Bro, wanna brew?

Forums › Home brewing (beer, wine, spirits) › Bro, wanna brew?

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Vocus

#953597 17-Dec-2013 11:14

Rustee75:
graemeh:
Rustee75: I brewed a batch of Blackrock cider a couple months ago. It came out fine, but not overly sweet like the manufactured brands .

Cider is pretty easy to just make from scratch. The only hard bit for us was getting the juice out of the apples. The blender let out a bit of smoke and got a bit hot doing that. :)

Hahaha! Yeah our blender aint great so I'm not even gonna try! Thanks tho :)

Hmm should make my missus some cider so she stops drinking that dreadful Rekorderlig alcoholic cordial

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Rustee75

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#953612 17-Dec-2013 11:26

ubergeeknz:
Rustee75:
graemeh:
Rustee75: I brewed a batch of Blackrock cider a couple months ago. It came out fine, but not overly sweet like the manufactured brands .

Cider is pretty easy to just make from scratch. The only hard bit for us was getting the juice out of the apples. The blender let out a bit of smoke and got a bit hot doing that. :)

Hahaha! Yeah our blender aint great so I'm not even gonna try! Thanks tho :)

Hmm should make my missus some cider so she stops drinking that dreadful Rekorderlig alcoholic cordial

That stuff is sooo sickly sweet! Terrible. Full stop. Definitely not what I'm aiming for

robjg63

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#953710 17-Dec-2013 13:28

I would say that we seem to make really awful ciders here - the mainstream big brewery ones are truly sugary lolly water.

I like the Magners/Bulmers ciders - they have a rich flavour compared to the apple juice alcopops.
Havent found any other particularly nice ones.

When I was in France I really enjoyed their ciders (cidre). They have special old style cider apples and do a bit of the fermentation wooden barrels - you get a wonderful rich drier taste with all sorts of interesting sub flavours and a great dark golden colour. I even bought the cheapest one I could find just to see how bad it could be - I think it was something like e1.50 ($2-3 NZD) for a 750ml bottle. It was still awesome!

Did find some French cider in New World in Ponsonby (Auckland) - it was something like $15 a bottle. Knowing how cheap it is in its natural environment puts me off buying it - but for anyone that thinks they like cider they should treat themselves - even if just once.

Nothing is impossible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself - A. H. Weiler

maoriboy

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#953834 17-Dec-2013 16:38

I tried the Mangrove Jacks Strawberry and Pear Cider kit and it came out alright. Quite dry, as I didn't add the sweetener, but this was infinitely preferable to the Rekorderlig alcopops that re just far too sweet.
Also made a lovely lime beer that is perfect for this time of the year. Light, refreshing and just plain awesome. :-)

Rustee75

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#953849 17-Dec-2013 17:44

maoriboy: I tried the Mangrove Jacks Strawberry and Pear Cider kit and it came out alright. Quite dry, as I didn't add the sweetener, but this was infinitely preferable to the Rekorderlig alcopops that re just far too sweet.
Also made a lovely lime beer that is perfect for this time of the year. Light, refreshing and just plain awesome. :-)

Yeah that sounds like a bit of me - I just didn't want to waste $50 on something that turned out to be crap.
So the lime beer is the same theory as your passionfruit cerveza? Some of that Shotts syrup? I saw the Tahitian Lime flavour and immediately thought of that as another additive to a brew :) that original post of yours got me all inspired again - put down about 5 brews since!!

maoriboy

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#953966 17-Dec-2013 22:09

For the lime beer, I took the rind off two limes, juiced them and added at the end of the boil. Put the rind in a small hops bag so it was easy to remove and didn't clog up the fermenter. Smelt fantastic. Just as an aside, has anyone tried the Export Citrus beer? Was wondering if it was worth investing some research money into it. Just got comparisons sake of course :-)

tukapa1

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#954130 18-Dec-2013 10:39

I only brew the 'On The Rocks' brand of cider now.

Have brewed the Apple, Raspberry & Lime, Blueberry and Pear kits from the On The Rocks range and all have come out exactly to our taste here at home.

I have tried other brands and also making from scratch but I will only use the On The Rocks kits now.

My father-in law and brother-in-law also now only brew the On The Rocks range.

The missus loves them as do most of our guests that try them. As an aside one woman brought a pack of Rekorderligs over one night but eneded up drinking the home brew ones instead as she preferred them.

Rustee75

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#954265 18-Dec-2013 13:22

As an aside one woman brought a pack of Rekorderligs over one night but eneded up drinking the home brew ones instead as she preferred them.

Awesome! That woulda given you a a buzz! Hadn't heard of that brand but it sounds good - cheers

Rustee75

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#960009 1-Jan-2014 17:38

maoriboy: Sorry guys, haven't been paying much attention to this thread and only just saw your request. TBH I don't really have a specific recipe for this brew, as each time I try it I change something to it just to see what difference it makes.
At it's basic its just
- 1.7 kg of light malt extract (liquid or LME)
- 1 kg of dry malt extract (DRM) or something like Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 (readily available at a number of supermarkets)
- 30 g of a light fruity hop like Cascade
- Safale 05
- 500 g of passionfruit (either pulp or syrup although I found the syrup easier to work with. Try the SHOTTS syrup brand)

being an extract brewer I do partial boils of approx 10 litres of water, mixing in 1/3 of the DRM and then once its boiling add in half the hops for 30 mins and the rest for 5 mins. Once the element or gas has been turned off, add the rest of the DME and LME and stir thoroughly adding the passionfruit in slowly.

Once completed chuck it all into the fermenter (that has been sterilised beforehand right?)and top up to 20 litres with cold water. Once it has cooled to between 18-19 degrees add in the yeast and away you go.
The rest is standard wait till the OG has settled then bottle or keg.

