Homemade brew, cider & grog

PopIcon

Any experts on here?

I've made my first ever home fermented cider using apples from my brothers garden.
I really don't have a clue what I'm doing and blagging it a bit.
here is where I am at, cider has cleared and hydrometer reads 1.015. What does this mean though? I decided to skip beginners and go straight to intermediate.
Any help would be appreciated.

soapy_jones

Drink it. If you survive come back on here with the aid of a braille machine and you can ask us what your name is...

Good luck mate sounds lethal.

Strasburger

Hi poplcon do you have your starting gravity? It is the reading you took a the start of the batch. Also what temperature is the fermentation at?

Saga Lout

If fermentation has stopped you should now make sure you keep the cider in an airtight container, as you don't want it to oxidise. If you want it to have some "condition" (i.e. to be fizzy) bottle it with a small amount of sugar added to each bottle.

LenGlover

Not sure if he posts on here but the founder of the Flagship brewery, based in Chatham Dockyard under different ownership now, is a big Charlton fan.

If he does post here he will almost certainly be able to put anyone right on these matters...

Saga Lout

Oi Len, 4 times winner of Best Wine of the Bexley Home Brew Festival and 1 time winner of Best Beer here! ;-)

se9addick

I'm curious but part of me says don't drink this cider, ever !

Huskaris

The Hydrometer reading is relevant to the initial reading that you made. I did this intensely about 5 years ago, making about 200 litres of base spirit a week for a couple months.

Generally when your reading stays the same for a while fermentation is complete.

The initial reading of the hydrometer in relation to the end reading of the hydrometer is used to determine the ABV.

Having said that don't worry about what people say, you won't get ill and from memory the only time that danger becomes involved is if you use wormwood or you do a distillation run (illegal) so don't worry.

PL54

A lad at work has been making cider for a while and has brought some bottles in today, should be interseting at 5pm.

He wants a name for it - I have proposed "In Cider Gash"

ken from bexley

Saga lout is the man
In last weeks news shopper at the bexley festival which is a great event trouble ismy lads playsatyrday league and unless I have a local fixture hard to get back for
They are a friendly lot

Stig

I've made a few, but I'm no expert. The biggest tip I've got is if you like your beer dark and heavy try adding a little Muscovado sugar into the mix. Here's a couple of min from last year; about time I dod some more:


Daddies Sauce - light and easily drinkable. Didn't last long.



Diabolical - based on a Belgian Trappist style kit. This came in at 8%. I was the only person that liked it.

Jints

Love the Daddie's labels!

Killarahales

What was your starting reading on the hydrometer? As a rough example, a typical 5% abv beer might start at around 1.050 and finish at 1.010. Your 1.015 is a relatively high final gravity and so there is some sugar still present. However, if the yeast has stopped working then, as the previous poster has said, your reading will not go down anymore. That's fine, it just means your cider will be "medium" rather than dry. As there is some sugar left, you might want to add some Campden tablets before you go ahead and bottle your cider. This is because things other than yeast might decide to grow on that remaining sugar and then spoil the flavour. If you are planning to drink it all fairly quickly then this is less of an issue! I am a bona fide master brewer and am always happy to advise on the noble art of brewing. Currently I am making hand-made fruit liqueurs which I sell locally in the Three Counties (Herefordshire/Worcestershire/Gloucestershire). There is no brewing or fermentation a such, simply an infusion. Good Luck with your next batch!

PL54

PL54 said:

A lad at work has been making cider for a while and has brought some bottles in today, should be interseting at 5pm.

Tastes like an expensive, slightly fizzy, slightly cloudy apple juice. ABV is unknown.

PopIcon

Thanks for all the info guys. I did take a Hydo reading at the start, but for the life of me cannot remember what it was.

I tasted yesterday's hydro sample and it tasted rather dry, boozy and deffo appley. Not unpleasant to my pallet, but I'd been drinking wine before.

I think that fermentation has finished, it is still bubbling, but a lot slower. The vat has cleared a lot too.

Maybe I should shove some stabiliser in it as i don't b have Campden tabs.

If anyone wants to sample then they are more than welcome. I live in se12

Saga Lout

If it's still bubbling fermentation has not stopped. If you can, put it under airlock and leave it a while. If you bottle it and it's still fermenting you'll have exploding bottles.

shine166

Had a quality day today pressing apples to make cider, we made 500 liters in the end with another 250 to go tomorrow. Im thinking of trying one of those home brew kits. Is there one that anyone can recommend ?

PL54

shine166 said:

Had a quality day today pressing apples to make cider, we made 500 liters in the end with another 250 to go tomorrow. Im thinking of trying one of those home brew kits. Is there one that anyone can recommend ?

A big one !

Christmas sorted

Blinkant

I might have to look into brewing my own.

Is it quite easy, and how long does it normally take before your ready to drink?

eaststandmike

This has got me thinking now. I have a pear tree in my garden that produces lots of pears but sadly they are not very nice to eat. Instead of throwing them away I might press them next year and make myself some pear cider or perry as I believe it is called?

Oggy Red

eaststandmike said:

This has got me thinking now. I have a pear tree in my garden that produces lots of pears but sadly they are not very nice to eat. Instead of throwing them away I might press them next year and make myself some pear cider or perry as I believe it is called?

Ah, Perry. You could sing one of our old favourites:

"9 gallons went past Perry, went past ....."

shine166

PL54 said:

shine166 said:

Had a quality day today pressing apples to make cider, we made 500 liters in the end with another 250 to go tomorrow. Im thinking of trying one of those home brew kits. Is there one that anyone can recommend ?

A big one !

Christmas sorted

Christmas and Easter . We could have easily gathered enough fruit for another 750 liters... massive crops this year !

Dippenhall

Did some homemade brewing kits in the seventies but nothing since. I have loads of black grapes on a vine in the garden and wondering if it's worth trying to make wine. Juiced some a month ago and quite sour so threw it away, but a bit sweeter now. Does it have to be a proper wine variety to be worthwhile?