Rip off?

[mitch]

I normally use about half a sachet. It's more than enough and I could probably get away with using about a quarter.

I used 3.5g.

Ive woken up and the TC baby is bubbling nicely this morning at around 20 degrees. ☺

 

[BrewMeHappy]

Excellent

 

[Didge]

It's a matter of personal taste. I have paid good money for rubbish cider and I have also paid good money for excellent cider but, I've always paid less money for bad cider.

Unlike beer kits, cider requires a little more knowledge to brew well, such as which yeast, which & how much artificial sweetener to use, whether to use Amylase and/or Pectinase with extra fruit, and whether to control acidity with precipitated chalk or additional acids etc? I have a garden full of soft fruit so adding additional fruit and chemicals to cider & beer has become quite regular for me.

Ultimately the final quality of cider depends upon the quality and sweetness of the apple concentrate used, I usually throw away the supplied yeast/nutrient/sweetener sachet and use my own; this way I can achieve the exact sweetness I crave. I also use Lalvin EC-1118 yeast to limit the bad egg emissions to keep the Mrs happy.

If I had to choose one range of cider kits that gets their concentrate right it would be the Youngs range of cider, it's probably the perfect balance of acidity & flavour for most people, however it is a little too sweet for my preferred acid palette.

No beer or cider is ever a waste, its just a learning experience.

 

[Clint]

I'd say brewing decent beer,from scratch, does take a little time and effort...

 

[Didge]

I'd say brewing decent beer,from scratch, does take a little time and effort...

Sorry, I was referring to beer kits. Brewing an AG brew for example will obviously be much more demanding, and to be honest way beyond my basic abilities or time/child constraints.

We have an autistic son who just loves opening taps and watching fluids flow, not good when there's 40 pints of sticky IPA or Cider behind the tap!

 

[user 44889]

I've done 3 ciders in the last 2 years. First one a friend gave me a 23 ltr bucket filled with Apples. Juiced them etc and the cider was disappointing.
Next one was TC made from 5 ltrs Co op 100% Apple juice. Loved it and builders working on the house loved it too sitting having their lunch.
3 rd batch also TC Mango 12% Apple 88%. Threw loads of Lees and only ended up with about 4 ltrs. Loved it too and gave some to my fishing buddy who then wanted me to make him 20 gallons lol... making him 1 gallon this summer. TCs are the way to go and you can experiment. Sorry never done a Cider kit.

 

[Berry454]

Hi all

I've recently bought a bulldog perfect cider kit for around £20, but after receiving bit disappointing as it's basically apple juice with a sachet of cider yeast and sweetener? Obviously I should have looked more into it appreciate its probably quality apple juice but still cant help feel robbed. I guess my question is if I was to have bought 5ltrs bog standard apple juice from the supermarket and cider yeast online for few £ could of saved myself best part of £15?

Cheers in advance if any replies?

I think you'll find that the cider kits contain actual flavourings too.

I brewed one of the bulldog flavoured cider kits a few months ago and it definitely contained synthetic flavourings. Tasted great though.

I now have a range of natural and concentrated flavourings that I add to my own ciders from juice. Usually 1-2ml of flavouring is enough for an entire 23l batch!

Making a batch of blackberry cider is now as simple as 10l apple juice. A little purple food colouring and 2ml of blackberry flavouring.