New to the brew: Need help

Hi. My name is Tom and I know nothing about brewing. Now that the introduction is out of the way...I could use your guys' help. I am very interested in learning to make hard cider (the stronger the better with having to distill it) but I have no idea where to learn. I know nothing about fermenting, sterilizing containers, how to prevent it from going bad once it is stored, or where to get supplies.

Any books or websties you guys can tell me about would be great and highly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Everything you need to know is on here.

It depends whether you just want to make cheap hooch or learn the craft.

Basically.

5l of no preservative apple juice.
Add yeast. Wait 2 weeks and drink.

If you want more than that then I'd have a look around the forum, maybe use search then ask any questions you have.

If you really want to learn the craft then it'll take you more than having a couple of questions answered on here.

www.howtobrew.com is a good place to start.

Good luck

Making cider is easy. There are 2 kinds, sparkling (carbonated) and still (like wine). Any online homebrew supplier can get you the yeast, fermenters, etc. to make your own cider. Beer beer & more beer has a nice site and is a supplier. My local shop is The Home Brewery in Ozark, MO. Their site is www.homebrewery.com . Very nice people, they can get you what you need, all you have to get is juice. You can use fresh juice from an orchard if you have one close, or storebought juice as long as it is preservative free. My recipe for 5 gal still cider is: 5 gal fresh juice, 3 3/4 tsp pectic enzyme (so you dont end up with a large batch of apple jelly) 3 lb brown sugar, 1/2 tsp yeast nutrient, and Red Star Cote des Blancs yeast. Mix juice, sugar, pectic enzyme, and nutrient in fermenter. Rehydrate yeast in warm (105 degrees) water. Do not stir yeast for 15 minutes, then stir and add to fermenter. Mix well, and attach lid with airlock. Ferment for 2-3 weeks, activity should be pretty well subsided. Transfer to clean fermenter or other vessel until fermenter has been cleaned. pour into clean fermenmter then attach lid with airlock ane let sit for about 2 more weeks. Check specific gravity for 3 or 4 days in a row. If gravity does not change, add 2 1/2 tsp potassium sorbate to inhibit yeast and bottle. Sounds like a lot of work but its not

I have only ever made beer except for one attempt at cider using an extract which tasted bloody aweful. (week flavour). Might give this a try. How necessary is the transferring into clean carboy? And can you then bottle and carbonate same as beer?

If you are racking back into the primary fermenter it needs to have the sediment rinsed out. As with beer, leaving on the yeast sediment too long will contribute off flavors to your cider. If making carbonated cider, I wouldnt add the 3 lbs brown sugar. 5 gal of fresh juice will make about a 5% cider, where the added sugar jumps it to about 10%. Also, dont add potassium sorbate if carbonating. After secondary, just add corn sugar (3/4 cup for 5 gal) then bottle as you would beer. I forgot in my previous post to add a little cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice to secondary. No specific measurements, I just sprinkle a little of each into the fermenter. Dont give up too easily gavinski. its just like beer, keep practicing and youll get better

How does one go about putting the cider or beer into a keg? I saw they have a keg system on that homebrewery.com but I don't know how to get the cider into it or clean it or anything else for that matter.

Are you talking about corni kegs?

The lid comes off and you can syphon straight in. Cleaning is just like anything else apart from you need to pressurise it to pump liquid though the dip tube.

Well if you go to this link...http://homebrewery.com/beer/beer-thb-draft-system.shtml... then you will see that it is not only very expensive but also has a CO2 canister. I always thought you had to use a pump to get pressure to get beer out. If there is a better cheaper kit out there please send me a link.

EDIT: I was thinking of getting this kit for me to start with but I would upgrade it to glass. http://homebrewery.com/beer/beer-gs-basic-kit.shtml

EDIT 2:How do you guys keep kegs in a fridge also? That seems like it would take up way too much room. Do you guys have a second fridge you use? The more I look at this keg thing the more I think it would just be easier to bottle.

Garfixa, spend a little time looking around this site, maybe use search, all the answers, howtos are here. Including the fridge situation. Also have a look at the gallery for ideas.

You'll need to do lots of reading before you start. Also read www.howtobrew.com It's like a bible for the wannabe brewer and lots of experienced brewers use it to get answers.

Is it me or are all these numbers wrong?
http://howtobrew.com/section1/chapter9-4.html
He said to take the OG and subtract the FG to get the ABV but none of those ABVs are right for those numbers.

garfixas said:

Is it me or are all these numbers wrong?
http://howtobrew.com/section1/chapter9-4.html
He said to take the OG and subtract the FG to get the ABV but none of those ABVs are right for those numbers.

Click to expand...

He said using a triple scale hydrometer look up the percentages and take those from each other, not the FG and OG.

The table is purely look up.

a rough figure is (0G-FG)*.13 don't quote me on that I said "rough"