Cordial based cider, time and taste?

[ericmark]

I bought a cider kit, the can did not contain the thick syrup normal with beer kits but a very watery liquid, so thought was any cordial would do instead, seems I did not consider what potassium sorbate and the brewing was as a result slow, so round two was to brew the sugar then add flavour, but without the flavour being brewed it tastes like a cordial not a cider even if alcoholic.

I seem to remember this with an accident when using an old orange cordial bottle for beer, the resultant taste was good, but trying to add orange juice did not replicate the result. So I will guess the cordial does need to ferment, but it is so slow, the question is how long to leave it ferment in the fermenter and how long to condition in the bottles.

One main reason for not using cider kit as well as price is wife does not like the cider too dry, so once dry enough it goes in the fridge, as she also does not like flat cider, the potassium sorbate tends to result in a flat cider so careful not to use a cordial with that in. I may need to return to buying tins of cider?

 

[FakeBiffa]

I've never made cider kits. Looking at the many reviews on here, there aren't many that people actually like. Have you tried making turbo cider from cartons of supermarket apple juice? I've made a fair few and they are reasonable after a month or so of conditioning. If you want 'flavoured' I've seen lots of people mention using Lowicz syrup (maybe about half a bottle to a demijohn). From personal experience trying flavoured ones, I would put the syrup or other flavour in after the initial lively fermentation has died down (e.g. 4 days) to avoid stripping out the flavour.
If your wife prefers a sweeter cider I have used the sweetened cider yeast a few times (about a third of the sachet for a demijohn). My missus likes it once it has matured. The sweetened cider yeast was prone to producing a 'farty' odour that took at least a month to disappear once bottled.

 

[Nicks90]

As fakebiffs has said, try using cheap supermarket apple juice and then use lowicz Syrup after the initial burst of fermentation, or use the Syrup as the priming sugar when bottling.
I've done both but preferred using it as the priming sugar as it seems to retain more of its flavour.
If I remember rightly, a teaspoon of syrup is equal to about 3.5gm sugar, so carbs up nicely for a good fizzy pint after being chilled in the fridge.

 

[tigertim]

I once attempted to make Ribena wine. It went a bit wrong and seemed to finish incredibly (undrinkably) sweet - I think I must have misread or misinterpreted the quantities in the recipe to be honest.

But the very fact that a recipe exists suggests that it’s possible to create results with cordial which at least some people enjoy!

 

[ericmark]

I am wondering is it worth it? May be better to buy cans? I walked around a museum in I think Hereford and it seems cider making is a lot more involved than I thought. given up making from apples, although I have loads.

I was looking for a quick method in my time, and it seems using cider kits I need to assess when dry enough and bottle and keep in the fridge to stop it getting too dry, using swing top bottles to release the pressure should it continue to brew.

It did seem to work 50/50 cider kit and brewed sugar with cordial, but the cider kit at £20 is expensive compared with beer kit at £14 and the can contents seem the same as a bottle of cordial which is only a few pounds.

To brew cartons of juice seems pointless as the juice is not much cheaper than ready made cider in a can.

I did give up home brew as could buy 4 cans from Morrison's for 90p. But Welsh government stepped in and raised the price to £1.76 so I returned to home brew, if the minimum price was designed to increase my alcohol intake it worked, as cans were around 2% and home brew around 5%. Problem is I am lazy, and using 3 litre ex cola plastic bottles is easier to bottle to using small bottles, and I simply don't realise how much I have drunk until I realise I have thrown a track.

So having the booze in cans it likely better as you realise how many one has opened. But as far as wife is concerned, if I drink beer I am not making her coffee, so want a beverage for her as well, hence the cider experiment.

 

[Nicks90]

Expensive? Really?
4l apple juice for £3 in the supermarket.

Yes that's £15 for a 20l batch and add £1.50 for a bottle of lowicz and another few pounds for decent sweetened cider yeast. £20 all in for 40 bottles of fruit cider. And going by my previous cider brews, it's comparable to your typical can of fizzy fruity commercial stuff like strongbow dark fruits.
Plus for some reason I find commercial cider gives me a massive hangover, which I don't get from homebrew cider. Maybe I am sensitive to potsorbate or other colour stabilisers / preservatives they use in canned fruit ciders.