Guiness and Cider

[Slid]

Just watch your bottles of cider? I've only made cider "the long way" i.e. from scratted apples but I'm sure it usually ferments down to 1000? (maybe my memory is a bit hazy on this...anyone feel free to correct me on this.)
Anyway, hope I'm wrong. :

I'm sure you are right, bigboots - I made apple wine in 5 gallon batches many years ago and would expect it to come out at 1000 same as most wines.

I was happy at 1005 because of the 1.8kg can of stout extract.
Taster bottle was not particularly gassy, but I will be sure to "monitor" the situation in the meantime :

 

[graysalchemy]

My TC usually ends up at 1005. I would have though with the unfermentables in the stout kit that this would have accounted for the 1005 finish. :thumb:

 

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Tried a bottle of this today and was quite pleased with how it tasted vs the Coopers stout kit (plus DME, treacle etc) and supermarket cider.

Might turn out quite good in a another few weeks. :

Possibly too early to say whether the approach of brewing a single batch makes sense.
Am planning a cider kit with WGJ, inspired by the WOW approach that is heavily featured on the other half of this forum. Will aim to do another stout separately and see how the mix turns out.

Many thanks to all who have made their suggestions :thumb:

All much appreciated.

 

[Slid]

Tried a taster bottle again today.
Really quite good - much better apple taste than the supermarket cider plus stout.
Not acidic any more, pretty smooth.
It was bottled on Nov 23rd, so about 9 weeks on now. Oddly, the single week since the last taste seems to have made a difference. Maybe it's the slightly warmer weather? It's all in the garage, so only a couple of degrees above outside temps.

I would actually endorse this now, but it tasted a bit wierd at first. And made the house smell of farts. :lol:

Now keen to try Turbo Cider
:

 

[Slid]

Had a proper go at drinking this yesterday, watching the rugby with a 2 liter PET bottle. What a player that Sergio Parisee is - once again playing the (welsh) opposition almost sans assistance, as the (lucky) French would say. Please don't mention the Scotland result today.

Anyway, after a bit of testing, it seems that the brew tastes best mixed half and half with bog-standard supermarket, own brand dry cider. Too much "taste", otherwise. Another faux pas was not racking to secondary - an awful lot of sediment, much more than the beers.

So - my next stout is unlikely to have 12 liters of apple juice in it at the pitching.
Cider and Stout brewed apart from now on.

Live and learn, eh?

 

[Rolfster]

Have you tried decanting the brew into a jug or a different bottle to leave the sediement behind? Only works if your drinking it all.....

 

[mickthetrick]

half coopers stout and half strongbow cider is spot on. nice and smooth. had a session on it last week and really enjoyed it. :thumb:

 

[Slid]

Have you tried decanting the brew into a jug or a different bottle to leave the sediement behind? Only works if your drinking it all.....

Yes indeed, Rolfster, it's a trick I recall from many years ago. :

I picked up a 2L plastic jug that does the job for £1 in Wilko recently.
But even with careful pouring, the last inch had to go into a small glass for a medicinal yeast pre-drink.

Strangely, I have not yet found drinking all 2L a hardship :lol:

And I totally agree that Coopers Stout goes very nicely with a cider - probably next up for the FV!

 

[Slid]

OK, so about four months later it has a distinctive and pleasant taste to it.
:

Made a lot of mistakes on this one, mainly through impatience.
I should have racked to a secondary, large vessel and let it clear a bit for starters.
Also, using around 60-70% of the Apple juice would have been a good move.
Finally, perhaps going for something near 6% ABV was a bit silly, given that Guiness is 4.2% (I think) and the ciders I buy are around 5%.

My hearty recommendation to anyone interested is this:
Brew a stout (Coopers is as brilliant and as quick as the reviews on this forum suggest) and buy some cheap, dry cider. Drink half and half.

Sad, but true :drink:

 

[Slid]

Had another bottle (2L, minus a lot of sediment!) today and it is starting to taste quite good. Definitely more malic / appley mouth feel than you get from supermarket cider.

Bottled this on 23 Nov 2013, which is much in line with the TC timescales outlined on this site.

So thanks again, GA et al.

:

 

[Slid]

Had another bottle (2L, minus a lot of sediment!) today and it is starting to taste quite good. Definitely more malic / appley mouth feel than you get from supermarket cider.

Bottled this on 23 Nov 2013, which is much in line with the TC timescales outlined on this site.

So thanks again, GA et al.

:

Well, I see it is now another six months since I tried one of these. In the meantime, I put it in a cardboard box with the other great cider disaster, out of sight and out of mind.

It's what I wanted it to be, now. Robust, grown up sort of take on the Guinness and Cider of years ago. Proper appley, malic aftertaste instead of astringent and acid. Nice, beery mouthfeel, too.

Started 10 Nov 2013 and in 2L PET bottles since 23 Nov 2013. The one I am sampling has been in a lemonade bottle. No loss of carbonation, no sense of oxidisation. Just a nice, lively sort of thing.

Moral is: :thumb:

NEVER, EVER GIVE UP ON A BREW :

 

[Slid]

But another 4wks later, it does beat homebrew stout and supermarket own brand cider. I still think cider is too much trouble, though.

Ironically, there is not much left now, to enjoy in its prime.