29kg of sweet apples scrumped from grandma's apple tree sat in the kitchen 
Home brewing kits ....
- Thread starter Aliboy
- Start date
Yesterday afternoon. This little lot plus a washing up bowl and a bucket full:
There is about 24kg in that basket and another 6-7kg in total in the washing up bowl and bucket. I chopped up the lot in the washing up bowl and bucket into this:
The older apples that I already had weren't very juicy, so out of that lot I only managed to get about 4 litres of juice using my juicer:
Choosing to use my juicer was a mistake. It's not a great bit of kit at the best of times but using it to do any quantity is just a blocked-up pulpy nightmare. I passed the juice through a muslin because it was too pulpy to brew and then squeezed the waste through it as well. Got another 0.5 litres or so just by squeezing the pulp spat out by the juicer!
So I need a plan B for the rest of the apples. It begins with this el-cheapo 2-tonne bottle jack purchase...
...and I'll make a fruit press out of a sheet of thick ply and a few bits of 2x2. Total time: probably about the same. Total ballache: much lower. Personal west-country-style man points: +1000
There is about 24kg in that basket and another 6-7kg in total in the washing up bowl and bucket. I chopped up the lot in the washing up bowl and bucket into this:
The older apples that I already had weren't very juicy, so out of that lot I only managed to get about 4 litres of juice using my juicer:
Choosing to use my juicer was a mistake. It's not a great bit of kit at the best of times but using it to do any quantity is just a blocked-up pulpy nightmare. I passed the juice through a muslin because it was too pulpy to brew and then squeezed the waste through it as well. Got another 0.5 litres or so just by squeezing the pulp spat out by the juicer!
So I need a plan B for the rest of the apples. It begins with this el-cheapo 2-tonne bottle jack purchase...
...and I'll make a fruit press out of a sheet of thick ply and a few bits of 2x2. Total time: probably about the same. Total ballache: much lower. Personal west-country-style man points: +1000
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Associate
Just ordered a new King Keg, Nog, and a Milestone's Donner & Blitzed for Crimbo
What's the best starter kit? Seen one on home brew online for £60 that seem reasonable as its come with everything required as far as I can tell. Would prefer bottles as easier to store and cool in the fridge.
Also is it easier to start off with Ale in terms of getting a good flavoured beverage?
Anything to look out for with these kits?
Also is it easier to start off with Ale in terms of getting a good flavoured beverage?
Anything to look out for with these kits?
Soldato
Associate
Depends on what you want to drink. Very few ales should be refrigerated, and therefore may be easier to use a keg (bear in mind you will have to sterilise every bottle).
The Wherry kit is always a winner, but depends if you like that style of beer
I just like the idea of bottles over a keg, due to easier storage and sharing with friends but could always get a keg later on if I get bored of all the cleaning. But the dishwasher would making cleaning bottles pretty simple?
Which wherry kit do you suggest? The starter kit I was looking came with a "real ale" kit so was going to try that first.
Which wherry kit do you suggest? The starter kit I was looking came with a "real ale" kit so was going to try that first.
Associate
Make sure you rinse your bottles after drinking them. A bottle brush is about 2 quid. Then the night before you can steralize them by stacking them in the oven. Set it at temp 150 for about an hour then leave to cool. Done.
Or you can use Videne. A 500ml bottle will last a few years. 1.25 ml of videne into 1 litre of water in a spray gun thingy. A quick scoosh in each bottle will kill all bugs. Rinse under the tap and done. Invest in a bottle tree. Takes the pain out of bottling.
Or you can use Videne. A 500ml bottle will last a few years. 1.25 ml of videne into 1 litre of water in a spray gun thingy. A quick scoosh in each bottle will kill all bugs. Rinse under the tap and done. Invest in a bottle tree. Takes the pain out of bottling.
