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Psilosopherr
A psilly goose



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Is wine or cider hard to brew?
#18881721 - 09/23/13 06:40 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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I'm researching the whole brewing process of beer, wine, and cider. They all seem like they are basically the same process, except maybe wine. Is one actually harder than the other to make?
I mean, this sounds easy as shit. I don't want to start out with beer just to learn how to do it, because it doesn't sound complicated.
And if you guys agree it's easy as shit, I'd like to start with a more intermediate recipe, to try and make some quality stuff my first time. I'm not read up on such things yet, just basic technique.
Except secondary fermentation, which sound easy as shit 
Advice from experience brewers?
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evileye001
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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: Psilosopherr]
#18881734 - 09/23/13 06:45 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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screw that man. make some shine!!!
-------------------- we are the universe contemplating its self.
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Psilosopherr
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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: evileye001]
#18881752 - 09/23/13 06:49 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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lol i don't wanna do illegal stuff.
I'm reading more about cider, and it looks like it would be difficult to use my own apples from my trees. Which is why I wanted to do cider in the first place.
Maybe I'll read more about squeezing apples and pasteurizing the juice...it can't be THAT hard to get the right temperature.
I also have my own grapes from a bush out back. Would those be any easier to pasteurize maybe?
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pcplease
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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: Psilosopherr]
#18881753 - 09/23/13 06:49 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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I would start at whichever one I wanted to drink the most of.
Which for me, is beer.
I'd recommend starting with 1-gallon batches as opposed to 5-gallon as most recipes are. You can go all-grain instead of using extract, among other benefits.
As for what recipe to follow, this seems easy- brew/make something you will enjoy  Look for a "clone" recipe of a brand/style you like. Or, look at a few clone recipes, and improvise
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nicechrisman
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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: Psilosopherr]
#18881768 - 09/23/13 06:54 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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It's quite easy from what I've seen. The challenge is making a GOOD wine or cider.
-------------------- "Cosmic Love is absolutelely ruthless and highly indifferent: it teaches its lessons whether you like/dislike them or not." John C. Lily
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Psilosopherr
A psilly goose



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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: nicechrisman]
#18881793 - 09/23/13 07:01 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
nicechrisman said: It's quite easy from what I've seen. The challenge is making a GOOD wine or cider.
the apples that grow at my place are reallyyy good. I've been addicted to them all summer. So I at least have a solid starting point. Maybe I'll try to make non alcoholic cider to start with, while doing a side brew project to practice fermentation. And then make alcoholic cider if I can do both well.
possibly all grain like that stoned tiger suggested
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pcplease
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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: Psilosopherr]
#18881853 - 09/23/13 07:15 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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 Biggest and easiest way to bump your stuff up a notch. The flavors just tastes a lot fuller. It's just a lot easier brewing 1 gallon batches. Especially if you're brewing predominately by yourself. You can have a batch done in a couple hours as opposed to making a day out of it.
Will still take a few tries but you should be having fun and it'll fly by
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hidenseek1
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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: Psilosopherr]
#18881855 - 09/23/13 07:15 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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apfelwein is the easiest shit, it was the first one i made, just from the normal cans of apple juice
i juiced about 4 litres of crab apples, but it was taking too long so i went out and bought 20 liters of the canned juice to bring it to the 25 liter mark
pitch the yeast, add some sulphite, the shit brews itself
also check out wiccin seekers ,wok tek, when your bored of just having the cider http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/9401795#9401795
edit, oh ya, you need sugar and a hydroeter too, go here, they will help you out http://www.shroomery.org/forums/postlist.php/Board/48
\
-------------------- You can drink at 7 A.M., because the Beastie Boys fought for that right -------------------------------------------------------------------------- pons asinorum -------------------------------------------------------------------------- lsd and the vietnam war changed music forever
Edited by hidenseek1 (09/23/13 07:16 PM)
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Psilosopherr
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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: pcplease]
#18881881 - 09/23/13 07:20 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
pcplease said:
 Biggest and easiest way to bump your stuff up a notch. The flavors just tastes a lot fuller. It's just a lot easier brewing 1 gallon batches. Especially if you're brewing predominately by yourself. You can have a batch done in a couple hours as opposed to making a day out of it.
Will still take a few tries but you should be having fun and it'll fly by
all grain is the way to bump it up a notch? Or the secondary fermentation?
I'm definitely going for small batches.
Will it really take me a few tries to get it right? even doing it the easier way?
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pcplease
Salame

