FIRST BREW!

jstables

hey guys!

recently bought my first kit, done my first batch today

my friend also bought one of the kits before me, he has had it a over a week fermenting but the process slowed down so it was doing nothing! we used what was recommended, and the sugar, we used apple juice 100% juice as its hard this time of year, he decided to put another sachet of yeast in, was this a bad idea?

im going to leave mine, i used a different juice, also 100%, my question for me is when bottling this, is it drinkable straight away? does it get stronger with age? do i need to filter it? the instructions given give me the impression you can drink it straight away and no filtering is needed if you use juice?

HBO_Staff

The yeast will get it fermenting and this could show signs of fermentation for a few days or a week or longer, it depends on the amount of sugar used and how much sugar was in the juice, and also on the temperature as to how long the ferment will take. Adding the second yeast will see if there is anything else left to ferment out, but should not usually be necessary as one sachet will treat 23 litres. You can use a hydrometer to check the juice to see if it is finished, if the reading continues to change it is still fermenting, a low stable reading for at least 2 days in a row is a good sign it is finished.

It is best to leave it in the bottles for a few weeks to improve, if adding sugar to the bottles to make it fizzy then it needs to be left for a few weeks to become carbonated. It is up to you whether you filter the cider juice, some people like it cloudy and as it comes, or you could filter it or use finings to clear the brew before bottling. We usually recommend you leave it a few weeks for it to taste it's best, and the sugar you add to the bottles to 'prime' them will also increase the alcohol content a bit as well as making the cider carbonated. If you want the juice with no fizz, just don't add any sugar when bottling