Quick dose of reality check today. Went to buy some wood for the apple press and it was going to come to nearly £40. Think of all the apples or organic cider I could have bought for that 
Decided to take a different approach, with a pair of clamps and a pair of thick chopping boards. So today I've been pressing apples. I've done two lots; one clean and one scrumpy, which you'll see below. The clean lot starts by being chopped up and all the bad bits cut out, then dumped into the sink with a campden tablet:
Then I call on the king of the kitchen toys at the moment: the Magimix:
Once scratted up, I dumped about 3 ladels of the minced apple in a sheet of muslin, wrapped it up and put it between two boards like so:
I squeezed it once, then released it, folded it over and repeated for maximum juice yield:
In the meantime I got two demijohns ready with steriliser:
They were left to stand while I blitzed up another bucket load of apple. As you can see, it goes everywhere. The kitchen was covered in minced apple:
Once they were pressed, it was time to tackle the rotten apples for the scrumpy bottle. These are the ones that have gone brown, covered in mould and generally looking like they're far too gone to use:
The reality is if you break these apples open they smell like cider. The brown squish is where their natural yeast has started to turn the apples to cider, so I figure it's ideal to shove them in for a real scrumpy taste
So a bit more pressing later and this is what I've got, with another litre and a half in the fridge to top up to when the froth has died down:
Decided to take a different approach, with a pair of clamps and a pair of thick chopping boards. So today I've been pressing apples. I've done two lots; one clean and one scrumpy, which you'll see below. The clean lot starts by being chopped up and all the bad bits cut out, then dumped into the sink with a campden tablet:
Then I call on the king of the kitchen toys at the moment: the Magimix:
Once scratted up, I dumped about 3 ladels of the minced apple in a sheet of muslin, wrapped it up and put it between two boards like so:
I squeezed it once, then released it, folded it over and repeated for maximum juice yield:
In the meantime I got two demijohns ready with steriliser:
They were left to stand while I blitzed up another bucket load of apple. As you can see, it goes everywhere. The kitchen was covered in minced apple:
Once they were pressed, it was time to tackle the rotten apples for the scrumpy bottle. These are the ones that have gone brown, covered in mould and generally looking like they're far too gone to use:
The reality is if you break these apples open they smell like cider. The brown squish is where their natural yeast has started to turn the apples to cider, so I figure it's ideal to shove them in for a real scrumpy taste
So a bit more pressing later and this is what I've got, with another litre and a half in the fridge to top up to when the froth has died down:
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Associate
Do want!
I am very excited this morning. Blooping is occurring, but check this out.
The juice from the good apples:
The juice from the rotten apples:
WOOP! Dirty cider
The juice from the good apples:
The juice from the rotten apples:
WOOP! Dirty cider
Associate
Ok, been reading this thread for ages now as inspiration.
Me and Hayley86 have been brewing from kits since march now and had (mostly) great success. We've even tried modifying kits a little and made a hop and crystal malt tea to add to a kit to add a bit more to it.
Well we're wanting to do a Christmas beer now, so it's got some time to develop before the festive season really kicks in.
We've bought a stout kit, and have been influenced by a couple of the local independent breweries flavored (particularly Titanic Brewery's Chocolate Vanilla) stouts to try this. Well, with chocolate oranges being generally a Christmasy sort of thing, we are going to try this.
We've got the chocolate (cocoa) and some vanilla (from the recent vanilla thread), but how would you guys suggest adding a hint of orange? I've seen some homebrew websites sell a dries sweet orange peel. Or are we maybe best zesting some oranges, possibly extracting with vodka? Or just some grated orange peel in the fermenter/barrel?
Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.
And wish us luck, we might need it.
Me and Hayley86 have been brewing from kits since march now and had (mostly) great success. We've even tried modifying kits a little and made a hop and crystal malt tea to add to a kit to add a bit more to it.
Well we're wanting to do a Christmas beer now, so it's got some time to develop before the festive season really kicks in.
We've bought a stout kit, and have been influenced by a couple of the local independent breweries flavored (particularly Titanic Brewery's Chocolate Vanilla) stouts to try this. Well, with chocolate oranges being generally a Christmasy sort of thing, we are going to try this.
We've got the chocolate (cocoa) and some vanilla (from the recent vanilla thread), but how would you guys suggest adding a hint of orange? I've seen some homebrew websites sell a dries sweet orange peel. Or are we maybe best zesting some oranges, possibly extracting with vodka? Or just some grated orange peel in the fermenter/barrel?
