3.5 kg sherwood orchard cider

[DRB]

I just picked up one of these kits to keep the wife happy as she dont like beer and to gain a few brownie point .Is it okay just to add the one can and then half the water without it altering the taste of the kit, as im short on bottles.

[DRB]

Thanks DAAB,all sorted.

[Garth]

DRB, I have some of that on at the mo, for exactly the same reason, to keep 'er indoors happy. I'm just about to bottle it, we should swap tasting notes when yours is done too, as it's a relatively new kit to the market the HBS couldn't really say whether it made a good cider or not. It wants to at the bloody price of it....

I rehydrated the yeast and it went off like a rocket the first few days, biggest yeast head I have ever seen, climbed out of the bucket and everthing!! I brewed it in a bin for 10 days and it's been another ten in an airlocked fermenter, I did what was suggested on that other thread about finings and added the isinglass to the bulk 2 days ago, so it should be quite bright by now ready for bottling.

Garth

[DRB]

No probs Garth soon as its ready well compare .When I walk into the kitchen the ciders giving off a pear drop smell,makes me want to go to the shop and by some .

[Garth]

I would agree with you there DRB, at the start there's defo more pear than apple, have just that minute finished bottling it, the bottling stick buggered up half way through, the little black sealing washer came loose from it's rib, sorted it after a pint or so dripped on the carpet

It was fairly bright probably down to the isinglass I added a couple of days ago, It tastes quite dry and sharp at the moment but I suppose that will subside if it's left, it still tasted like reasonable cider, I got 33 550ml bottles out of it.

[DRB]

Do you find the bottleing stick makes life easier for you?at the moment i'm just using a piece of tubing attatched to one of those little plastic taps and it gets a bit messy and fiddly.

[Garth]

DRB, sorry for not replying sooner, yes, the stick makes it easier, although I am still convinced it is letting air into my beer when bottling, maybe it's not completely airtight onto the tap or whatever.

anyway, the cider's been bottled for about two weeks now and it's quite clear. I've tasted it, it's not very sweet, quite dry, and when first opening and pouring you get a bit of a sulphury egg smell, must be something to do with fermetantion, the smell does subside after a short while so hopefully another few weeks maturing and it'll be gone.
The sediment is very slight, hardly any, probably due to me doing a secondary and adding the isinglass, and sticks to the bottom of the bottle like glue, so something has gone right.

[Vossy1]

it's not very sweet, quite dry, and when first opening and pouring you get a bit of a sulphury egg smell,

Ditto with all TC's I've made

[Garth]

must be something to do with apples,

did the smell subside after storing the bottles away for a bit Vossy?

[Vossy1]

did the smell subside after storing the bottles away for a bit Vossy?

I'll let you know later, as I'll pop one in the fridge now. It was bottled in July....that's how not keen I am on the stuff...2 have survived.

[Garth]

me too, not much of a cider drinker, not even in my yoof, when everyone was running around with 'pecker, white lightning and Bulmers, I stuck to good old fashioned cheap strong lager (probabaly LCL or some other muck) and Newky Brown

[DRB]

Just finished bottleing my sherwoods,wife sorted for a few sessions over christmas.

[Vossy1]

Well, got side trackedat Tesco's tonight.

They've shifted the cheap ales to lagers of the world so I ended up with 3 Sierra Nevada Pale Ales and 3 Leffe Brun. Also got 3 Abbot Ale and then realised on the first one that I remembered I don't like it

Needless to say the cider got put on the back burner for tonight.

May try tomorrow and report back

[DRB]

How's that cider tasting Garth,tasted it yet.

[Garth]

I've tasted it, there was 33 bottles originally but theres only about 10 left, I, personally don't like it, but a mate at work loves it. So he's in for a good Chrimbo/New year. It is still very tart especially the first mouthful, but seems to be mellowing with time. There is a really good fizz in it and the sediment sticks to the bottom like it's superglued in there and got rawl-bolts holding it down, so sticky in fact I'm just chucking the bottles as I can't be arsed to scrub them. It cleared really well also. I used white sugar (5ml per litre) to prime.

How's yours DRB, sneaky slurped it yet?