Hi Honey, I'm home...

[Hullblazer]

Long before it ruined my marriage I gave up homebrewing. I can tell exactly when; my son is 11 and I "voluntarily gave up" to free up time for our home life.

I'm 47 now and I find my tastes have changed from beers to ciders and I thought, when recently buying a 4-pack of a well know Scrumpy product, "why am I paying £2 a litle for stuff that's weaker and less tasty than my old turbo-cider?".

So I'm back. 12 litres of Lidl 100% apple juice (total's £6.80), 1/8 of a pack of Allinson's bread-yeast (8 sachets = £1.00), an old fermentation bin and hydrometer and a two-bag-cup of Yorkshire Tea.

I'll let the yeast run down, bottle it into old cider bottles and leave it a couple of weeks before I drink it. TC never really does age.

If my hand does fall back into the game I can see a small-batch Burco all-grain set up coming my way too...

 

[Chippy_Tea]

1/8 of a pack of Allinson's bread-yeast (8 sachets = £1.00)

I don't make cider so could i ask why you use bread yeast, i know beer brewers and wine makers don't use it because it can spoil the taste of the finished beer/wine does it not have the same effect on cider?

 

[Frogbrew]

Get cider yeast mate, its 100% better than bread yeast. Clears better, no nasty aftertaste, brews quicker, only £1.20 a pack from cml on eBay.
Once you've racked off or bottled your cider just bung your next batch of aj on top, works a treat. I only use a pack for two batches though but would probably still work beyond.
I've tried bread yeast once when I started out and it went down the drain.

 

[Dutto]

Welcome back! :thumb:

The only time I have used Bread Yeast was in "no alcohol" countries and I swear that I could taste bread in the brews. It may have been psychosomatic but you may as well buy a sachet of Cider Yeast and then harvest it from the trub for future brews. Still cheaper than buying bread yeast. (BTW, if you buy bread yeast for baking then remember that the system works the other way. I have often successfully used the yeast from a brew to make bread!):thumb:Enjoy.

 

[xozzx]

only £1.20 a pack from cml on eBay.

Or you could buy 10 for £7.35 and also get 10% discount by putting "Give me 10 Tom" in the comments. Not tried their cider yeast but the others are great.

www.crossmyloofbrew.co.uk

 

[Hullblazer]

Hi all and thank you for your concerns! I've never lost a batch of cider yet and I can honestly say I've not noticed any unpleasantness from bread yeast.

When I got into TC (something to bang out between brews) I was a poster on JBK and TC started out as just AJ and bread yeast. I have used cider yeast and champagne yeast in the past and will indeed return to them. Bread yeast, however, brews out to approx 5-6%abv and the others push towards 7-9% or even 12% respectively!

 

[Hullblazer]

Racked into borttles today. More concerned about my lack of experience with Star San than the return to TC working.

 

[Vinotinto]

Racked into borttles today. More concerned about my lack of experience with Star San than the return to TC working.

Stat San is excellent. Goes for miles. reuse again and again, no need to rinse, no added taste etc etc. Nothing to worry about unless you start drinking the stuff neat.

 

[Hullblazer]

Thank you - I'm using 1.6ml/L at the mo and am looking forwards to how the brew turns out. If it's okay, I'm then going to get a couple of Brewfirm 20 pinters too.

Q on the Star San: I mixed a bottle for "splash on for 30 sec, drain off, reuse" and overnight it went cloudy. Does this mean I should bin it? Try again with cheap mineral water?

 

[Dutto]

..........

Q on the Star San: I mixed a bottle for "splash on for 30 sec, drain off, reuse" and overnight it went cloudy. Does this mean I should bin it? Try again with cheap mineral water?

I mix up 5 litres at a time from ordinary tap water and it goes cloudy immediately! No! Don't bin it. Mine still works okay.

 

[Hullblazer]

I mix up 5 litres at a time from ordinary tap water and it goes cloudy immediately! No! Don't bin it. Mine still works okay.

Really? Thank you!

 

[Bigcol49]

Does this mean I should bin it? Try again with cheap mineral water?

I mix up 5 litres at a time from ordinary tap water and it goes cloudy immediately! No! Don't bin it. Mine still works okay.

Hi!
If it's OK for Dutto, it's OK. He has many (many, many, many, many, many) years of experience.
If you are in any doubt for future use, Tesco Ashbeck water is great for diluting Star San.

 

[Hullblazer]

Thank you!

 

[Dutto]

........... He has many (many, many, many, many, many) years of experience.
...........

Hey! Less of the "many"! A few other things of mine still work; despite the abuse they have suffered!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Hey! Less of the "many"! A few other things of mine still work; despite the abuse they have suffered!

WAY (way way way way) too much information.

 

[Hullblazer]

Hey! Less of the "many"! A few other things of mine still work; despite the abuse they have suffered!

NOTHING wrong with self-abuse; at least it's sex with someone you love...

b'dum-tish!