Any thoughts or ideas would be appreciated.
And wish us luck, we might need it.
Soldato
- Joined
- 22 Feb 2008
- Posts
- 11,108
Personally, I'd just add the zest of a few oranges to the wort and filter it out after clearing.
When I made the Christmas beer for Brewdog last year, a team of us were dispatched to the local Tesco to buy loads and loads and loads of jars of ginger, nutmeg, and that sort of thing. We had heaps of the stuff and then just threw it into the FV. I would have thought that they would have went to a supplier and got these things in properly - but no, just heaps of Tesco bottles around the brewery
.I can't help you, as I haven't made a Christmas beer but I do hear that oatmeal and chocolate are a good addition.
Update:
On the left is what most of my brews look like when in progress: cloudy with a powdery sediment in the bottom, which is the spent yeast. On the right is the dirty cider made with the rotten apples. It's much less cloudy and the yeast is all chunky. Both taste fairly similar at the moment, which is a bit disappointing. I was hoping it would have that West-Country sheeps-pee scrumpy taste to it
On the left is what most of my brews look like when in progress: cloudy with a powdery sediment in the bottom, which is the spent yeast. On the right is the dirty cider made with the rotten apples. It's much less cloudy and the yeast is all chunky. Both taste fairly similar at the moment, which is a bit disappointing. I was hoping it would have that West-Country sheeps-pee scrumpy taste to it
Soldato
Just cornied my superstout and got a brubuddy cider kit straight in.
This will be bottled for next summer. I'm hoping to make the vintage taste again.
Also started a 5 litre ginger beer trial.
This will be bottled for next summer. I'm hoping to make the vintage taste again.
Also started a 5 litre ginger beer trial.
Haha, short of raping a fridge for its guts, could you do something with a peltier?
Righty, a bit of tasting. Quite a few brews on the go at the moment so quite a lot of sampling to do
I've taken a photo of each to show what it looks like in the demijohns and the tag tells you the ingredients and the date I put the brews on. For each one I poured half a glass and gave it a whisk with a teaspoon to knock the gas out of it. I then gave it a sniff to check out the smell and took a taste. On the side I'd made up some sugar water with 250ml of water and 25g of sugar dissolved to sweeten the brews if they needed it.
Onto the tasting...
Rosé:
Quite strong in alcohol as planned! Not too dry, which is surprising, so it hasn't brewed all the sugar out. Maybe a bit too much tannin. Could do with a bit more fruit. Adding sugar water dilutes the flavour down a bit too much, so maybe it needs some strawberry Ribena instead. I'll see what it's like once it has cleared, but I think next time it might need 3 litres of juice instead of 2. It doesn't have the harsh almondy taste of the WOW, so I think it must have been the orange that caused it.
Cherry Kool Aid:
Still bubbling away and smells quite yeasty! There is residual sweetness in there and it has not finished brewing yet. The Kool Aid is maybe a bit too dilute. I can't taste alcohol at all, but I did aim to get this one at about 6% rather than wine strength. Slightly winey in taste. I'm not sure if I could drink large amounts of this, so I'm glad I only put 2 litres on as a bit of fun to see what it comes out like!
Tropical Punch Kool Aid:
Still bubbling, but not as much as the cherry Kool Aid. Not as yeasty smelling either, but it might be the extreme artificial colors and flavors masking it! Check this out:
It's also quite sweet tasting and doesn't need any sugar. Adding sugar water makes it quite sickly sweet.
Cider - juiced apples:
This was the first of the ciders to go on and I put the apples (about 10kg) through my fruit juicer. Mistake. Why? Because it took ages and made extreme amounts of mess for not much juice! It's still a bit yeasty with a few bits of yeast floating in it. It's quite perfumed smelling, like the cider we made last year. Very dry to taste, slightly cidery, sharp, and very apply. Lots of tannin so I'm glad I didn't add any tea. It needs sweetening and is much improved with a bit of sugar water. This also brings out the cidery taste. It does taste very perfumey and it's not the yeast I can taste, so it must be the apples. This one might need to sit for a while once it has cleared.
