1st brew, Magnum Cider Kit, Carbonation tabs Questions

kearneybobs

Hey guys,

Decided to put the Microbrew kit that the bro got me for christmas to good use there the other day. He got me the Coopers kit which came with a beer brewing kit inside. He also got me a Magnum Cider kit too.

Decided to give the cider a go. After 5 days now I'm not too sure how well it's going and would appreciate some input from yourselves.

Followed the instruction to the letter when making up the cider, with the exception of adding in an extra 300g of regular sugar to the 1kg that came in the Coopers kit (the Magnum kit said to use 1300g of sugar). Popped on the lid and put it into the hotpress upstairs. Temp fluctuates from about 22 to 26 degrees.

After 3 days there didn't seem to be any bubbling going on, but the water levels in the airlock seemed to change ever-so slightly.

Was worried it wasn't doing it's thing so i tried tightening the lid a bit more. It tightened a little. Not sure if that's a big problem for me though.

Today (the 5th day), the water levels in the airlock seemed have changed greatly and I can only assume that it's on track since tightening the lid.

I cant see inside the vessel to see what's happening too clearly but from the outside it looks fairly similar to what it looked like when it went into the vessel. i could be wrong, mind you. Should I check the SG at this stage to see if it's working?

Hopefully it will all turn out well for me. When I got to the next stage, the bottling, should I use carbonation tabs in the bottles? The instructions don't seem to mention it at all but simply say to add some sugar to the bottle. Not having a clue really, my instinct tells me that I should be using a carbonation tab.

Any ideas, suggestions?

Mashtun

kearneybobs wrote: »

Hey guys,

Decided to put the Microbrew kit that the bro got me for christmas to good use there the other day. He got me the Coopers kit which came with a beer brewing kit inside. He also got me a Magnum Cider kit too.

Decided to give the cider a go. After 5 days now I'm not too sure how well it's going and would appreciate some input from yourselves.

Followed the instruction to the letter when making up the cider, with the exception of adding in an extra 300g of regular sugar to the 1kg that came in the Coopers kit (the Magnum kit said to use 1300g of sugar). Popped on the lid and put it into the hotpress upstairs. Temp fluctuates from about 22 to 26 degrees.

After 3 days there didn't seem to be any bubbling going on, but the water levels in the airlock seemed to change ever-so slightly.

Was worried it wasn't doing it's thing so i tried tightening the lid a bit more. It tightened a little. Not sure if that's a big problem for me though.

Today (the 5th day), the water levels in the airlock seemed have changed greatly and I can only assume that it's on track since tightening the lid.

I cant see inside the vessel to see what's happening too clearly but from the outside it looks fairly similar to what it looked like when it went into the vessel. i could be wrong, mind you. Should I check the SG at this stage to see if it's working?

Hopefully it will all turn out well for me. When I got to the next stage, the bottling, should I use carbonation tabs in the bottles? The instructions don't seem to mention it at all but simply say to add some sugar to the bottle. Not having a clue really, my instinct tells me that I should be using a carbonation tab.

Any ideas, suggestions?

Carbonation drops will do the job. I used one per bottle with the coopers kits when i was doing them and that did the job. Just be sure the gravity has stopped dropping or u'll over carb. Just have a check on the gravity a few days in sucession

Martyn1989

Is there no gunk at the top of it, or even at the bottom?

Also the advice around here always is that 18C is optimum fermenting temp, and (Im new to this stuff aswell) I agree with them, my first brew was slightly warmer and didnt come out great, but my secound was at a steady 19-20C and came out great, now cider may be different to beer but I can't see it being that much different. Still you might consider putting it somewhere cooler?

Everyone also says to leave it in the fermentor 14 days, and that seems to work well.

kearneybobs

Just did the first SG test there. The hydrometer that came with the kit has got a black line on it to indicate when the fermentation has stopped. The hydrometer read to that black line (i think it's the 1000 mark.) above which it indicates that it's time to bottle. Had a sniff of it there. Smells like cider alright but has a bit of a non-cider smell to it.
It came out very cloudy, partly because a load of gunk came out with it (saw it myself)

There is pretty much nothing left on top. A bit of froth (very little). All the gunk is sitting down the bottom of the brew. Gonna take another SG reading tomorrow and see what I get.

Might take it out of the hotpress and but it in the bedroom. It only really tends to get up to 24-26 degrees in the morning when the water/heating comes on.

Will it do any harm to the brew to leave it in the fermenter longer than needed? Tempted to leave it in there for a full 14 days if possible. Might get rid of some of the (not bad, but ) weird smell. Not sure.

When it comes to bottling, should I use sugar or carbonation tabs for the cider? recipe says to use sugar to make a sparkling cider. Should that dot he trick?

stimpson

I subscribe to the 1 - 2 - 3 rule for making turbo cider.

