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

Understanding Use By and Best Before dates

In the UK every year we waste tons of food that we bury in landfill sites, much of it unnecessarily as many people do not understand the "use by" or "best before" dates on food packaging.

Use by dates are about safety and are put on produce that spoils quickly that can become a breeding ground for harmful bacteria.

We can extend this by freezing this food before the use by date which prevents bacteria growth so the food is still fresh and fine to eat much later than this date.

Best before is about quality, after this date the food may have a different taste, texture or colour but will still be safe to eat.

Last year many people bought extra food during the lockdowns and subsequently threw more away soon after, in many cases such as these canned foods that had not been opened and had not exceeded their best before date this was extremely wasteful.

Polar explorers place food stores along their planned routes in advance of an expedition in order to minimise the weight they have to carry, there have been several examples of canned food being found many years later long after the best before dates that was still perfectly safe to eat.

One of the first preparations or preps you should make it to build up a suitable store of food in your home, understand how to store it and how long it will last.

Only buy what you actually eat, this will allow you to maximise the storage life of your supplies by eating those that are approaching the end of their storage life first.

Take advantage of bulk buy deals on long life foods and prepping will even save you money in the long term on your grocery bills, win-win.

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 

Top 5 tips to start prepping for free

Programs like Doomsday Preppers give people the impression that you have to spend a lot of money to be a prepper which can be daunting.

Some scenarios could be life changing events that affect the entire planet but they are thankfully highly unlikely to occur.

The vast majority of emergency situations are short term, but even extreme events like hurricanes quickly pass and help will be on it's way to you.

So it makes sense to prepare for the short term disruption events first and for most of us that means you won't need a nuclear bunker.

The first five things you should do as a prepper are easy, and most importantly free!

Step one: Risk Assessment 

Properly assess your situation and the risks you may face, think about how likely are they to happen and what measures should you take to mitigate the effects when they do.

How would you cope with a loss of a utility supply like power, water or gas?

Are there risks due to your location, is it liable to earthquakes, flooding, volcanic activity or extreme weather?

Are you prepared for a loss of income if you become ill or injured and couldn't work for a while, or lost your job?

Step two: Make a bug out bag

In the vast majority of scenarios you will not need to leave your home but you should pack a bag of overnight essentials in case you have to leave in a hurry.

To begin with it doesn't have to be all encompassing for you to set up a backwoods homestead.

Start basic, spare clothes, toiletries and some snacks and water will do for an impromptu overnight trip should your neighbours house catch fire and you need to evacuate in a hurry for example.

Over time you will add to this with power banks, first aid kits etc as and when you decide you can buy them and you can even buy complete bug out bags on eBay and Amazon like this;

 

Step three: Start to stockpile

Increase the amount of food you keep in your home, this can be done gradually over time and by taking advantage of bulk purchases it actually saves you money in the long term.

You don't need to spend a fortune buying expensive freeze dried ready meals.

There are many foods that can be stored for several years in the packaging you buy them in without you having to buy any extra equipment or containers.

Buy food you would normally eat, that way you can rotate your supplies to maximise its storage life.

Over a short period of time you will quickly build up your stockpile from a few days supply of food and water to enough to last weeks, months or years.

Step four: Raise awareness 

The more prepared a community is before an event occurs the better it will be able to deal with it when it happens.

Most of prepping is things that everyone used to do until relatively recently, sadly common sense is now not so common.

Talking to your family, friends and neighbours about potential risks might help them but it could also help you as they might have thought of things you have overlooked.

Step five: Re-evaluate 

Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith from the A-Team might love it when a plan comes together but no plan is perfect and you should regularly reassess your situation and preparations.

Once you have built up your stockpile you could move on to learning how to grow or hunt your own produce.

Your bug out bag can be improved to accommodate longer periods away from home or even develop into an INCH (I'm never coming home) bag if you feel you need it.

Ask yourself what new skills do you need to learn to be more self reliant? How to increase what you produce for yourself?

Take care

Roo