Magnum Strawberry cider Kit

[gripped]

Hi

I bought this kit a couple of weeks ago on a whim while in a local(ish) Home brew shop.

I was planning on starting it in the next few days , as soon as my current brew has ceased fermenting, so I had a closer look a the kit and instructions.

What I was surprised to see is that can ingredients list the main ingredient as "Concentated Grape Juice" with no mention of apple juice at all !

Surely to be a Cider it need to be Apple Juice ?
Is that not the definition of Cider ? I'm a bit confused.
I guess I should have looked more closely at the can before buying it.

All thoughts are welcome.

 

[Titch]

yep done the normal one
its grape and a little schet of nasty tasting stuff

but do not be put off, for the money its drinkable

but we have left most of ours 3 months or more and the wife says its alright now

so do not be put off when its only a month old and tastes nasty

 

[shocker]

Is there Malic Acid listed on the ingredients ? Is it possible that grape juice was cheaper than apple at the time of manufacture and so was apple-ised a bit , chemically ? I know bugger all about wine , mind you :wha:

 

[gripped]

Full list of ingredients

Concentrated Grape Juice
Sugar
Glucose Syrup
Citric Acid
Diammonium Phosphate
Stabiliser E223

I am going to email the manufacturer (Hambletonbard) as I'm curious how they can call it a Cider Kit with no apple juice.

 

[AndrewVu]

Sorry to bump this. Did you email them? Did they respond?

 

[gripped]

I Did email them.

They did not respond, but it was just before xmas. I may try again.

I ended up using 23 litres of Sainsburys Apple juice and the yeast from the kit. I have just added the strawberry flavour as I just transferred it to a keg..

So quite expensive for some cider yeast and some flavour. (although I'm sure I'll find a use for the grape juice down the line).

I couldn't bring myself to make cider with grape juice.

 

[gripped]

I did get a reply. I won't post it in full but the gist of it was :-
That Cider is a drink made from fruit juice not necessarily apples.
That they use grape juice in the Strawberry Cider Kit because when mixed with strawberry flavour grape juice produces a better flavour than apple juice.
That Trading Standards approve the product.

 

[abeyptfc]

ive got the magnum apple cider in the house to brew, just checked the ingredients and it has concentrated apple juice.

 

[AndrewVu]

Thanks for that. Trading standards comment sounds a little defensive of them.

 

[gripped]

ive got the magnum apple cider in the house to brew, just checked the ingredients and it has concentrated apple juice.

He did say that the apple was apple and the pear was pear. They do an elderflower cider and it seems this is grape juice as well.
Is grape juice cheaper than apple I wonder ?

Thanks for that. Trading standards comment sounds a little defensive of them.

Indeed.
Lesson learnt anyway. Read the ingredients before purchase not once I get home.
The grape juice with strawberry flavouring may well have tasted lovely. But IMO its not really cider. Is it ?

 

[abeyptfc]

ive brewed the pear cider and it was lovely, also ive had the elderflower cider in a cornie for about 3 months, i last tasted it about a month ago and it was still way to sweet and tangy so will leave it for a bit and then see what its like.

 

[shocker]

I would be a little sceptical of the statement that any drink made with fruit is a cider . A pear juice drink has a name , it is Perry . And other fruit based drinks have names of their own too . Trading Standards may accept it , I dont know how happy they are about it , but I dont accept it at all . Like has been said , very defensive answers , as though they know that they are pushing their luck and have had complaints already .

I guess its a case of Buyer Beware , read the ingredients before buying . Which is fine if you are physically in the shop but for many of us its the fact that we can shop online that has made home winemaking and brewing feasible , and the full ingredients list is rarely given on websites selling what we need .

Sad to think that manufacturers are doing this kind of thing but I suppose it was inevitable that companies would start playing silly buggers with the resurge of home making/brewing and the financial climate . Its also a shame that your LHBS is selling the stuff with nothing said....you may want to mention it to them in the nicest possible way . It may be just legal but that doesnt make it right .

 

[gripped]

I would be a little sceptical of the statement that any drink made with fruit is a cider . A pear juice drink has a name , it is Perry

Exactly what I said (in part) in my reply to them. "A pear juice drink is Perry" Glad to know I'm not alone in thinking cider should be based on apple juice !
Buyer beware for sure.

I very much doubt Trading Standards have been approached by Hambleton Bard to endorse the product.
Companies generally steer clear of TS . It's consumers who contact them.
I take it as a fob off.

I never got a reply to my reply, I'll leave it there.

:drink:

(edit to help other punters)
Magnum Strawberry cider Kit review

 

[Fergmeister]

Yeah the first thing I thought was that if Trading Standards are ok with it, then surely that means you're not the first person to complain!

Thanks for the heads up, I have been drinking a lot of the brothers strawberry cider lately so this caught my eye but I would rather brew my own than buy a sparkling white wine with strawberry flavouring kit...

 

[zakswfc]

Hi Guys,

Noticed this product in my local Brewmart and fancy it, thought i'd check a few reviews first, couldn't find it in the review section so googled and found this.

Anyone else tried this kit more recently???

I am more interested in how it tastes as appose to how it is made

Thanks