Fruits of the Forest Cider

hi i done my Fruits of the Forest Cider 2day...
it smelt lush i have to say
but 1.5kg of sugar seems alot to me...

well thats what it asked for so thats what it got .. :thumb: .

also i ballsed up a bit here ...
as i put in 24ltrs rather than 23...
i had my eyes more on the temp than the level ... .

still not the end of the world ...

ok so i done the sanitation and heated up the kit then i put the 1.5kg of brewing sugar into my fv...
followed by 2 pints of boiling water ...i gave it a good stir till it was all disolved ...
then added the kit and cleaned out the can with more boiling water into the fv ...
i gave this all a damn good stir then topped it up to 24 ltrs trying to get the temp down ...

when it was 22c ish i took my first reading it was 1.042...
so pitched the yeast popped on the lid then fitted the air lock...

here are the pics... .























job done i hope you liked the pics... .

regards mick... :hat: .

Moved to "Wine and Cider Brewdays"

recently made this kit thinking my partner would enjoy it ,turns out she will only drink it with a lemonade top . Where as I and and every one else I have let try it find it a really nice refreshing pint .
Duncan

dyer said:

recently made this kit thinking my partner would enjoy it ,turns out she will only drink it with a lemonade top . Where as I and and every one else I have let try it find it a really nice refreshing pint .
Duncan

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iv not done this kit before so looking im forward to tasting it ... : /

regards mick... :hat: .

just wondering if some things wrong i did this on the 22nd ..
and on the 23rd ie yeturday it was bubbling fairly well but given the amount of sugar i thought it would be more ...
and today its stopped bubblingaltogether is this normal for this kit ...

regards mick... :hat:

Can't comment on this particular kit, I've only just put this same kit on yesterday, but the Wilko's ordinary cider did that, seemed to calm itself down after a vigorous start. I still leave it for 10 days before even thinking of testing the gravity.

One thing to note, the contents of the tin are not as sticky as beer kits, so I've not found it necessary to warm up the cans like we have to for beer, it pours out dead easy and you can rinse it with some of the boiling water (hold the can in oven gloves please!).

andylanc1975 said:

Can't comment on this particular kit, I've only just put this same kit on yesterday, but the Wilko's ordinary cider did that, seemed to calm itself down after a vigorous start. I still leave it for 10 days before even thinking of testing the gravity.

One thing to note, the contents of the tin are not as sticky as beer kits, so I've not found it necessary to warm up the cans like we have to for beer, it pours out dead easy and you can rinse it with some of the boiling water (hold the can in oven gloves please!).

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thanks ill no for next time ... :thumb:
ps yes i will use a cloth or something i alaways do.. .

i no they get damn hot .... :nono: .
heres a pic i just took i think it looks ok ...




regards mick...

Looking good! Don't know about you, but the smell coming from my FV is amazing.... and I'm not even a fan of berry ciders!

andylanc1975 said:

Looking good! Don't know about you, but the smell coming from my FV is amazing.... and I'm not even a fan of berry ciders!

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to be honist theres no smell unless i take the top off...
or put my nose regat next to the air-lock..

but the smell was lush when i added the boiling water ... .

regards mick... :hat: .

I have just enjoyed a few pints of this ,and although I really like it my partner finds it a bit dry . what would happen if I brewed it again but used light spray malt instead of brewing sugar ? any ideas please
Duncan

I agree with someone who posted earlier....if it's too dry just add a little lemonade/coke /Fanta (whatever floats your boat).
I just bottled some pear cider (I binned the kit yeast and used champagne yeast instead). Added extra sugar to give 10.5% :clap: :party: . It's quite dry but I prefer it that way. If I feel like a longer drink I add lemonade.
:

I definitely do not have a sweet tooth, and do like dry, but I find that the Lalvin all purpose [ ICV K1V-1116 ] Yeast leaves a lovely, perfect level of sweetness ( medium dry ). I have never had to back-sweeten anything. Maybe it is just me. I can't imagine a cider using spray dried malt extract, but if a light extract is used it could produce a cider with a soft malty edge. I would give it a pop! :)

I did a ginger beer using dark spray dried extract ( normally use medium ) and it was a lovely, dark, soft, beery ginger beer. Planning to lightly hop the next one to give so floral top notes and hoppiness. Feel it would sit well on such a soft, but missing something, ginger beer.

how long do you leave this kit in the fv ...
from making to bottling ... :thumb: .

just bottled this kit and now its in the warm priming and is already very nice even flat

I got some advice in the kit thread about this - you can leave in the FV as long as you like up until a few months even - you just have to be careful it doesn't pick up any infections. The longer you leave it the more chance it'll have to age, develop deeper flavours and even maybe clear. I'm not sure on the value of bottle ageing vs leaving in the FV for these types of brews.

