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If the reading that you took when the brew had stopped bubbling was 1.010 then it has not finished fermenting yet. It should get down to below 1.000 by the time it is done (the instructions for the kit will probably give you an approximate figure). I think you would be best off putting it back...

As far as I am aware different yeasts react differently to the brew, have different tolerances to temperature and alcohol, and also affect the flavour of the brew. Having never had the time or motivation to do the same brew multiple times with different yeasts, I am not sure to what extent the...

For the hole in the lid of a 5l PET I just drew around a 2p piece with a marker and cut it out with a Stanley knife. Works perfectly for the Youngs rubber bungs.

I laughed when I first saw those plastic fermenters at an online brew shop. They were about 3 or 4 quid, whereas sainsburys sell them for a pound with 5 litres of spring water free! I will probably just buy a new one the next time I do a kit and need a fair bit of water for it.

You could always ferment to dry and then add campden tabs and potassium sorbate to kill off the yeast, meaning you can then sweeten with sugar. As for the juice, as far as I understand you refrigerate it to avoid spoilage (because bacteria doesn't generally like the cold) but when brewing...

Yea I recall reading what people said about TC before I made it and it sounded a bit too good to be true, but even within a fortnight of bottling it was very much to my taste! I really fancied some perry/ pear cider but I think the aldi nectar is the only juice out there and its a massive pain...

Ooh that's a good idea, I'll be sure to do that, just in case I run out of teaspoons one day... Also, being relatively new to this hobby (much like the OP I presume) I only have one fv, which means batch priming would result in quite a bit of sediment which I would sooner avoid. ;)

Bloody hell, was it that bad? I had heard about their chemical sachet things from another thread which sort of put me off, but usually a few months can rescue it. Thanks for sharing your experiences! Perhaps, as someone else mentioned, you inadvertently made sparkling white wine with pear...

I bottle mine and prime with 1 teaspoon of sugar per 500ml/pint and it comes out very nice. Can't see why that wouldn't work in your keg so that would be 40 teaspoons (i find it quicker to do it that way, rather than weighing it).

Thats only about halfway done then. The fizzing is the brew fermenting, because as the yeast converts the sugar to alcohol it also creates carbon dioxide ( which is why you can carbonate a brew by 'priming' your bottles with sugar). I'm guessing you had a massive wedge of foamy stuff atop your...

I think I would opt for the bung and give it a proper shake! Either that or stir/swirl for as long as it takes

I think mine was done in about 5-7 days and it had dropped down to either .990 or .995 FYI. As other people have said though, the safest way is to check the hydrometer reading every day or two and wait until you get the same reading on 2 or 3 consecutive occasions.

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=19345 There are a few tables on this thread that will give you an idea, so you can work it out prior to starting a brew. Just don't forget to account for any sugar in your ingredients too!

Would that be from a 2l glass bottle of scrumpy? I have of those at home and I am prepared to drink it in the course of an evening this week, purely in order to liberate the yeasties of course.

+ 1 to the advice given so far. My first attempt was literally just 5 gallons of cheap Apple juice and yeast (I think I used youngs super wine yeast compound) and then some priming sugar. The sugar in the juice took mine to 6% so I was very happy with it (it isn't far off a sort of strongbow...

Yeah it was a purchase for the OH in order to get her more on board with the brewing thing lol. Considering the cost and everything the wine smells and tastes very nice; she's after doing the black cherry one next so I'm sure that will be too. I will definitely look into doing it with frozen...

Dessert wines I have drank are usually of 'normal' abv and incredibly sweet.

I did my first batch without any additional ingredients to get a feel for how it comes it (and thus how I would adjust it to my personal taste) and I must say this has got to be the easiest recipe I have ever done and it was pretty damn nice! Prime with 1 teaspoon of sugar per 500ml/pint if you...

In Morrisons near me its down the aisle with all the other sugars n stuff.

I think Morrisons sell it (at least the one near me does) but I can't recall a price.