Special brew

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Hi to all.
I'm a beer brewer who wants to turn his hand to Cider. The problem is I live in a country that... well, doesn't like alcohol. So I have to make do with what I can get locally. And I can't get much of significance! I cannot get Cider kits, extracts or a press... (although I can get hold of the correct yeast)
I have read recently that trying to get comercial apple juice to ferment would be like waiting for hell to freeze over! Apparently, there are stabilisers in it to prolong shelf life that will prevent fermentation.
Do I forget it? Am I forced to consider making a press? Or is there a type of apple juice that I can use?

Your help and advice would not only be very much appreciated by me but also my wife, who dislikes beer... but loves sweet Cider!

owned

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Do you have access to something like a farm stand or "home made" apple cider? That will lack the preservatives that a comcercial apple cider would have.

Special brew

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Thanks for your response.
Unfortunately, I do not have access to anything that may help... be it a stand, a press and definitely not apple cider!
Am I wasting my time trying to ferment apple juice that says "100% preservative free"?

thorgrimnr

Recipes 

No you're not wasting your time. If it's pastuerized it'll work. That's all I've been using
for the past 6 months and I can get a very fine cider out of it. Check my other posts for my recipes and procedures.

It'll work. Brewing can sense fear, so just go for it!

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Thanks for that boost, thorgrimnr. I'll look at your posts for a recipre that I can tackle... and I'll let you know!

Special brew

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Hi to all.
Finally took Thorgrimner's advice and attempted a cider! The recipe is as below:
21 litres of pasturised apple juice
3 litres of water
1 Kg of sugar
250 g of fructose
1 packet cider yeast.

The OG was 0.066 at 23 C. I've checked today (1 week later) and the SG is 0.009 at 22 C. This is an abv of approximately 7.5%.... I think!
I sampled it and it was just up my street! I think the Fructose may answer Thorgrimner's problem of the final product being too dry. The brew has become more pale (lager coloured) from the rich toffee looking colour of the original but has, thus far, retained its apple flavour and sweetness.

However, now I need to know if I should prime and bottle now and run the risk of exploding bottles; But achieve a nicely carbonated sweet Cider. Or let it run its course and risk something much stronger,less sweet and with less apple taste... but no exploding bottles.

80/-

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Why not bottle it into 1 litre PET plastic bottles - they withstand pressure far better than glass and if the worst come to the worst they will split instead of exploding.

You could always bottle half now and do the second half later to see which you prefer

HTH

80/-

__________________
In Primary:
Elderberry port

In Secondary:
Bock Bier

On tap
Burton Bridge Summer Ale

In Bottles:
Darth's Imperial Stout
Belgian Grand Cru
Belgian Trippel
Belgian Abbey
Raspbeery Wheat
Ginger Beer
IPA
'04 Cider

Next up:
Pale Ale
Bramble Oat Stout

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Thanks. That's exactly what I've got. Thanks to Domino Pizza (who give 2 x 1l bottles of Pepsi with each large order).
Great idea about the bottling. I'd never considered that. However, I normally like to prime in the fermenter and I have a good idea of the amount of sugar required.
Got any idea how much sugar I should prime each 1l bottle with?
Thanx again for the prompt post.

Special brew

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Hold the bus!
I've checked the SG on my brew... by 'eck' the SG has fallen another 0.004 in less than 24 hrs!
I've sampled it and it's noticeably dryer than yesterday. So I'm going to bottle the lot today. I'm going to prime with 200g of sugar boiled in 0.5L of water, gently stir to completely mix, wait 30 mins to let the sediment settle again... and pray I'm not creating hand grenades!
Maybe the trick to keeping a brew sweeter is to bottle it before the yeast has completely finished its job?

I'll keep you posted.

80/-

Recipes 

>>Got any idea how much sugar I should prime each 1l bottle with?


I used a half teaspoon per litre bottle and it seemed to come out fine - it sounds like the 200g you are suggesting should be roughly the same for a 25l / 5g batch

__________________
In Primary:
Elderberry port

In Secondary:
Bock Bier

On tap
Burton Bridge Summer Ale

In Bottles:
Darth's Imperial Stout
Belgian Grand Cru
Belgian Trippel
Belgian Abbey
Raspbeery Wheat
Ginger Beer
IPA
'04 Cider

Next up:
Pale Ale
Bramble Oat Stout