1 week in the primary fermentor
2 weeks in the secondary fermentor
3 weeks in the bottle (minimum)

If you have a second fermentor, sanitize that and rack your brew into it and leave it for a couple of weeks. Even if you don't have a secondary, there is no harm leaving it for a week or two. I wouldn't be in a big hurry to bottle until you are sure it has finished fermenting.

As regards priming, I use Apple Juice rather than sugar. I go with 250ml juice per gallon. and I do it in a batch to make sure there is an even concentration.

Leave it somewhere warm for a week to 10 days and open a bottle to check for carbonation. It usually needs a couple of weeks. Then the bottles go out to the garage where it's coooler to fully clear and condition.

Martyn1989

kearneybobs wrote: »

Just did the first SG test there. The hydrometer that came with the kit has got a black line on it to indicate when the fermentation has stopped. The hydrometer read to that black line (i think it's the 1000 mark.) above which it indicates that it's time to bottle. Had a sniff of it there. Smells like cider alright but has a bit of a non-cider smell to it.
It came out very cloudy, partly because a load of gunk came out with it (saw it myself)

There is pretty much nothing left on top. A bit of froth (very little). All the gunk is sitting down the bottom of the brew. Gonna take another SG reading tomorrow and see what I get.

Might take it out of the hotpress and but it in the bedroom. It only really tends to get up to 24-26 degrees in the morning when the water/heating comes on.

Will it do any harm to the brew to leave it in the fermenter longer than needed? Tempted to leave it in there for a full 14 days if possible. Might get rid of some of the (not bad, but ) weird smell. Not sure.

When it comes to bottling, should I use sugar or carbonation tabs for the cider? recipe says to use sugar to make a sparkling cider. Should that dot he trick?

Yeh all the gunk on top goes away, it falls back into the brew, but you'll be able to see how high it got on the fermenter, all that stuff at the bottom is your dead yeast cells
Warmer fermentation temps cause a cidery taste when brewing beer, as your brewing cider, thats what your going for, still I would keep it somewhere cooler, nothing worse then waiting 5 weeks for something and then it dosn't even taste good, a half teaspoon of sugar per bottle is perfect for carbonation
Some homebrewers will leave beers in the primary fermenter for a month, the brew I have now, my stout, was in for over three weeks, and it came out great

kearneybobs

Something just dawned on me there. When I added the yeast at the start, should I have stirred it into the liquid? or just let it sit on top? or does it matter?

Mashtun

i think wi d kits it's ok t sprinkle. thats wot i did wit my last two beer kits anyway

kearneybobs

But, is it ok to mix the yeast around before the lid goes on?

stimpson

kearneybobs wrote: »

But, is it ok to mix the yeast around before the lid goes on?

Yep. As long as you use a sanatised spoon or paddle. I think stirring causes fermentation to start quicker.

kearneybobs

stimpson wrote: »

Yep. As long as you use a sanatised spoon or paddle. I think stirring causes fermentation to start quicker.

yup. Used the sanitised spoon that I used to dissolve the sugar.

Just checked the SG there for the second time and it says that it's time for bottling (again, same reading yesterday). It read 1015 on the hydrometer.
Gonna leave it in there for another few days, maybe a week.

When I took out a sample of it it was a lot less cloudy today. Had a little sample of it. Didn't taste great, but wasn't horrible. I'm hoping it will get better once I leave after bottling.

Any suggestions on how to add the sugar for bottling? Is it ok to add in the sugar whole? Will it dissolve alright if I do it that way? Should I make it into a syrup and add it that way?

stimpson

kearneybobs wrote: »

yup. Used the sanitised spoon that I used to dissolve the sugar.

Just checked the SG there for the second time and it says that it's time for bottling (again, same reading yesterday). It read 1015 on the hydrometer.
Gonna leave it in there for another few days, maybe a week.

When I took out a sample of it it was a lot less cloudy today. Had a little sample of it. Didn't taste great, but wasn't horrible. I'm hoping it will get better once I leave after bottling.

Any suggestions on how to add the sugar for bottling? Is it ok to add in the sugar whole? Will it dissolve alright if I do it that way? Should I make it into a syrup and add it that way?

I would have thought it would ferment out a bit more than 1015. Most ciders I have done end up around 1.000 to 1.003. I'd leave it for a while to make sure it has finished and you're not going to produce bottle bombs.

As for taste, I find that it just tastes like apple juice with all the sweetness taken out. Can be a bit yeasty until it has cleared.

When I did beer kits. I used to boil up 250ml of wort and dissolve my sugar in that. I would add this to the bottling bucket first, then syphon my beer onto it to ensure consistency. Many people will advise you to add a teaspoon of sugar into each bottle, but it always seemed a little inaccurate to me - I would weigh out my sugar for the whole batch. Like I said, I use apple juice for cider with good success.

kearneybobs

I'll definitely be leaving it for a few more days then. Thanks for all the advice lad(ie)s.