Cider from shopbought apple juice

[wino]

i allways use honey instead of sugar. half apot to each gallon

[funstuie]

i allways use honey instead of sugar. half apot to each gallon

Half a pot?

That seems a lot.


I managed to secure some demijohns from freecycle but they have been sitting out behind a shed for a few year so are pretty grimey. I have ordered some champagne yeast, sterilising stuff, demijohn brush and bungs and airlocks from ebay but I have no idea when I might get them because of Royal Mails strike action.

[funstuie]

Another quick question to those who have made this.

I have a load of empty plastic 1l bottles (Tonic water bottles) I was going to use these for bottling. How much sugar should I add to each with the cider to get it fizzy? Also how long should I leave it once bottled?

[Mac]

Hi All, my "cider" has been bubbling away in it's DJ for 8 days now and is still bubbling and very cloudy. Any idea on how long it will keep fermenting for? And should I "rack" it once it has stopped? I thought from a previous post that it would have stopped fermenting by now and would have started to clear... Any advice most greatfully received!

[Duronal]

sorry about the delay i've been offline for a week. The first brew was about 7% and took 6 days to ferment out in the airing cupboard,

If you increase the sugar content of your brew it will take longer. Transfer to pressure secure bottles once the fermentation bubbles have ended. or leave in a bunged DJ until the brew starts to clear and then transfer. Either way it doesn't matter.

My first lot did require me add some sugar water to each measure of cider to counter its dryness, but all in all it went down pretty well.

Batch two is still fermenting like a steam train - Started last sunday - but then I'm aiming for rocket fuel this time. :0) I'll keep you posted

[Mac]

Hey Duronal, I've got two batches on the go with 4 days inbetween them (aiming for a constant supply!). The first batch still has tiny bubbles coming up and there is the occasional "bloop" out the top of the air lock. I didn't add any extra sugar, so not sure why it would be taking so long? (not exactly long compared to wine, but am an impatient soul!)

[Duronal]

Batch no.2 has now stopped fermenting, ABV is approx 12% - yeeeooowwch.
hopefully it'll clear up well and then it's into a dark cupboard to mature

I'm not sure what's more fun, making a brew or drinking it?!

[Mac]

Hi, any advice on my questions? cider still bubbling in DJ with airlock and looking v.cloudy. Should I be doing anything to stop the fermentation?

[SarzWix]

Mac, you have to account for the sugar already in the apple juice too. Also, the type of yeast will make a difference to the speed of fermentation. Some of our ciders have finished fermenting in a couple of days, some have taken up to 3 weeks. No need to stop it, unless you want to control the alcohol content, or keep it a bit sweeter.

Also the type of apple juice you use will make a difference to how clear the cider is - if you use cloudy apple juice you're more likely to end up with a scrumpy style cider (unclear). If this happens and you want a clear cider, you'll have to use finings to clear it. That needs doing in the dj obviously, then it has to be racked into a fresh dj before bottling to leave the sediment behind.

[Mac]

Thanks SarzWix, was wanting to try and keep the cider slightly sweet and not rocket fuel strength for the first batch, then see how it went from there. Am totally new to all this (if you couldn't tell that already!), so just going on what tips I'm finding on here for this recipe.

[chippyphillips]

hi everyone,
i was very interested in the post about cider made from bought apple juice. I have just started of my 1st ever attempt at making my own cider from apple juice bought at lidl, and was wondering if anyone has done the same and if it turned out OK. I must admit that i like cider to be dry, i haven't put any sugar in with juice and was wondering if that was the right thing to do. Any help or advise would be appreciated
many thanks
Paul

[Sanjo]

hi everyone,
i was very interested in the post about cider made from bought apple juice. I have just started of my 1st ever attempt at making my own cider from apple juice bought at lidl, and was wondering if anyone has done the same and if it turned out OK. I must admit that i like cider to be dry, i haven't put any sugar in with juice and was wondering if that was the right thing to do. Any help or advise would be appreciated
many thanks
Paul

Yes, I made the turbo cider but it was VERY dry. OH drank it though!! Wouldn't bother again with apple juice but we have decided that if we get a glut of apples from our 3 trees next year (all different) then we'll have a go at juicing them, freezing the juice until we have enough to mix together to make a batch and then have another go.

[chippyphillips]

hi, my cider has stopped fermenting now and i have racked it off, but when i put my hyrometer in the brew it is not showwing hardly any alcohol content, what haven't i done right? any advise would be great

[Madmac]

Hi Chippy,

to get an alcohol reading you need to have taken a reading at the start of fermentation, and one at the end of the process and the differrence would give you an idea of the alcohol content. What happens is the yeats eats the sugar and poo's out alcohol, the hydrometer just shows the sugar content, the more sugar in the liquid the higher the hydrometer sits, if your looking for a dry cider then the hyrometer reading should be lower than 1.000. To test the alcohols effectiveness, just drink it

[Madmac]

A really usefull website for cider lovers

scrumpyandwestern.co.uk