Cider kit from Home Brew Stores?

[ProfessorWoland]

Hi

Really sorry if this is the wrong place to ask (as all the threads seem to be about making cider from scratch) but I'd like your expert opinions on the cider kits they sell in HBS.

Me and the other home-brewers I know have never tried one but I have heard from a friend of a friend that they have a long fermentation period and they results aren't that good (this could be them not allowing it to condition though.)

What are the thoughts of this board on them?


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[Hello]

I tried to find the ingredients for a kit online but all I could tell is that Muntons uses some sort of weird extract? Is that in place of buying actual cider?

To me, cider is easy. You buy the juice free of any preserving agents, some sugar (table, corn, dry malt extract) and a package of yeast. Wine yeast makes a dry wine whereas nottingham ale yeast does better if you don't want the dryness that you get with wine. There's no need for a kit. The kit itself would be useful it contained a fermentation vessel, a siphon, a hydrometer, and a thermometer (if you need one). Basically, just what you need to see if the juice has fermented and tools to get it out of the jug.


I'd trust store bought and even store brand juice before I used a can of extract and added water. That's just me.

 

[EpicCider]

Honestly the wine kits + yeast midwestsupplyhas (or any online brewstore) is effectively what you need. It's not that viable to ship juice, but I could see maybe brew shops buying local juice for resale.

They do sell a lot of wine kits online though, kind of a different creature though.

 

[RPCidery]

Apple juice is born with a desperate yearning to become cider. All ya' need is some Tree Top (or whatever your favorite, I like Hansen's Trio), yeast, and a fermentation vessel. No need for primary/secondary. Just sanitize and plunk it all into a glass carboy. It really is that easy.

 

[Jkalotai]

After doing a little detective work I figured out you're in the UK.

I've been very successful using both filtered and unfiltered apple juice (cider to us here in the States). I usually add 12oz of frozen concentrate, 1 cup of brown sugar and Lalvin 1118 Champagne yeast.

No kit needed, just a fermenter, airlock, and bottles.




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[ProfessorWoland]

Thanks for all your advice!


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