markcurling
Well-Known Member
Hey guys,
I have been persuaded to get a turbo cider on the brew to give me something to feast on, in aid of prolonging the life of my beers so they get a better chance of reaching maturity!
After reading a few posts I randomly decided on the following recipe:
24l supermarket apple juice
1.5kg sugar
6 blended Bramleys
Strong pot of 7 teabags
S04 yeast
Gave OG 1062 (so expecting around 8% or so...)
Anyway, I figure this is likely to come out dry and I would like to bring it up to medium. I have searched the posts on sweetening cider and there are a lot of options. I would like to keg this but don't yet have the facility to crash cool or accurately force carb, so there are two simple options that appeal to me the most:
1) Add half a kilo of lactose (or some other sweetener)
2) Sweeten with apple juice or syrup on serving
Is there anyone who has tried both of these and can recommend one over the other?
Given that lactose isn't particularly sweet, would I have to add a ridiculous amount to bring it up to medium? For sweetening at serving, is apply juice or syrup better? If using apple juice, what proportion is needed to bring up to medium (I aim to condition with a light fizz, would adding apple juice completely flatten it)?
I appreciate similar questions have been asked before, but I can't find a comparison between these two simple approaches, so any input would be appreciated!
Mark
I have been persuaded to get a turbo cider on the brew to give me something to feast on, in aid of prolonging the life of my beers so they get a better chance of reaching maturity!
After reading a few posts I randomly decided on the following recipe:
24l supermarket apple juice
1.5kg sugar
6 blended Bramleys
Strong pot of 7 teabags
S04 yeast
Gave OG 1062 (so expecting around 8% or so...)
Anyway, I figure this is likely to come out dry and I would like to bring it up to medium. I have searched the posts on sweetening cider and there are a lot of options. I would like to keg this but don't yet have the facility to crash cool or accurately force carb, so there are two simple options that appeal to me the most:
1) Add half a kilo of lactose (or some other sweetener)
2) Sweeten with apple juice or syrup on serving
Is there anyone who has tried both of these and can recommend one over the other?
Given that lactose isn't particularly sweet, would I have to add a ridiculous amount to bring it up to medium? For sweetening at serving, is apply juice or syrup better? If using apple juice, what proportion is needed to bring up to medium (I aim to condition with a light fizz, would adding apple juice completely flatten it)?
I appreciate similar questions have been asked before, but I can't find a comparison between these two simple approaches, so any input would be appreciated!
Mark