First pint of Kit made cider.

[Peapodmaster]

Just drank my first pint of kit-made cider which i made using "Young's Brewbuddy cider" and i got a few things to ask and a few things to tell peopkle about the cider.

Even though you can make the stronger batch of 7% it still doesnt seem very strong when your drinking it.
it's very very dry and almost hard to have more than a mouthful (but thats just me)

a few questions.
How could i make it less dry next time i do it (if i do)
its not very fizzy but that could of just been me, i did a tsp per pint glass and it doesnt seem to be fizzing at all, i may need to leave it mature long but it has already been 2 weeks so i thought i'd crack open a bottle.
Any way to stop the small bits of sediment getting into the bottles next time? this time i noticed the last mouthful (in the bottle) was literally pure sediment i must of syphoned it wrong. any answers anybody? :)

Cheers :drink: :drink:

Andy

 

[Wraeccan]

To my understanding...
When you prime the bottles with the sugar, then a small secondary fermentation occurs within the bottle (to make uz zum bubblz). This will always cause a wee bit of sediment.
Leave the bottles undisturbed for as long as possible (preferable chilled) then decant into a nice clean glass.

Oh... leave it for another fortnight at least, too!!

 

[Peapodmaster]

Thankyou for the reply. could that be why its dry then? or did i leave it ferment for too long? i dont understand the campden tablets thing that people do.

Cheers

Andy.

 

[doyley]

If it is too dry for you then just add a slug of apple juice to the glass.

 

[disco_monkey79]

You can add a non-fermentable artificial sweetener, to increase the sweetness. Or, if you don't mind "flat" cider, you could stop fermentation, and then back-sweeten with real suger. But make sure you've stopped it properly, else your bottles will explode.

 

[alphacento]

A lot of these Cider Kits say that you only need to let it mature 2 weeks but in most cases it is not true. You should leave it at least a couple of months in my opinion.
It could be very dry because the cider kit was specifically for a dry cider. Next time try to use some Splenda during priming. Also use 1 and half spoon of sugar to get more fizzness in.

 

[big brew ejit]

I made a John Bull Cider kit as my first one but I tasted it after a couple of weeks like the said it was not that impressive however when I tasted it after 4 weeks it had vastly improved and after 8 it is very nice indeed.
Leaving it was the difficult part as patience is not a virtue I possess but if you get a good rolling stock then that shouldn't be a problem.
Dont worry about a little bit of sediment if the bottle has been chilled for a while and if it does end up in the glass you can still drink it.

 

[Titch]

this was my first kit aswell
i found it like strongbow, it did get better after 4 weeks or so , but not great
me and the wife thought it was like strongbow, and they only way we could finish it was with a splash of juice
or when we bottled some we used apple juice instead of sugar, the only thing was we put a bit too much in and it went WHOOOOSSHHH all over the place

personally i wont be doing it again, a friend says the autumn blush two can kit is nice and would do it again
he has also tried magnum, better than brew buddy but not great early on
get better with age but not great

he has also done a finlandia not heard about that so much,

now remember you will never get mangum or strongbow tastes to these, just a pint you personally enjoy

 

[Peapodmaster]

well thanks for all the replies. i will be trying this out. i also tried out the pear cider kit and i found it to be rather yeasty and very very sweet. didn't taste at all like cider. just.. weird.

 

[SamWise72]

When people are suggesting that you "stop fermentation and sweeten with sugar", they mean that you should use wine stabiliser. Basically, when your yeasties are alive, they eat any sugar they find, and convert them to alcohol. That's why the cider ends up so dry. When you bottle, the sugar you add gives the yeasties another little feed, and since fermentation produces carbon dioxide as well, they carbonate the drink. That means that the only way you can sweeten is with Splenda (you have to use a lot before the taste becomes noticeable), unless you use wine stabiliser to kill your yeasties, but if you do the latter, it won't carbonate.

If it's thrown a sediment, then it SHOULD be carbonated. It makes me wonder whether the bottle you tried was perhaps not sealed properly?