Cider - At Last

[Kevnlis]

Well I got the cider down today. Been telling my wife I would make one for weeks now and only just now got around to it

1 kilo LLME
200g Carapils
150g Crystal

Boiled for 30 min in 8L. Added 3 cinamon sticks with 10 min left. Cooled and added to fermentor with a Brgalow kit and the yeast nutrient.

Pitched 1275 Thames Valley smack pack.

Will ferment for 4 days then rack and add 3 kilos of mixed crushed apples with ground nutmeg and 1 kilo of crushed strawberries.

[Kevnlis]

Has anyone used this yeast? I pitched it Thursday night and 36 hours later there is no activity. The smack pack did sort of swell but not very well. Does this yeast just take a long time to get going?

[drsmurto]

Tasted a nice cider at an AG brewday/BBQ on Saturday. The bloke made it from apple juice from the shelf at the supermarket. Used the wyeast cider yeast - 4766. Got a pack of it in my fridge waiting.

It was a nice clean cider, a touch of sweetness as he chose to keg it early.

It nicer than the one i did which was the same juice (berri no added preservs) with S-04. I used the apple and pear juice with the aim of leaving a touch of sweetness. My partner doesnt like it much but then she is a Magners cider snob. I cant stand that artificial crap!

Kev - any update on the cider? Cinnamon sticks and some lemon/lime sound like a great idea and work very well in my ginger beer. A few cloves for some spiciness and maybe even a touch of ginger.

[Kevnlis]

Haven't tasted it as yet, probably next weekend. Will let you know.

[Wassa]

Next time try using a champagne yeast. I did with my last cider and twas excellent

[drsmurto]

Still waiting for some tasting notes Kev........

But i couldnt wait as it turns out, smacked a pack of wyeast 4766 (cider) yesterday arvo, 45 mins later it was so tight i thought i was going to explode.

Boiled up a now familiar combo of ingredients to add to 18L of apple juice (berri preservative free). 2 x cinnamon sticks, 6 cloves, 1 lemon finely sliced and ~ 100g of fresh ginger. Only boiled for about 15 mins as was scared of the wyeast beast blowing up.....

Aiming to keg this for xmas along with a guinness i am still to brew and a german pils that is lagering away. Think its gonna be a messy xmas again.

Smells $#%#%^ gorgeous already!

Cheers
DrSmurto

[Kevnlis]

Tasted a flat bottle the other day, it is taking a long time to carb up! Was not impressed with it at all, but these things usualy need a few months to come good anyway.

[Chris]

I'd give it 3 months in the bottle before even trying it. It just seems to be the way with ciders.

[drsmurto]

Bugger.

This i didnt know.

Mine is fermenting away and its going on tap for xmas for the irish chick joining us for xmas this year. I did notice that my first attempt seemed to lose the almost vinegary taste it had a few weeks into the bottle over the course of a few months.

That said mine has added spices so that may help. I also used a cider yeast, will that make a difference?

[Chris]

Don't know about the yeast- never used a cider yeast before.

And remember, kegs make things happen faster, so you should be fine there.

[Chris]

Oh, and I find ciders really get a lot of benefit out of a prolonged secondary. It seems to make them drinkable significantly faster than just bunging them in kegs/bottles.

[drsmurto]

Interesting. There is a thread going over on AHB talking about lagering in kegs carbed up.

Will be racking it soon to collect the yeast (no trub so should be relatively clean) and leaving it sit. Question is - cc or room temp?

[Chris]

Room temp.

[Kevnlis]

I drank this again last night. It is very nice!

The strawberry is there, but not in your face. The spices are subtle and compliment the dryness well. There is a nice head when pouring but that dicipates quickly.

As a side note I used the malt extract from woolies for the LLME and it is crystal clear

[dragonphoenix73]

I found my 2nd cider only took the standard couple of weeks before they carbed up nicely.

I used a champagne yeast - I'd rather use something less dry next time, so I'm looking forward to hearing what you made of Wyeast's cider yeast...

[Kevnlis]

I did not use a cider yeast. The Thames Valley smack pack is an English bitter yeast. This cider is actually just a beer that is flavoured with apple and strawberry

[drsmurto]

Finally kegged and tasted my cider. Not bad at all, better than a strongbow but thats not hard! My partner went back for seconds so thats normally a good sign. I think next time i will leave out the lemon but otherwise i am feeling pretty smug.

I now have 7 vials of wyeast 4766 cider yeast washed and very clean looking. My rack of yeasts has become 2 racks! And with a huge amount of 1056 collected from a recent APA i made need a yeast fridge!