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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: Psilosopherr]
#18881921 - 09/23/13 07:30 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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I meant all grain.
And I just meant that it'l take a while before you get the hang of making a GOOD product.
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Psilosopherr
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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: pcplease]
#18881937 - 09/23/13 07:34 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
pcplease said: I meant all grain.
And I just meant that it'l take a while before you get the hang of making a GOOD product.
oh sweet, yeah I would hope that there's some skill involved haha.
I'm gonna feel like a badass if I can ever make danky hard cider for friends in the future.
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ThatKidWithTheFace
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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: Psilosopherr]
#18882026 - 09/23/13 07:54 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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You're not going to make a quality drink by merely following a recipe. It takes a long time to figure out what works.
Sure, you'll probably make a drinkable brew your first time, but it's an art, not something that is simply done. After you've been brewing for a while, give distilling a try, it's much more rewarding.
-------------------- Check Out My Beats SoundCloud
[quote]Sheekle said: [quote]ThatKidWithTheFace said: Is this the same aunt that fucks dogs?[/quote] u bet ur ass it is.[/quote]
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barong
Nada


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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: pcplease]
#18882301 - 09/23/13 08:55 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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If you already have access to heaps of apples, then I would suggest that you look at building a press to get that juice out ! That is, if you like cider. The product you make from that will be better than any mainstream cider that you buy from the store.
But you'll need an old fridge and a temp controller for best results (ie to maintain a specific temperature throughout the fermentation). Fridge potentially free at your local dump, a temp controller around $20 and another $10 for the bits & pieces, and another 10 for yeast, 15 for a fermenting vessel and youre off.
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hidenseek1
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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: Psilosopherr]
#18883978 - 09/24/13 09:06 AM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
rbalzer said:
Will it really take me a few tries to get it right? even doing it the easier way?
i dont know about grain, but the easiest way is just with apple juice
although i guess if you just have to add the grain, it wouldnt be any harder
first off i guess you need a checklist, im a bit rusty so anyone chime in and correct me, if he dosnt need one of these things, or needs something i left off
-primary fermenter (foodgrade bucket)
-juice( )
-grain(?)
-yeast
-acidblend/citrus fruit (check if the recipie calls for acid, you can buy a blend or use fruit)
-potassium metabisulphite
-hydrometer(very important to measure sugar/strength and for consistency)
- siphon hose (auto siphon is great too but not needed)
-secondary fermenter (carboy,demijohn)
- airlock
-Potassium sorbate (only if you want to halt fermentaion before its dry)
-primer (if you want it to be sparkling, i think its just normal sugar, not sure though )
- bottles (if your using wine bottles you should buy a tool to cork them, very frustrating to try with out one)
(for sparkling brew you need special bottles normals ones will burst sending glass flying)
-------------------- You can drink at 7 A.M., because the Beastie Boys fought for that right -------------------------------------------------------------------------- pons asinorum -------------------------------------------------------------------------- lsd and the vietnam war changed music forever
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Psilosopherr
A psilly goose



