KIT cider

[Martin the fish]

I've done a few kit ciders now(3). My first ever brew was a kit cider many many many days ago. About 35 days ago.
I was so impressed with it that it really kicked off my new found love for brewing.

My last cider kit has turned out bleeding cracking so i thought i'd share it with you.

Over here in NZ we get Black Rock kits. Their cider kit, i find, is very good. They do a style kit called Irish Cider. This comprises their standard cider kit:Tin of concentrate, cider yeast. Plus Apple Schnapps essence and a lager improver(Brewcraft Brewblend#15)
I wanted a higher alcohol strength so i added 1kg dextrose to the recipe too.


Following the basic kit instructions plus the leaflet for the 'specials' i boiled 2ltr water, added concentrate and boling water to fermenter, more boiling water from the kettle went into the tin to extract all the gloop, then the dextrose, essence and brewblend#15 went in. It got a dam good stir untill all the powdery stuff was completely dissolved. It had a bit of a head on it by this time. I then got the garden hose, run off a good amount back into my tanks-this allows cold water to flush through the pipes, cooling it all down. Then i blasted cold fresh water into fermenter up to 21 ltr mark. The froth was higher than top of FV so i snapped on lid, noted temp and placed in sink of cold water. 20 mins later temp was down to 25C. OG was 1052.
I sprinkled on cider yeast from kit plus a sachet of gervin champagne yeast. Snapped on lid and waited.
4 days after and the airlock activity had virtually stopped. 7 days and the reading was 1014, 10 days and 1010, 12 and 1010. Happy with that i bottled. Not using any priming sugar at all.
The bottles pressurised nicely after 3 days and cleared also. The sediment in the bottom is more than i'd like and at day 18 in bottle if moved the sediment does kick up a little.

Tasting it today(Day 19 bottled) though it's fantastic. Very slightly sparkling with a good background of APPLES and a lovely crisp, moreish taste with good mouthfeel. Just like cider of old. NB. coming back to this after i've finished a pint, the sparkling only lasts for a few minutes before it goes. Perfect as far as what i wanted. Really like old style scrumpy actually and just what i was after.

I'm definately doing this again-directly after my first full AG. Now i know how to post pic's i will include them too.

I'm pretty sure there must be some good standard cider kits around, it's easy enough to get Apple Schnapps essence and i'm sure the 'brewblend' said on the packet it was a lager enhancer to 'improve head and mouthfeel' the addition of 1kg of dextrose is COMPULSORY as this recipe is for a scrumpy rather than a cider

[Crossbow]

My recent kit cider was a John Bull (cheap) kit, with 10l of apple juice added as a replacement for some of the water. The end result is crystal clear (too clear for proper cider, really ) with a nice aroma (probably from the additives in the kit) and superb flavour. The only thing I might do differently next time is add more AJ to get a 7% rather than 5% cider.

[Martin the fish]

Good aren't they?

I'm quite keen to try a kit with full AJ to replace the water content but my TC experiments have been decidedly poor compared to my cider kits. I'm not too keen to waste a good cider kit.

I think it may be the cloudy apple juice i've previously used though, so once i get a TC i'm happy with i'll use the same juice with a kit and see how that goes.

I'm doing another Flat Irish as soon as i get FV space. I've tucked into another bottle...

[Curious Brew]

Now that I've got another keg and a second FV set up I'm very tempted to brew a TC/kit hybrid.

Watch this space.

[Martin the fish]

Now that I've got another keg and a second FV set up I'm very tempted to brew a TC/kit hybrid.

Watch this space.

Do it CB. You owe it to your fans...

And then i'll do one as soon as yours turns out ok.

[booldawg]

I made up a Brew Buddy cider kit over Christmas. I'm not a die-hard cider fan, but like lager I'll suffer it in the summer; the only reason I made it because it was a present SWMBO gave me. Out of all the kits I've made the cider kit left me feeling most impressed with the results. Best kit I've ever made. I'm going to experiment with high-juice cordial on one to make a Jacques Fruit Cider type drink.