Recipe Advice Thread

[denimglen]

Thought it might be handy to have a thread for some of the more advanced brewers to give some advice on recipes.

Let's see how it goes eh...

[MrC]

I'm ok with 15% caramalt in this recipe, I do it often. How does 15% carapils fit in it's place ?

Thinking about this again and looking at the recipe I reckon if you replace the caramalt with carapils you'll end up with beer that has the same body but will taste like it was brewed with base malt only.  No reason why it wouldn't be a nice beer, it just won't have the same depth of malt character.  I've brewed pale ales with MO as the only malt and mashed at 68C, you'll probably end up in the same ball bark as that.  They were nice enough beers and because I was experimenting with different hops at the time it served a good purpose, just a little boring in the malt department.  Similarly I've brewed psuedo Pilsners with Pils and varying amounts of carapils and never noticed a flavour difference from the carapils.  

 

If I brewed as often as you, I'd start with 7.5% caramalt, 7.5% carapils and work from there.

[martin w]

i just had a bottle of emersons seasonal dunkelweiss,it happens to be bottle conditioned,does anyone know if its a seperate bottling yeast or the actual fermentation yeast in there as  i think i'll make one for my next brew and i'll build a starter from the yeast if its not a bottling strain.

[Stu H]

I'm pretty sure it'll just be the fermentation yeast in there. I don't think Emersons is filtered.

 

 

[Martin Bridges]

With summer just around the corner I've been thinking I should follow through on my plan to make a batch of cider for the missus. Note that I'm not looking to make award-winning cider, just something fresh & drinkable. Does anyone have any tips for painless cider-making?

[Martin Bridges]

So what are my chances just using bought apple juice?

[Stu H]

I made the mistake of trying to do this from bought apple juice with preservatives in it.

 

I'd call it a 0% attenuation on that brew.

[Reviled]

Ive read on AHB that you can use juice with preservatives provided you have nutrients for the yeast?? Never tried it myself, but I know you can buy stuff with no preservatives (bloody expensive tho) that will work for cider, as per what Pilgrim has said :o)

[Stu H]

A friend bought some apple juice off a grower out west somewhere and made cider.. I'll try and find more out about it.

[Pilgrim]

Martin, I make a cheats Cider from Fresh-up Crisp Apple Juice, no preservatives and no added sugar. The ladies love it. Easiest and quickest brew I've ever done. Just throw 18ltrs of this stuff into a fermenter and add a packet of common or garden yeast (I use Muntons Gold). Comes out at 5.2% ABV and is delicious.

Peter.

[Joel Wicks]

I'm currently drinking some cider I made in a similar way; just store bought apple juice with no added preservatives (ascorbic acid is ok though), I like plain old signature range, yeast from a coopers kit, some added wine tannin (1/4 tsp per gallon is good) yeast nutrient and some raw sugar to boost to about 6%. The coopers yeast caused a bit of a volcano fermentation but tastes good in cider (unlike beer...). Bottle conditioned. The cider is dry, tangy and refreshing and very drinkable after 4-6 months. Not going to have the same depth of flavour as cider with proper cider apples though obviously but much less labour intensive.

[Bambule]

It's a tricky thing cider, harder to make then beer in my opinion.  I've had a few attempts but its always been a bit a let down.  Much hinges on your selection of apples.  I've used a in the past a mix of Kingston black from my own tree, some other wild apples that grow near where I live and then some normal varieties from the store to make up the volume.  You need to get the right mix so its not too sweet or astingent etc.  If you can get a cider maker to let you in on his recipe (which is often closely guarded) then that would help.  I have used a fruit juicer to press the apples which is a slow process unless you have access to an apple press.  There is always the apple juice option as well, seems like cheating but I've been reliably informed that Mela juice from wairarapa will make a serviceable cider.

[Ralph]

I did it this year. Got a bunch of apples. Is a pain in the arse juicing them. Had a mix of Granny Smith and various others. Campden tablet for a day to kill wild yeast then fermented with S04. Came out about 7.5%. Is dry as anything, but has a lovely aroma. The apple mix seems to have been about right. I doubt if any of the batch I did will last a year... the other half rather likes it!

 

Previous batch we did with Cox Orange and about 20% pears (probably beurre bosc). It was super tasty too.

 

All the work is in getting the juice out of the apples. We had a big centrifugal juicer, and it took a few hours to fill the 25L fermentor!! Heaps of free apples around in season. If you got yourself setup to juice easily then it would be great!