Making a cider kit to produce a dry cider

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freflow

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Hi
I have tried the Bulldog Brews Perfect Pear and on the rocks pear and apple cider kits and they are all little sweet for me. I like a crisp dry cider, has anybody got any tips and tricks to make them more "dry" (i already leave them to ferment them below 1000)
Thanks
 
I've only done a few but any turbo cider I've made has come out pretty dry, bit too much so for the wife's taste but I don't mind it. Cheap as chips to make and tasty. If you like fruited type ciders then lob in some Lowicz at the start, bumps the ABV nicely too. Roddy's strawberry and lime has been on of my favourites. Search for it on here. I use CrossMyLoof cider yeast.

I prefer the end result to be dry anyway as you can always make it a bit sweeter to taste with sugar syrup when serving.
 
Hi
I have tried the Bulldog Brews Perfect Pear and on the rocks pear and apple cider kits and they are all little sweet for me. I like a crisp dry cider, has anybody got any tips and tricks to make them more "dry" (i already leave them to ferment them below 1000)
Thanks

If you like dry ciders then personally I would go for a proper cider yeast but be careful. I tried a cider yeast on a batch and it didn't come out very nice at all... in fact it was done fermenting within just 4 days which if i'm honest I think affected the flavour and the colour... it completely stripped the colour making the juice pale and also stripped the flavour making it "whiney".

I have recently tried and just bottled a batch using a wet cider yeast which is a little more expensive and time consuming, as you need to cultivate it a little before pitching it, (if you need advice on this just ask) but the flavour is lovely! On initial tasting before carbing up it tasted like a proper old English dry cider. As I like a balanced medium dry, i added sweetener (Xylitol) which has very little after taste.

You can find my recipe here: https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/trial-turbo-cider-recipes-wlp775.82289/
 
i have just finished a batch of Wobblygob traditional cider which is excellent but very dry and slightly acidic with a splash of lemonade was spot on for me how do you use the Xylitol and in what sort of amounts? say to a 40 pint batch?
 
Get to the supermarket and buy 20 odd litres of their cheapest pure apple juice,from concentrate is fine. I added some black tea for tannin and some nutrient. CML cider yeast. Dead easy,cheap and dry..
 
i have just finished a batch of Wobblygob traditional cider which is excellent but very dry and slightly acidic with a splash of lemonade was spot on for me how do you use the Xylitol and in what sort of amounts? say to a 40 pint batch?

Hi Carl. The best thing to do, is do what I did with xylitol which was to syphon 500ml after the cider had fermented into a sterilised jug and slowly add to taste(tasting as you go). So I started off with 1/2 teaspoon and then 3/4 and I finally settled on 1 level teaspoon(using measuring spoons) of xylitol for 500ml of cider. If you are doing 40 pints I would measure the weight of 1 teaspoon of xylitol and times it by 40(or 39 wink...) It's usually about 5 grams give or take. add it to the batch and stir until fully dissolved... you can even leave it overnight(as you haven't added any priming sugar at this point) to dissolve before batch priming and bottling.

Obviously providing you fully ferment out to 1.000 which I think is a dry cider you get a nice taste. If you stop fermentation sooner you end up with a sweeter but weaker cider....

Xylitol literally looks like granulated sugar and tastes like it... zero after flavour (but it's pricey).
 
Cheers for the feedback Electro, will certainly be try it out on my next batch

No problem. If you are going to use wet yeast then watch the videos I got the idea from. The first video shows you how to cultivate the yeast so you have enough for multiple batches(massive money saver) and the second video shows you how to grow the yeast up for 2 days before pitching it into apple juice.

2 Videos in the series:

and


You've got me going now and I've just checked my batches and I've popped two in the fridge for taste testing later.... although I have a feeling the flavour won't quite be there just yet.
 
To the OP, listen to Clint. Changing the yeasts won't make any difference as the sugars in the apple juice will all get fermented and kit manufacturers use sweeteners to make the fully fermented cider sweet. Do a turbo cider from juice, or press your own apples, and if it ends up too dry for your liking you can sweeten with sweeteners before bottle carbonating it, or you if you don't mind still cider you can stabilise it then add sugar before bottling.
 
I've bottled the concentrate turbo this afternoon using a bottling wand but left the vent hose from the barrel dangling in the jar of water/steriliser mix, and it sucked it all up. As soon as I noticed I had a swig from a filled bottle but it tasted alright. Bloody good as it happens. It remains to be seen if the steriliser remnants kill the yeast in the bottle.
 
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