Cider - pressed apples:
This was from the same batch of apples but pressed instead of juiced. You can see it is a bit more cloudy because it has been brewing for two weeks less. Quite a different smell to it - much more cidery. Sharp, dry, lots of tannin and definitely more cidery tasting than the juiced batch. No perfumey taste to it that I can detect. Sweetening improves it but it doesn't need much.
Cider - pressed apple (scrumpy):
This is from the rotten apples that had gone brown and mushy. It smells noticebly more scrumpy-like with a strong cider scent. Interestingly, it's clearer than the gallon from the good apples that went on at the same time, so I think the apples had a head start brewing in their skins before I pressed them! Taste - now we're talking! Proper strong scrumpy taste to it, quite dry, not quite as sharp as the other ciders and not as much tanin. A tiny bit of sugar water really improves it. I think I'm going to want to drink a lot of this one!
I've taken a photo of each to show what it looks like in the demijohns and the tag tells you the ingredients and the date I put the brews on. For each one I poured half a glass and gave it a whisk with a teaspoon to knock the gas out of it. I then gave it a sniff to check out the smell and took a taste. On the side I'd made up some sugar water with 250ml of water and 25g of sugar dissolved to sweeten the brews if they needed it.
Onto the tasting...
Rosé:
Quite strong in alcohol as planned! Not too dry, which is surprising, so it hasn't brewed all the sugar out. Maybe a bit too much tannin. Could do with a bit more fruit. Adding sugar water dilutes the flavour down a bit too much, so maybe it needs some strawberry Ribena instead. I'll see what it's like once it has cleared, but I think next time it might need 3 litres of juice instead of 2. It doesn't have the harsh almondy taste of the WOW, so I think it must have been the orange that caused it.
Cherry Kool Aid:
Still bubbling away and smells quite yeasty! There is residual sweetness in there and it has not finished brewing yet. The Kool Aid is maybe a bit too dilute. I can't taste alcohol at all, but I did aim to get this one at about 6% rather than wine strength. Slightly winey in taste. I'm not sure if I could drink large amounts of this, so I'm glad I only put 2 litres on as a bit of fun to see what it comes out like!
Tropical Punch Kool Aid:
Still bubbling, but not as much as the cherry Kool Aid. Not as yeasty smelling either, but it might be the extreme artificial colors and flavors masking it! Check this out:
It's also quite sweet tasting and doesn't need any sugar. Adding sugar water makes it quite sickly sweet.
Cider - juiced apples:
This was the first of the ciders to go on and I put the apples (about 10kg) through my fruit juicer. Mistake. Why? Because it took ages and made extreme amounts of mess for not much juice! It's still a bit yeasty with a few bits of yeast floating in it. It's quite perfumed smelling, like the cider we made last year. Very dry to taste, slightly cidery, sharp, and very apply. Lots of tannin so I'm glad I didn't add any tea. It needs sweetening and is much improved with a bit of sugar water. This also brings out the cidery taste. It does taste very perfumey and it's not the yeast I can taste, so it must be the apples. This one might need to sit for a while once it has cleared.
Cider - pressed apples:
This was from the same batch of apples but pressed instead of juiced. You can see it is a bit more cloudy because it has been brewing for two weeks less. Quite a different smell to it - much more cidery. Sharp, dry, lots of tannin and definitely more cidery tasting than the juiced batch. No perfumey taste to it that I can detect. Sweetening improves it but it doesn't need much.
Cider - pressed apple (scrumpy):
This is from the rotten apples that had gone brown and mushy. It smells noticebly more scrumpy-like with a strong cider scent. Interestingly, it's clearer than the gallon from the good apples that went on at the same time, so I think the apples had a head start brewing in their skins before I pressed them! Taste - now we're talking! Proper strong scrumpy taste to it, quite dry, not quite as sharp as the other ciders and not as much tanin. A tiny bit of sugar water really improves it. I think I'm going to want to drink a lot of this one!