Help!, I can not brew my cider right.

We have never brewed before. We took over an allotment in the summer and decided to brew cider from at rather nice eating apple tree there.

The first batch we juiced with also adding some cooking apples in August. Making sure we sterilized all the equipment using Youngs Sodium Metabisulphate and Wilko Cleaner and Steriliser, also using a demijohn brush to get everything really clean.

We washed all apples before juicing and pored them into the fermentation bin. Added two crushed Camden tablets. We then left for ten days and separated into two demijohns. I made sure they were very clean using the Youngs and Wilkos and added the rubber bungs and the bubblers half filled with water containg the Sodium Metabisulphate. I placed on a heat pad to keep at the correct temperature.

Two weeks later we did the same but also added a few crab apples. This time I added a packet of Youngs cider yeast but not the Camden tablet. I waited 14 days before adding to three demijohns, this time I then added a Camden tablet to each demijohn.

In the middle of November I noticed the first batch had stopped bubbling. I tested it three days running with my Wilko Hydrommeter and it appeared to read 6.2. I bottled it up adding half a teaspoon of brewing sugar per litre. I bottled up into small 2 litter glass demijohns with screw caps and small 500ml sparkling water bottles. I left at room temperature for five days then put in the celler. The plastic bottles expanded and were very fizzy, the glass bottles were ok.

This batch tastes really nice, it only tastes of apple juice but it gives me an upset stomach and loose stools the day after having a small glass.

The second batch I keep testing but it is not showing any alcohol on the Wilko Hydrometer . In Nov and Dec it tasted not very nice and really strong with alcohol but now it is tasting awful everytime I test it. I know I cleaned everything really well and it has been kept at the right temperature. I have added a little brewing sugar but that has not helped. It is still bubbling away but has now been a few months and it gets worse with every test.

I did a third batch with some cooking apples I was given in November. I did not add sugar or yeast. Again I made sure everything was really clean, I left in the bucket for 14 days before transferring to three demijohns and leaving on heat pads. It has now stopped bubbling but it is not reading any alcohol and it does not taste very nice at all. At the moment that is still in the demijohns.

So I have two lots in demijohns one lot with no added yeast or sugar that has stopped bubbling, one that is bubbling away and has been for months with added cider yeast and brewing sugar. Both taste awful and are reading no alcohol. I have a nice tasting one in the cellar but that gets me running to the toilet with loose stools the next day.

As far as I am aware I am cleaning everything right and keeping everything at the right temperature. Please can anyone see where I am going wrong, any advice and tips would be greatly appreciated as I would like to brew some more in the summer.

You are doing many things wrong, first throwing campden tablets at every thing and using no yeast or nutrient , or sugar.. You are sterilizing your must with campden tablet then relying on natural yeast to make your cider, you have just killed the yeast !!!!first take your juice and add 1 campden tablet per two gallon, and 1 teaspoons pectolase per gallon. leave a couple of days then strain through muslin, then add a teaspoon of yeast nutrient per gallon and a cider or sparkling wine yeast , you will only get alcohol from sugar thats in the juice so might have to add some depending on the reading your juice gives.you can ferment out in the bucket or leave two or three days in the bucket then transfer to demi johns to finish fermenting , then bottle adding 1 teaspoon sugar per 500ml cider.

Hiya and welcome, first up i don't think you are reading/interpreting the hydrometer correctly, a beer/wine hydrometer measures the gravity of a liquid, taking starting and finishing gravity readings this allows you to workout the actual alcohol content.

Loose bowels and stomach cramp after consuming homebrew could be a sign of intolerance to live active yeast, this wouldn't tend to be apparent in mass produced commercial beers/ciders/wines but in homebrew it can be a lot more concentrated.

If your airlocks have all been bubbling then a fermentation of some sort has been occurring, if you have been relying on wild yeast then it's in the lap of the gods as to what you end up with, some wild yeast could be killed of by very little alcohol being produced, others could give all manner of bad flavours. The cider that is getting worse as time goes on is most likely infected, the fact that it's several months in and it's still bubbling does not look good.

For a guide and to give yourself some experience, look to make some turbo cider from a couple of cartons of 100% apple juice, it's a lot less complicated, cost and time effective and will give an indication of how good your basic cleaning and sterilisation is without the complication of dealing with whole fruit and the extra work/steps that they need.

Thank you for both reply's. I fear my last two batches could be ruined but I will certainly continue trying. I will try a batch buying 100% apple juice from a supermarket to get the basics right before the next apples grow.

I agree with everything above. :thumb:

Look on the bright side. With all the sterilising agents you have been throwing at the cider the greatest wonder is that you still have sufficient bacteria in your gut to produce loose bowel movements.

One more Campden Tablet and you could have been struggling to pass the equivalent of concrete! :lol: :lol:

bees8932 said:

Thank you for both reply's. I fear my last two batches could be ruined but I will certainly continue trying. I will try a batch buying 100% apple juice from a supermarket to get the basics right before the next apples grow.

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Do your self a favour buy a ciderworks apple kit and a ciderworks apple and elderflower kit if you spend £60 free postage, there superb just use all the ingredients dont try to brew dry use every thing, i am slurping a pint over ice this minute its bang on. give it a month after bottling to condition and you cant buy better. £66 will get you 120 pints of bang on cider for summer sluping:thumb:

Welcome to the forum bees8932, have a look at Roddys TC recipe http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=66594


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Chippy_Tea said:

Welcome to the forum bees8932, have a look at Roddys TC recipe http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=66594


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I can vouch for Roddy's recipe. I'm making 5L batches for just a few quid.

Had a house party before Christmas and it went down a storm :thumb:

Chippy_Tea said:

Welcome to the forum bees8932, have a look at Roddys TC recipe http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=66594


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Can't go wrong with a TC - I think I've slowly worked my way through all Roddy's recipes and so far no duffers [emoji106]
Great way to learn the principles .
Also - just read through forum posts and ask for help before doing anything . I know I did and do still and these guys are quick to offer help and they have kept me on the straight and narrow !!


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Couple of things I can suggest which worked for me. Firstly, look to see what books you can get on cider making through your local library. I got through about 8 different books, all offering little bits which helped, as well as from these online forums.
Secondly, not sure where you are, but I live in Kent and went and helped out at local orchard picking apples from which they make cider last autumn. Learnt a great deal from them for nothing, built up new friendships and came away with a few bags of apples which are making great cider

Thank you for all your advise. I am going to try some turbo cider in three weeks but thought I would give the juice I have another chance. On Fri I added pectolase and on sunday I added brewing sugar, yeast and yeast nutrient.

Once I have bottled that up in a couple of weeks I am really looking forward to trying some turbo cider recipes.

I have also been shown how to operate the hydrometer, I was not reading at the beginning and instead going back a number of weeks later and reading 1000 and thinking that It was not reading any alcohol. I should have looked on this forum sooner.

Hopefully I will get lots of practice with Turbo before my next batch of apples grow.

Any of the ciders that contain crab apples will take ages to improve in taste. 6-12 months for malo/lactic fermentation to complete. Other things might also be going on with the cider, just leave it for a while hopefully will improve and mellow somewhat.