Ok - opened my version of this the other week and its pretty amazing! Hard to describe really but a very light brew which tastes as good as it smells. The fruity flavours are definitely there but not so much that it doesn't taste like a beer. A few mates who I've let taste it look really confused at first mouthful but quite enjoy it. Certainly a talking point brew!
I used a Coopers Mexican Cerveza, a kilo of brewing sugar, Safale 05 yeast with Shotts passionfruit syrup ( from Countdown ), topping up to only 20 litres.
A simplistic version of Maoriboys recipe i know, but the closest i could do.
Definitely worth the experiment, as a change up from the regular Lagers etc :)

jpoc

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#960342 2-Jan-2014 15:53

I have one currently unresolved technical issue. Opening the big cans of malt extract - like the Coopers ones that you can get in Pak'nSave. I find that opening these big cans breaks can openers. It does not matter what I choose. Cheapies from the two dollar shop, basic ones from the supermarkets or the warehouse or the high end fancy ones with gears and everything. All of them die after I have opened half a dozen cans.

Am I doing something wrong or do the rest of you guys have this problem? Has anyone found an opener that just lasts and lasts on these cans?

BlueShift

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#963745 9-Jan-2014 10:56

jpoc: I have one currently unresolved technical issue. Opening the big cans of malt extract - like the Coopers ones that you can get in Pak'nSave. I find that opening these big cans breaks can openers. It does not matter what I choose. Cheapies from the two dollar shop, basic ones from the supermarkets or the warehouse or the high end fancy ones with gears and everything. All of them die after I have opened half a dozen cans.

Am I doing something wrong or do the rest of you guys have this problem? Has anyone found an opener that just lasts and lasts on these cans?

I just use our normal electric can opener that we've had for about 15 years. The cans just fit into it, and open like any other. The opener still works fine after at least 8 cans (and dozens, if not hundreds, of normal cans).

gcorgnet

1078 posts

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#963792 9-Jan-2014 11:44

jpoc: I have one currently unresolved technical issue. Opening the big cans of malt extract - like the Coopers ones that you can get in Pak'nSave. I find that opening these big cans breaks can openers. It does not matter what I choose. Cheapies from the two dollar shop, basic ones from the supermarkets or the warehouse or the high end fancy ones with gears and everything. All of them die after I have opened half a dozen cans.

Am I doing something wrong or do the rest of you guys have this problem? Has anyone found an opener that just lasts and lasts on these cans?

Hey guys!,

This is what I use and no amount of can opening will be able to kill it !

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130326105325/desencyclopedie/images/c/c0/Ouvreboite.jpg

Keep up the brewing!

Cheers,

Guillaume

andrewNZ

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#963807 9-Jan-2014 11:58

jpoc: I have one currently unresolved technical issue. Opening the big cans of malt extract - like the Coopers ones that you can get in Pak'nSave. I find that opening these big cans breaks can openers. It does not matter what I choose. Cheapies from the two dollar shop, basic ones from the supermarkets or the warehouse or the high end fancy ones with gears and everything. All of them die after I have opened half a dozen cans.

Am I doing something wrong or do the rest of you guys have this problem? Has anyone found an opener that just lasts and lasts on these cans?

Not to be rude, but it sounds like you're doing it wrong.

I've been using the same opener for years without any trouble at all. What exactly happens to the openers?

jpoc

1043 posts

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#963923 9-Jan-2014 15:07

andrewNZ:
jpoc: I have one currently unresolved technical issue. Opening the big cans of malt extract - like the Coopers ones that you can get in Pak'nSave. I find that opening these big cans breaks can openers. It does not matter what I choose. Cheapies from the two dollar shop, basic ones from the supermarkets or the warehouse or the high end fancy ones with gears and everything. All of them die after I have opened half a dozen cans.

Am I doing something wrong or do the rest of you guys have this problem? Has anyone found an opener that just lasts and lasts on these cans?

Not to be rude, but it sounds like you're doing it wrong.

I've been using the same opener for years without any trouble at all. What exactly happens to the openers?

You could be right but I don't see what I am doing wrong. If I use a fancy opener with gears then the teeth no longer mesh together so turning the handle has no effect.

If I use the cheapie ones then the wheel seems to lose the ability to grip on the can and turn it round.

I have bought one of those openers that cuts the side of the can rather than the top, I will see how I get on.

BTR

1527 posts

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#963946 9-Jan-2014 15:46

jpoc:
andrewNZ:
jpoc: I have one currently unresolved technical issue. Opening the big cans of malt extract - like the Coopers ones that you can get in Pak'nSave. I find that opening these big cans breaks can openers. It does not matter what I choose. Cheapies from the two dollar shop, basic ones from the supermarkets or the warehouse or the high end fancy ones with gears and everything. All of them die after I have opened half a dozen cans.

Am I doing something wrong or do the rest of you guys have this problem? Has anyone found an opener that just lasts and lasts on these cans?

Not to be rude, but it sounds like you're doing it wrong.

I've been using the same opener for years without any trouble at all. What exactly happens to the openers?

You could be right but I don't see what I am doing wrong. If I use a fancy opener with gears then the teeth no longer mesh together so turning the handle has no effect.

If I use the cheapie ones then the wheel seems to lose the ability to grip on the can and turn it round.

I have bought one of those openers that cuts the side of the can rather than the top, I will see how I get on.

Just wanted to check you are opening the right end of the can aren't you. One end is designed to be opened and the other isn't.....

I have done 3 lot of home brew now (That all tasted horrible) and haven't broken a single can opener doing so.

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