Basically don't rush and let the gravity be your guide. It's done when it's done and leaving a couple of weeks longer won't suddenly mess it up. You'll find that once it's bottled and fizzy it's a lot more difficult to resist so take your time!

One thing I did when bottling the same pear kit was use Lowicx syrups in place of sugar to give it a flavour boost and do the secondary ferment. It might be worth doing something similar in your case if you've made 23l. One thing I would do if I did these kits again is do them a couple of litres short just to provide a more punchy brew (that said I haven't drunk any of the FF yet)

stanglish said:

I got some advice in the kit thread about this - you can leave in the FV as long as you like up until a few months even - you just have to be careful it doesn't pick up any infections. The longer you leave it the more chance it'll have to age, develop deeper flavours and even maybe clear. I'm not sure on the value of bottle ageing vs leaving in the FV for these types of brews.

Basically don't rush and let the gravity be your guide. It's done when it's done and leaving a couple of weeks longer won't suddenly mess it up. You'll find that once it's bottled and fizzy it's a lot more difficult to resist so take your time!

One thing I did when bottling the same pear kit was use Lowicx syrups in place of sugar to give it a flavour boost and do the secondary ferment. It might be worth doing something similar in your case if you've made 23l. One thing I would do if I did these kits again is do them a couple of litres short just to provide a more punchy brew (that said I haven't drunk any of the FF yet)

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ok thanks iv read that after 2 weeks its best to bottle but i didnt wont to bottle it then some one say i should have left it longer ...
as you no you cant go by the tin ... :whistle: ..

regards mick... :hat: .

I recently made this and would definitely make it again, really refreshing and FG was 5.2 :drunk:

Brewing
23ltr Ribena wine
23Ltr Tooheys New Zealand lager
1gal Inmate Cider
1gal Cherry WOW

Clearing
Rhubarb wine
Black rock new Zealand bitter

Drinking
Wilko Forest fruits cider
Wilko light pilsner

ok so i took a reading today it came out at 1.000 so i bottled it ...
i batch primed it with 120g of brewing sugar...

i some how ended up drinking the sample and thought is was very nice ...

as i put my little bottler on my tap i saw the valve had broken ...
so i just had to use the tap on its own ...
to my suprise it all went faster without the bottler so i might not replace it ...
ill just see how i get on when bottling a ale :hmm: ...

if its just the same as today i will defo not replace it ... :whistle: ...

i had just over 23ltrs so i ended up with 44 bottles... :grin: .

here are the pics... :thumb: .















so thats another brew done :clap: ...
i hope you like the pics...

regards mick... :hat: .

Still brewing like a demon eh Mick? if you bottle an ale straight from your tap you will most likely get some oxidation of your brew going on which can give it a nasty cardboard taste.

Ideally you need to minimise any splashing around when bottling/transferring etc which is where your little bottler or a bottling wand come in.

I have a bottling wand from the Keynsham shop which just stuffs on the end of my syphon tube.. Same principal as the little bottler but much cheaper.

:thumb:

stuey said:

Still brewing like a demon eh Mick? if you bottle an ale straight from your tap you will most likely get some oxidation of your brew going on which can give it a nasty cardboard taste.

Ideally you need to minimise any splashing around when bottling/transferring etc which is where your little bottler or a bottling wand come in.

I have a bottling wand from the Keynsham shop which just stuffs on the end of my syphon tube.. Same principal as the little bottler but much cheaper.

:thumb:

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ok stuey thanks for that :thumb: ...
yes im still brewing ....

i think ill get one after all then i dont wont to risk my brews :nono: ...

ill pop over Keynsham some time soon and pick one up ...
thanks again bud... :thumb: ...


regards mick... :hat: .