by Oliver » Thursday Dec 15, 2011 2:18 pm
Hi TD,
I've have used Black Rock cider kits twice and have had good results, as have others.
The main difference between mine and yours was the final volume.
Both times I've only topped it up to 18 litres, which will result in a more concentrated flavour.
The recipes are below. You'll see that both times I added Granny Smith apples, which I peeled, cored and sliced and added to the fermenter, to give some extra apple taste. Not sure if it made a difference or not.
With just 1kg dextrose and the can yours would be very dry, as the dextrose is more or less fully fermentable and adds no residual sweetness. If you want to sweeten it up a bit replace some of the dextrose with malt extract (500g to start, maybe). This will leave some residual sweetness and add body. Another way of adding sweetness is to add lactose. Lactose is not a very sweet sugar, so start with about 500g and you can add more or less next time you make a cider.
Another thing popular with many people is fermenting with a beer yeast, such as Fermentis US-05. It's felt that this results in slightly more sweetness and body than otherwise would be the case.
I don't seen any issue with the time it was in the fermenter or the bottling.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Oliver
No.35 Black Rock Cider
1 can Black Rock Cider
1kg glucose
125g lactose
3 Granny Smith apples
OG 1049 FG 1013 ALC/VOL 5.1%
No.39 Leni Cider
1 can Black Rock cider
1 pack Brewcraft number 15 brew booster (malt, glucose, corn syrup)
3 granny smith apples
OG 1045 FG 1006 ALC/VOL 5.2%