Recent content by alewismclean

Right guys, I'm ready to go into secondary. I want to sweeten it with a syrup I made from mixed fruits juice, water and sugar, but if I add this to my brew wont the sugars just ferment to alcohol again and make it dry rather than sweet? Campden tablet maybe???

Just an update guys. Used some berries and a spring water starter (wasn't much yeast on the berries though) then added some apple juice to that, then boiled some mixed berries (frozen) with some water and sugar then added that all to a demi' along with ample sugar and a little cider yeast for...

I tried some of my plain apple cider that was made from a raisin and apple starter. Tastes surprisingly nice, quite cloudy as I used 100% pressed apple juice but im sure it'll clear a little once I move it to secondary.

Plus the idea of making something from "scratch" as apposed to readily available ingredients gives a great sense of well being for me, although for others this may not be appropriate.

My purpose is just to try and keep the cider as natural as possible without adding any chems or commercially produced things. If the wild yeasts turn out to be a bad idea then I'll go to packet stuff (or if I want a stronger cider). So far my first batch thats still fermenting smells nice so...

Well at the moment I have just started on a new starter from strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and spring water. 2 days in and it's started nicely which came as a surprise. This one is going to be 100% berry with no apple so it'll be interesting to see how it goes!

What's it that the vodka is used for, is it just to kill off the yeasts on the berries to stop any further fermentation in the secondary? Will you taste much of a difference if they have been soaked in them, I thought the vodka might draw out the juices from the berries and leave them pretty...

Hi again guys and thanks for all the input and suggestions! It's now in day 3 of the primary and starting to slow down a little. I've frozen the fruits but I'm a little unsure about the whole vodka technique, although I've made 3 other small batches to mess around with that I will certainly try...

Thats the fermenting underway now! Used the mixed berry starter as a yeast for the 100% pressed apple juice and added sugar. Just contemplating on the best way to add any future berry flavours or if the apple might overpower any attempt. What would you guys say is the best way to incorporate and...

Descender, some nice idea's there, I might mix the two together and top up with some pressed apple juice and see how it goes, both are smelling fantastic already so hopefully I'll get a nice berry hint to the brew! Depending on how it turns out I'm going to try another mixed fruit cider but...

Nice one! I've got my starter going nicely, it's starting to calm down a bit just in time for my demijohns, airlock, hydrometer etc getting here! Can I ask at which point you added the fruit? Also, have you made it before or is this a first for you as well? Here's a current photo of my...

Hey there, thanks for the reply! My process is to create some natural yeast starters and use them in place of regular bought yeasts to ferment my ciders. At the moment I have 2 organic raisin starters, one which is bubbling away. 1 made up of Organic apple peels and 100% pressed apple juice...

Hi guys, this is my first post here so please be gentle! I ordered a few bits of kit a couple of days back to venture into the world of home brewing and decided cider will be the start of the adventure. Currently I've got a few jars going to create some natural yeast for using in the brewing...