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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: hidenseek1]
#18885348 - 09/24/13 03:02 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
hidenseek1 said:
Quote:
rbalzer said:
Will it really take me a few tries to get it right? even doing it the easier way?
i dont know about grain, but the easiest way is just with apple juice
although i guess if you just have to add the grain, it wouldnt be any harder
first off i guess you need a checklist, im a bit rusty so anyone chime in and correct me, if he dosnt need one of these things, or needs something i left off
-primary fermenter (foodgrade bucket)
-juice( )
-grain(?)
-yeast
-acidblend/citrus fruit (check if the recipie calls for acid, you can buy a blend or use fruit)
-potassium metabisulphite
-hydrometer(very important to measure sugar/strength and for consistency)
- siphon hose (auto siphon is great too but not needed)
-secondary fermenter (carboy,demijohn)
- airlock
-Potassium sorbate (only if you want to halt fermentaion before its dry)
-primer (if you want it to be sparkling, i think its just normal sugar, not sure though )
- bottles (if your using wine bottles you should buy a tool to cork them, very frustrating to try with out one)
(for sparkling brew you need special bottles normals ones will burst sending glass flying)
Thank you for that, I was wondering why all the brew kits seemed to come with more buckets than carboys. Are there like, special ports in the lids of buckets to put the air filter deal on? forgot what they're called.
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Legend
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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: Psilosopherr] 1
#18885350 - 09/24/13 03:03 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
rbalzer said: lol i don't wanna do illegal stuff.
LOL
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barong
Nada


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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: hidenseek1]
#18885563 - 09/24/13 03:59 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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potassium metabisulphite - only if you're extracting juice from the fruit, but not required for store bought juice.
hydrometer - This cannot be understated. you MUST have a hydrometer
siphon hose - I realise the american trend for using carboys, but brewers in the rest of the world use food grade plastic barrels with taps attached. This is not only cheaper but much easier when it comes to decanting, and also cleaning.
-secondary fermenter - why ? There are very specific reasons for secondary fermentation, but sadly most people don't understand them. For the vast majority, a second ferment is not required, and certainly isn't a new brewer consideration. - airlock - Cling film over the opening of either a barrel or carboy, secured with an elastic band or rubber seal does as good a job, in fact there's less chance of infection. Plus, if you use a water barrel, this means you can see your brew bubbling away. Don't be confused into thinking that the gurgling of an airlock is ANY indication of the fermentation progress.
-Potassium sorbate - never heard of this, but one can also resweeten with lactose, or simply 'backsweeten' to taste with sugar syrup when they pour a glass.
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P-O
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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: barong]
#18885609 - 09/24/13 04:08 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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I got 3 wine batches under my belt..... they take about 5-6 weeks to finish..... My peach wine was delish. so was the tropical one tho 
i still got like 30 bottles left 
http://www.growery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/651507#651507





its easy as fuck to brew a good tasting wine.... buy the kit and quality kind ($40 per batch + wine kit) u reuse the kit over and over...
i wouldnt do some red neck recipe ..... for $40 ur guaranteed a great wine
Edited by P-O (09/24/13 04:12 PM)
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Heffy
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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: Psilosopherr]
#18885645 - 09/24/13 04:15 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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All grain is hard, start with cider or mead.
Mead and wine take a lot longer than cider.
Don't expect your cider to taste like store bought, it will be sour. Store bought cider has shitloads of corn sugar/syrup in it, that's why it doesn't taste sour. You should not try and sweeten your cider like store bought cider, you run the risk of making bottle bombs.
Happy brewing!
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barong
Nada


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Re: Is wine or cider hard to brew? [Re: Heffy]
#18885918 - 09/24/13 05:23 PM (10 years, 4 months ago) |
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Quote:
Heffy said:
Don't expect your cider to taste like store bought, it will be sour. Store bought cider has shitloads of corn sugar/syrup in it, that's why it doesn't taste sour.
Not true. Dextrose (aka corn sugar) is fairly close to 100% fermentable so there will be no detectable residual sweetness at the rates that it would be added to form alcohol. The likely reason store siders are sweeter is because they are pasteurised post-fermentation, which kills the yeast cells, and then filtered, which also remove the yeast cells and any other proteins. Adding sugars after this process won't restart fermentation, because there;s no viable yeast to do so.
This process however would be a pain in the ass to do at home.
As for being sour, that would depend on the juice you used. You may be confusing this with being 'dry', of which home made cider would generally be because there's no residual sweetness remaining.
Quote:
Heffy said:
You should not try and sweeten your cider like store bought cider, you run the risk of making bottle bombs.
Unless you use lactose, a non-fermentable sugar source. Stevia is probably also non-fermentable.
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