Magnum Cider Kits

[aneray]

I'm thinking of buying the Magnum Strawberry, Pear and Elderflower Cider kits. Just wondering if these are any good. Can they be 'tinkered' with to produce an abv of around 6.5 % without affecting the taste.

Cheers Neil

 

[Springer]

Have a Magnum pear cider not started yet, but I believe from a recent post it should make something a little over 5% :|
I was disappointed to find a sachet of artificial pear flavour to help it along :hmm:
With this in mind I think it will be near the limit to stay pear like, without tinkering, but I may be wrong.
For me I am staying with the kit, as built kit and 5% ish. It may well be a nice drink :?
If not I will be back to apple juice and turbo, which is a lot more "value" for your money
The Jury is out, it will be a black wig if the pear taste is not really good. :lol:

 

[lloyd]

hi

i brewed the pear cider kit and didn't have a good result to start with it stunk of rotton eggs at the end of ferment and after racking i added the sachet of flavouring and it stunk like pear drops (that acid smell) and that made it even worse!

its been about 2 months now and the smell is still there so i dont hold much hope but we will see what time holds

i know of one other guy who had this problem with the strawberry kit if you do brew these kits please let me know the results as im intrested to see if it was just a bad kit

 

[samurailord]

I made the Pear Cider, and I had no problems at all.

I stuck it in a pressure barrel and enjoyed it over a couple of months, bottling the last few litres which I am still sampling :)

I didn't notice the 'rotten eggs' smell at all - but maybe my sense of smell is going along with everything else!

Andy

 

[aneray]

Thanks for all of the replies. I really don't like the idea of adding a sachet for flavouring, its like adding the soy sauce to a pot noodle and expecting it to taste better. For the price of these kits I expected some really good feedback on the end product but the reviews seem a little dissapointing.

I see there is a Finlandia Cider kit out there. Anybody tried it ?.

Cheers Neil

 

[Springer]

soy sauce to a pot noodle

Nicely put, :lol:
I wouldn't buy a pot noodle but I have bought the cider kit
I will make it to the instructiions and see how it goes, might be pleasantly surprised. :pray: :pray:

 

[aneray]

Nice one Springer, keep us all informed on the outcome. Just got back from my local HB shop with a Coopers Canadian Blonde, thought I'd leave the cider for a while !!.

Cheers Neil

 

[Springer]

thought I'd leave the cider for a while

Time will tell as I said
Can't fault Turbo cider though, highly recommended on all counts

 

[Polymath]

I have to admit, that I never had any problems with them.

Did a pear one middle of last year, went down well at the house party on Haloween.

Strawberry cider went down a few months back.

Got the elderflower in the cupboard at the minute, and its slowly getting there. I think I need to put some work into it over the weekend to get it to the next stage ...

 

[Springer]

Just got up enough enthusiasm to start the kit off. These are my finding, I ended up with a SG of 1043, which if it goes to 1000 it will make 5.7% . Considering the price of the kit that doesn't compare very will in my opinion to straight apple juice, but it might have a nice pear flavour due to the real pear juice and that small sachet of pear flavouring. :)
I can just image, at best, someone saying "yes Springer a nice pear cider", that will be down to the to artificial pear flavouring I will be thinking. :cry:
No, not for me this one, why did I buy it, or at least take it back to the shop after seeing what it contained. :evil:

 

[doeflax]

Hi brewers,
am at the stage of completion of fermentation of the Magners Pear Cider kit brew ( 1st time cider brew ) and was wondering . . . . . . the instructions suggest racking off to another vessel, adding the sachet of cider flavouring, also add 60g of sugar, then seal.
My question is, will "icing sugar" be ok to use at this stage ?

Many thanx.
doeflax.

 

[Polymath]

Hi brewers,
am at the stage of completion of fermentation of the Magners Pear Cider kit brew ( 1st time cider brew ) and was wondering . . . . . . the instructions suggest racking off to another vessel, adding the sachet of cider flavouring, also add 60g of sugar, then seal.
My question is, will "icing sugar" be ok to use at this stage ?

Many thanx.
doeflax.

I don't think it would harm is, icing sugar is just highly refined sugar. However I would suggest to stick to the normal sugar for the first few brews. Then start to experiment. Then icing sugar / honey / next doors dog can be used :-)

 

[AdrianTrace]

Hang on - I thought icing sugar had cornstarch or some other anti-caking agent added to it to keep it powdery. :nono:

ingredients - it's Tricalcium Phosphate. I don't know how this will affect any brew.

Granulated, caster etc do not list ingredients so are 100% sugar

 

[doeflax]

both points taken & understood.
As it's my 1st cider brew I think I'd better stick to using granulated sugar.

I'll be sure & post my results ( & opinions ) back here when done. ( good or bad ) !

Talk to you soon guys.

doeflax

 

[Springer]

the instructions suggest racking off to another vessel, adding the sachet of cider flavouring, also add 60g of sugar, then seal.

Hi D,
Good luck with the brew, I presume your quote "another vessel" refers to a pressure vessel, the HB instructions could be confusing, cos they talk about another vessel and then refer to sparkling cider and a HB keg or similar pressure barrel.
Keep us informed how you go, read up on Turbo Cider as I said earlier
S

 

[Polymath]

Its funny that the rotten egg smell appeared in this thread. Tonight I racked my cider from my FB to a keg with some sugar. Sure enough there was a rotten egg smell, hopefully that will get masked over or is just the result of the original fermentation and will soon depart.

Will keep people in the loop on that one.

 

[doeflax]

didn't mean to veer off the "rotten egg" thread, I have got to the racking off stage, ( going from one pressure barell to another & not bothering to bottle ) taken an s.g. reading, and have found no evidence of the egg smell but will post back my final results.
I have pretty much adhered to the recommended instructions & am about to add the "pear concentrate" and leave for 2nd fermentation, so this may help others interested in the Magners kit.

 

[chrisholmes]

Hi all, i am new to this brewing game, iv'e just done the second part to my magnum cider kit it took longer for the first fermention
10 days more but thats down to the temp where i brew i did smell the egg smell at first but had gone in a week and bit, looks clear the tast is a little raw but it is there so roll on a few weeks so could it be the water we use or temp that could make this happen ??? :twisted: :drink:

 

[spitfire184]

Considering the necromancy has already been performed, I thought I would add to this.

I did the Magnum Pear Cider kit, I too experienced the rotten egg smell. I keg'd the cider after a week and started pouring pints a week later.

It tasted bad to be honest, vinegary and just weird. We had to add cordial to each glass to make it bearable. I suspected vinegar infection after reading about it, but it was my first brew, I don't know.

My partner did the Magnum Elderflower kit and that was ok. I'm trying the Strawberry now, so we'll see. :whistle:

Not very impressed really, might as well just buy juice from Lidl.

 

[Green Pesto]

I did the Pear Cider one a few months ago with no problems whatsoever!

At the end of the 5 days fermenting it didn't look or taste too promising.
After adding the flavour enhancer it again appeared not too promising.
However, after being left in the bottle for 5 days to Secondary Ferment I was left with a very nice Pear Cider that got better over the following few weeks! :thumb:
Most that have tried it say they love it!
Most say it is the best they've had & far superior to Shop/Pub bought ones!! - I have to agree! :grin:
The smell of Pear Drops is noticeable when you first pour the drink, but give it a minute & all is fine!

I will definately get another one soon!