How to make a simple cyser

Cyser is a mead made with apples, traditionally the apples would be pulped and pressed to extract the juice which could be added to honey to make the must.

Luckily you can skip all that if you don't have the equipment and simply use apple juice as you can when brewing a turbo cider so long as you use a juice with no preservatives that would inhibit the yeast.

Ingredients;

• 3lb (1.36kg) honey
• 1 US gal (3.8l) apple juice, if using store juice you will need to add tannin
• 1 teaspoon (5g) yeast nutrient blend

This ratio will produce 1 Imperial gallon (4.5l) of cyser with around 15% ABV.

The only equipment you need is a fermentation vessel but it's also a good idea to have a hydrometer and trial jar to determine the alcohol content, this kit from amazon is great;

As I don't have a fruit press I use store bought juice so I start by putting a tea bag in a cup and adding boiling water to steep for my tannin but you can use powdered tannin instead.

Then I add the honey to my fermenter, my honey was in 720g bottles so I used two which is slightly more honey than necessary, and half of the apple juice.

Shake or stir vigorously to ensure it is thoroughly mixed, this also adds oxygen to the must which the yeast requires.

Then add the cup of tea or tannin powder and the remaining apple juice, ensuring that you have some space remaining in the top of your fermentation vessel to account for the foam produced during fermentation.

At this stage you can take an initial gravity reading with a sample of the must in your trial jar if you want to know the alcohol content of your cyser later on.

Seal the fermentation vessel and set the must aside somewhere warm for a couple of hours so that it reaches the correct pitching temperature for the yeast of 68-77°F (20-25°C) then add the yeast and shake or stir before fitting the airlock.

Within a few hours you will see bubbles of carbon dioxide passing through the airlock, this will continue for a couple of weeks by which time it will slow and eventually stop and you can rack the cyser into a new sterile container leaving most of the sediment behind.

Place this somewhere cool for a week or two until it clarifies and you are able to siphon it into bottles and take a second gravity reading to calculate the ABV.

At this stage it is complete and you could drink it but its flavour will improve over time so you should wait six months or more for it to condition, patience is a virtue when brewing mead. 🍻

Take care,

Roo

Simple homebrew mead

Mead is fermented honey and is the oldest fermented drink with archaeological evidence of it dating back thousands of years.

Just like wine or beer you can have many different meads depending on what ingredients you use that can change the appearance, taste, and alcohol content.

All you need to make a basic mead is honey, water and yeast to convert the natural sugars in the honey into alcohol.

The amount of alcohol in your finished mead will depend on the ratio of honey to water you use, as more sugar equals more alcohol. 

Most mead recipes use 3 pounds (1.36 kg) of honey to one US gallon (3.785 litres) of water.

1360 ÷ 3.785 = 360g of honey per litre of water to produce a mead of around 15% ABV.

Begin by sterilising your fermentation vessel and anything that will come into contact with the mead.

Then heat your water to 40°C (104°F) and add the honey, this mixture is called must.

Stir or shake the must to ensure an even consistency this also adds oxygen to the must for your yeast.

Once the must has cooled to 20-25°C (68-77°F) you can add or pitch your yeast. Do not add the yeast until it has cooled as it is a living organism and you could kill it if the temperature is too high.

Seal your fermentation vessel with an airlock and put it somewhere warm so that it stays at that pitch temperature. 

Within a few hours you'll see bubbles of carbon dioxide passing through it letting you know your yeast is fermenting happily.

Depending on how much honey you used fermentation should be complete in a week or two and you'll no longer see bubbles passing through the airlock.

Siphon the liquid into a new sterilised container taking care not to disturb much of the sediment at the bottom of your fermentation vessel called lees. Seal this and leave somewhere cool for few weeks to clarify as the micro particles making the mead cloudy will sink over time to settle down and the mead becomes crystal clear.

Now you can drink it at this stage but it will taste better with age so its preferable to siphon so not to disturb the remaining lees into sterilised bottles for six months or more to condition.

Happy brewing.

Roo 

How to make turbo cider from cheap supermarket apple juice

Traditionally cider is made by grinding apples then pressing the pulp to extract the apple juice.

This juice is then fermented with yeast which converts the sugar in the juice into alcohol.

But you can speed this process up and make "turbo" cider by using commercially made apple juice.

When doing this all you need is an airtight sterilised container with an airlock, this will let the carbon dioxide out to prevent your vessel exploding.

I got this 5 litre (one gallon) food safe bucket and airlock kit from amazon.

   

The apple juice can be fresh or from concentrate but must not contain any preservatives as they will kill your yeast.

Make sure to not over fill your fermentation vessel, I used 4.5 litres of room temperature juice as my bucket was 5 litres.

Next make a strong cup of tea, normally cider gets tannins from the skins of the pulped apples but that will have been removed by the commercial juicer makers. We replace it by letting a tea bag soak in a mug for ten minutes before tipping the tea (minus the teabag 😉) into our bucket.

Now your juice and tea mixture should be around 20°C (68°F) before you add your yeast. I used a teaspoon of wilko yeast compound which is a yeast and nutrient blend.

Now ensure you have some vaseline around the lid and airlock for a good seal and set aside for a week at a constant 18-20°C (64-68°F)

After a week to ten days you'll no longer see bubble passing through your airlock and your primary fermentation is complete.

Technically you've brewed cider but if you drink it now it will taste pretty funky as it will still have lots of yeast floating about in it so decant it to bottles for storage using a sterile siphon.

I used a couple of Old Rosie bottles as they have a screw cap lid and hold 2 litres each.

This left me about a pint of cider to test it alcohol content and taste (it was pretty funky but drinkable if super cloudy scrumpy is your thing 😉)

You can see the whole process on my YouTube channel here

After a week it settled nicely looking just like normal commercial cider but if you can let it condition in the bottle for at least two weeks.

Can you guess which bottle above was homebrew and which was store bought?

If you want a carbonated cider prime the bottles before filling with sugar, the amount you need will vary according to the bottle you're using.

Homebrewing is surprisingly easy, is good fun and can save you so money so give it a try 👍

Take care

Roo