on the tin, it was for some freinds, I am more of a beer man, they reckon it was spot on except for the carbonation, it is not very gassy, does anyone have any tips on increasing the carbontion.....safely!!!? I have another brew on now and hope to improve the carbonation on this one.

I didn't have any carbonation problems with the Brigalow kit. I think, however, the cider is slower both fermenting and gassing up so you need to leave it for a considerable amount of time to obtain good carbonation.

I opened a sampler after 3 weeks which was not very gassy but after leaving the rest for a good 2 months they were fantastic.

r.magnay · Post by **r.magnay** » Saturday Apr 01, 2006 10:40 am

Thanks Mikey, I was a bit suspicious that may have been the case, this one was bottled on the 18/2 so I will give it some more time and see what happens.

Auscol · Post by **Auscol** » Saturday Apr 01, 2006 10:52 am

r.magnay wrote:I made a Brigalow kit as per the instructions on the tin, it was for some freinds, I am more of a beer man, they reckon it was spot on except for the carbonation, it is not very gassy, does anyone have any tips on increasing the carbontion.....safely!!!? I have another brew on now and hope to improve the carbonation on this one.

I found mine took ages to carb up, be patient.

111222333 · Post by **111222333** » Saturday Apr 01, 2006 12:49 pm

drtom wrote:no campden tablets then?

If my memory serves me right you only need campden tablets for the more tart "cider" apples grown specifically for grumpy style ciders. I beleive the sweeter apples (and granny smith are considered sweet) don't require campden tablets because they don't change the pH to much.

If you want a real answer do a google on cider making, there are many good cider sites, particularly from england, which go in to a lot of detail.

mikey · Post by **mikey** » Sunday Apr 02, 2006 8:10 am

I didn't use lactose in my cider but I like it very dry. If you've ever had Mercury Bay Dry Cider it came out a little bit drier than that.

Also, we always squeeze a slice of lime in as this makes it seem more refreshing on a hot summer's day.

Keleidoscope · Post by **Keleidoscope** » Monday Apr 03, 2006 2:51 pm

I used a mix of glucose and malt with a Black Rock cider kit and the result was great! Not too sweet, and the malt added a nice touch. Also put some apple essense in there.

I'd like to take credit for the recipie, but it is one from Brewcraft, and I recomend it. http://www.liquorcraft.com.au

I'm about to try another recipie of their that involved cutting up real apples to put in there, should be interesting!

My carbonation was a bit crap though, might have needed more priming sugar

Lebowski · Post by **Lebowski** » Friday Apr 07, 2006 10:20 am

I made a black rock apple cider with 6 cored and grated granny smith apples and a brew booster (light malt, corn syrup and dextrose) and it turned out really nice.

Keleidoscope · Post by **Keleidoscope** » Monday Apr 10, 2006 9:32 pm

Keleidoscope wrote: My carbonation was a bit crap though, might have needed more priming sugar

A friend just called and told me that a cider of mine exploded on him on the tram, lol. So maybe I have enough carbonation after all.... Apparantly the bottle split it's side after he did some running with it, hehe.

shane_vor · Post by **shane_vor** » Monday Apr 10, 2006 9:44 pm

Keleidoscope wrote:
Keleidoscope wrote: My carbonation was a bit crap though, might have needed more priming sugar
A friend just called and told me that a cider of mine exploded on him on the tram, lol. So maybe I have enough carbonation after all.... Apparantly the bottle split it's side after he did some running with it, hehe.

Now THAT is amusing! You're gonna have to think about warning labels!!!

Keleidoscope · Post by **Keleidoscope** » Monday Apr 10, 2006 9:58 pm

shane_vor wrote: Now THAT is amusing! You're gonna have to think about warning labels!!!

It's extra amusing because I happen to be angry with this particular friend, I'm glad my cider got some revenge on him.

gregb · Post by **gregb** » Tuesday Apr 11, 2006 5:27 am

...and now you're even more angry with them for wasting the good cider

Cheers,
Greg