Wilkinsons Fruits of the Forest Cider

[ojivar]

Mine is fermenting away as we speak, smells gorgeous!

 

[buzzharvey22]

kilo of brewing sugar for this do we think?

 

[ScottM]

Instructions say 1.5kg IIRC, I wouldn't bother with brewing sugar though. Plain white cane sugar will be fine.

 

[buzzharvey22]

Instructions say 1.5kg IIRC, I wouldn't bother with brewing sugar though. Plain white cane sugar will be fine.

gotta get rid of it somehow, seeing as i have pile of it the size of ben nevis after the wilko sale

 

[Deaconbrau]

I've made this (quite short as it turned out - new fermenting vessel disaster! :shock: ) it smelt great and had a strong alcopoppy taste. Again, this could have been down to being almost 5l short, but I am seeing if time will help this. It has been month and this has certainly helped remove some of the edge.
Don't take me wrong, it is becoming most drinkable and the scent is to die for!

 

[stevie1556]

This sounds amazing! I may have to try this!

 

[buzzharvey22]

mines been in 3 days now, smells great

one question though, there's no krausan ring and theres bubbles rising in the brew. does this sound right? theres sediment forming at the bottom!

 

[ojivar]

All bottled up and and now to play the waiting game! Took a little longer then it was supposed to (as always with these kits) and stopped at 1010 so came out about 4.8%.

Initial taste when bottling was very pleasant so I think this will be a winner for the summer!

Oh and yes I got a lot of sediment in the bottom, more then I have ever got with any beer kit but this is my first cider kit in 20 years so assumed it was normal!

 

[shreko]

I started my wilko fruit cider yesterday, but added 2 cartons of cranberry and blackcurrant juice to mine and it smells bloody lush I added 500g of brewing suger + ive used bottle water , toped the bin up to 15 litres and tested it was comin out at around 5.8%, I want about 4.5 % so toped it up to 20 litres and tested it and now its about 4.4 % which is good enough for me .When its done I will be putting it in a barrel .

 

[wardy86]

Bottled mine yesterday. Took 3 weeks but managed to get an FG of 1004 which will give me a 5% abv. Brewed to 21L with 1.5kg of brewing sugar. Smells and tastes awesome so can't wait have a few of these on a warm summers evening.

 

[mickthetrick]

ive just tried a pint of this thats being bottled for 4 weeks. still cloudy and im a bit dissapointed with the taste to be honest. was well carbonated but taste is a little lacking. maybe i was expecting a little too much as i thought it may be like kopparberg mixed fruit but its not. ive added a dash of vimto cordial to my pint and its improved it.

 

[ScottM]

Every kit should be held back to 20L IMO. Either that or topped up with something from 20L to 23L in order to add flavour, fruit juice, DME, etc depending on what you are brewing.

 

[fbsf]

Wilko's asked me to review this, so I thought I might as well paste my thoughts here...

For the record, I brewed this with brewing sugar, and to 21L. It was also left in the primary for 2 weeks in the cool for the yeast to drop out.

This isn't going to worry the flavour of most commercial berry ciders (which can be a little overstated I feel), but when bottled and left for a month to mature is a nice chilled cider good for warmer days.

The yeast it comes with does the job, but really doesn't like sticking to the bottom of the bottles - even after chilling for a week, you still lose the last 3/4" of the bottle because of the sediment.

There is one quite odd thing - the kit is formulated with some barley malt in the ingredients. This gives it a slight malt tinge to the flavour and gives it a head that wouldn't embarrass a pint of bitter. I'm not sure why they included this really - cider doesn't need mouthfeel and I've never tasted a malty cider anywhere else.
It also means that what should otherwise be a coeliac-friendly drink isn't, so I have had to be careful in giving it out to friends as some are gluten-intolerant.

Would I make the kit again? It was on offer recently for £7 and at this price, yes. For the £14 it normally costs (so £16 inc brewing sugar), probably not, as I can make an all-apple juice based Turbo Cider for roughly the same price which tastes a lot cleaner and crisper.

 

[ojivar]

Well several bottles have now been drunk and I am very pleased with the overall taste, I would say easily as nice as Bulmers fruit cider.

I found that using 500ml old cola bottles meant the sediment all remains in the "feet" of the the bottle and you pretty much get the whole thing without losing any drink, I haven't opened any of the glass bottles yet so that may cause the problem as described above.

I also bought this for £7 but I think I would probably make this one again at full price seeing as how expensive fruit cider is to buy ( 3 for £5 is a deal :shock: )

 

[peteplus1]

Any more tips or impressive results with this one?
Just received this gift and plan to get it underway hopefully today. :thumb:

 

[buzzharvey22]

i was pretty dissapointed with this, iv had it in the bottle 4 months now and its just about drinkable when cool. not much taste at all i think, but it has quite a bitter aftertaste on the toungue, which i quite like however i would prefer it to follow a fruity taste at first

it will get drunk but probably wont be done again

possibly will be nice with a little bit of ribena added to the glass

 

[peteplus1]

Just wondered how long peoples ferment was in the fv? This seems to be a slow one looking at mine and reading hasn't yet dropped by that much.. .

 

[Chriso]

Mine has been on for 12 days so far, still bubbling away and reading around 1020 :whistle:

 

[peteplus1]

Dunno what I've done wrong but there's little to no fizz in this outcome. Followed all instructions to the latter. Should be ready to taste and it tastes quite ok. Just flat :cry:

 

[dangerousdave]

Mines bubbling away nicely started it yesterday and its making the house smell lush too. I just hope it tastes nice after reading these reviews.... I will report back with my verdict once its ready