Ubermensch74
Member
G'day,
Greeting from Australia. I'm a big fan of alcoholic cider (I understand it also also known as hard cider), so I thought I'd have a go at making my own.
After a few days researching on the 'net, reading forums, youtube etc., I decided to try fermenting reconstituted apple juice from the supermarket. I've picked up 5x 3 litre bottles (15 litres / ~4 gallons). [On the label: Reconstituted Apple Juice (99.7%), Citric Acid, Vitamin C, Flavour.]
Next, I went down to my local brew store and picked up a 15 litre (~4 gallon) carbouy with airlock and tap; as well as a vial of White Labs WLP775 English Cider Yeast.
At home I got everything washed, sterilised etc. Left the vial out at room temperature for a few hours (as per label). Whilst waiting for the yeast to warm up I spent a bit more time consulting google. It was at this point that I realised that it's best to kick off the yeast in a starter, and I didn't have any malt products ... After panicking for a while and a bit more web searching I bit the bullet and decided to make a start with some of my juice.
Using the 4 gallon carbouy I added about 2 lt / half gallon of juice, gave the yeast vial a shake, poured it in and then screwed on the carbouy lid and added some water to the airlock. Left the carbouy in a room that's approx 18-21 degrees Celsius (68 - 70 fahrenheit), and I plan to keep it at this temp (well, 57 at the lowest).
When I got up this morning not much had happened. I started to panic again. I then went down to the shops and got some yeast nutrient. At approx 1 PM (approx 12 hours since I 'pitched' the brew) I added 4 grams of nutrient, sealed the carbouy and shook it like crazy. An hour or two later I was hearing my first few bubbles from the airlock. The bubbles were pretty consistent - about once or twice a minute.
At about 5 PM I added another 4 grams of nutrient, sealed and shook. The brew was then pretty quiet for a few hours and now (about 10 PM) I'm back to hearing bubbles once or twice a minute.
OK, so what's next? My current plan is to come home tomorrow night and add the remaining 13 lt / 3.5 gallons of juice straight in to the carbouy, along with another 4 grams of nutrient, shake/stir and cross my fingers.
So, any thoughts, feedback or suggestions?
I'll provide regular updates to this thread.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.
Oh, and you'll have to forgive me, I'm probably not up with all the correct jargon, and we use metric down in this neck of the woods ...
Greeting from Australia. I'm a big fan of alcoholic cider (I understand it also also known as hard cider), so I thought I'd have a go at making my own.
After a few days researching on the 'net, reading forums, youtube etc., I decided to try fermenting reconstituted apple juice from the supermarket. I've picked up 5x 3 litre bottles (15 litres / ~4 gallons). [On the label: Reconstituted Apple Juice (99.7%), Citric Acid, Vitamin C, Flavour.]
Next, I went down to my local brew store and picked up a 15 litre (~4 gallon) carbouy with airlock and tap; as well as a vial of White Labs WLP775 English Cider Yeast.
At home I got everything washed, sterilised etc. Left the vial out at room temperature for a few hours (as per label). Whilst waiting for the yeast to warm up I spent a bit more time consulting google. It was at this point that I realised that it's best to kick off the yeast in a starter, and I didn't have any malt products ... After panicking for a while and a bit more web searching I bit the bullet and decided to make a start with some of my juice.
Using the 4 gallon carbouy I added about 2 lt / half gallon of juice, gave the yeast vial a shake, poured it in and then screwed on the carbouy lid and added some water to the airlock. Left the carbouy in a room that's approx 18-21 degrees Celsius (68 - 70 fahrenheit), and I plan to keep it at this temp (well, 57 at the lowest).
When I got up this morning not much had happened. I started to panic again. I then went down to the shops and got some yeast nutrient. At approx 1 PM (approx 12 hours since I 'pitched' the brew) I added 4 grams of nutrient, sealed the carbouy and shook it like crazy. An hour or two later I was hearing my first few bubbles from the airlock. The bubbles were pretty consistent - about once or twice a minute.
At about 5 PM I added another 4 grams of nutrient, sealed and shook. The brew was then pretty quiet for a few hours and now (about 10 PM) I'm back to hearing bubbles once or twice a minute.
OK, so what's next? My current plan is to come home tomorrow night and add the remaining 13 lt / 3.5 gallons of juice straight in to the carbouy, along with another 4 grams of nutrient, shake/stir and cross my fingers.
So, any thoughts, feedback or suggestions?
I'll provide regular updates to this thread.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.
Oh, and you'll have to forgive me, I'm probably not up with all the correct jargon, and we use metric down in this neck of the woods ...