Novice Adventures in Brewing!
Hi Brewers!
It’s been a minute since we made our GINGER BEER and we can’t lie. The mood in the Lager Land kitchen right now is bordering on apathetic.
Joce is singing “I’ve got hurt feelings” by Flight of the Conchords at the top of her lungs while she sprays ETHYL SANITISER over all our clean brew gear to get rid of any lingering nasties. I’m trying not to laugh as I sort out the ingredients. It’s a riot.
Neither of us are enthused about making cider because we don’t ever drink it. The Lager Land Ladies much prefer a cocktail.
So, why Elderflower & Lime Cider?
Because it was about to go out of date and we dislike waste more than we dislike cider.
But, who knows? We may love it and become cider converts.
Since my only cider experience is stuck way back in the 90’s when my mum would occasionally bring out a can of Two Dogs, I’d say it’s highly likely that cider has come a long way since then.
So here we are. Making the Mangrove Jack’s ELDERFLOWER & LIME CIDER. And being totally excited
about it!
Ok. New record!!
We haven’t even started yet and we’ve already made Mistake No.1
We/I cut the top off the CIDER POUCH weeks ago thinking I’d just slip the instructions out and give them a read before we started. (A nifty trick we learned after making a few teensy mistakes with the GINGER BEER.)
BUT both sides of the pouch are actually sealed together. So cutting immediately opens both, leaving the malt exposed. Crap!
We weren’t ready to brew then so we/I sticky taped the bag back together till we had time later that week.
AND 5 WEEKS LATER, here we are. Finally making CIDER!
Not sure if this will affect the final product or not but we guess we’ll see. In my defence I taped it up like a boss. Bacteria be damned.
Day 1.
At first glance these MJ CIDER DUAL POUCHES are actually pretty cool. One side holds the malt, the other side holds the instructions, plus any hops, yeast and flavourings you’ll need.
The packets are covered in buzz words like… NITROGEN FLUSHED…FLASH PASTEURISED…COLD-FILLED. All fancy sounding methods designed to retain the quality of flavours for their shelf-life.
As consumers we can appreciate that.
As retailers we went to the website to double check that it meant what we thought it meant.
FYI- It does. We’re thorough like that.
In the dry side of the pack there is one extra-large teabag thing we assume is filled with elderflower, one pack of flavouring, one pack of sweetener and one pack of yeast.
Because following the instructions would be boring, for our ferment we are substituting-
1. TUTTI FRUITY YEAST (SAFCIDER TF-6) in place of the MJ CIDER YEAST that comes in the pack.
2. MJ CIDER ENHANCER in place of adding 1kg SUGAR.
Why the changes? Because Dave told us too. And since he knows a little something about brewing we’ve chosen to listen to him, for now. But rest assured he’s been banished from the kitchen.
On a side note: If you haven’t tried the Mangrove Jack’s CIDER ENHANCER before you’re in for a treat. On opening, the room is bathed in the sweet smell of fresh apples and everyone, including Dave who’s now popped his head through our little kitchen window, is holding out their fingers for a taste.
At this point we’ve completely strayed from our brewing path and there may, or may not, be cider enhancer dripping down someone’s chin. Don’t judge. It’s that delicious.
I think it’s important to add here, with the current COVID climate, that we’ve all washed our hands. That’s possibly not true but let’s not focus on what we can’t prove and move forward to the cider making, shall we?
Step 1.
Joce is squeezing every last drop of malt from the cider pouch into the 30L CARBOY FERMENTER.
FYI - It’s not super thick and sticky so, unlike tinned malts, there’s no warming required and it doesn’t take long.
We add 3L of boiling water and the CIDER ENHANCER to the fermenter in place of the sugar. Stir till dissolved. Then top up with cold tap water to 23L. Easy peasy apple cider squeezy.
At this point our temperature was 25°, well within the 18-28° threshold for us to add the yeast. So, in it goes.
Step 2.
Decisions. Decisions. Decisions. The cider sweetener. Specifically, how much to use? Luckily there’s a vague set of guidelines included in the instructions.
If you like…DRY CIDER- DO NOT add the sweetener.
If you like…OFF DRY CIDER – ADD HALF the sweetener.
If you like…SWEET CIDER – ADD ALL the sweetener.
Our cocktail loving taste buds vote for ADDING ALL THE SWEETENER.
Boom! In it goes.
Now we stir to mix it all in and enjoy the AROMA OF WARM SPICED APPLE PIE wafting around the kitchen. Based on this scent alone we’re not hating on the cider so much right now.
We’re kind of wishing it was Pie-Day Friday at work and we had one baking in the Lager Land fire oven right now. But alas, it’s only Thursday. We’ll have to wait.
Step 3.
At this point the instructions get a little complicated so we read them through twice. Ok, it was actually three to four times while searching the kitchen to make sure we hadn’t misplaced some ingredients.
No extra ingredients are found. It looks like these instructions are designed to encompass many flavour variations. For the ELDERFLOWER AND LIME CIDER we just need to throw in the floral teabag thing and keep the essence sachet for later.
Step 4.
It doesn’t say to do it but it’s ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA to measure the SPECIFIC GRAVITY (SG) before putting on the lid.
Ours is currently sitting a 1040. It needs to get down to 1015 for fermentation to be complete so
we’ll check it every day or so to see how it’s faring.
At this point we’d like to announce we have absolutely no issues with putting in the bubbler. The airlock is half-filled and since we do not have to add any dry-hops we’re pretty much done for now.
Yay!
Except…it has been quite cold lately so Dave’s insisted on adding a HEAT BELT to ensure the temperature stays consistent. So, we secure the heat belt around the fermenter and set the the temperature to 20°.
Day 1 OFFICIALLY COMPLETE!!!!!
Day 2.
It’s very slow to bubble in the morning. By lunchtime it’s bubbling more frequently but it still seems a bit half-hearted.
Heat belt temp 20°.
Thermometer reading 18°
Still in the acceptable heat range.
Day 3.
It’s officially SAD SATURDAY. There’s NO BUBBLING, which alone isn’t that big of a deal because, if you read our first blog you’ll know our ginger beer didn’t bubble at all. BUT there’s also not much happening under the lid when we have a peek, which is the concern.
Best thing we can do right now is throw another pack of yeast into it to try to restart fermentation. Bring on the good old EC-1118. They don’t call it a KILLER YEAST for nothing.
Day 5.
All going well. Fermentation is happening. We take off the heat belt because the weather is quite nice.
Day 6.
Mistake No. 2 So, it seems we may have prematurely removed the heat belt and it has now stalled out at 1020. When you take the lid off and look, there is a small amount of bubbling happening but it’s not full and foamy like it should be.
Sad Saturday has officially stretched out to Tuesday.
Temperatures have been extremely low the past few days so we assume that has been affecting the ferment.
We add the heat belt again. Set it to 25° this time and ADD A THIRD yeast. Because good things come in threes, don’t they?
While we’re here we do a TASTE TEST.
The smell and taste are both extremely pleasant for room-temperature, partially-fermented cider.
Day 9.
What the hell? SG is 1015. Fermentation complete!
Not bad, considering three days ago we were considering pouring it down the sink and trying again.
Step 5.
Time to finally add the Elderflower & Lime essence. Snip the corner, have a sniff and pour it in.
But absolutely do not suck the packet or stick your finger in for a taste. For some reason we had a flashback to the day we added the CIDER ENHANCER and it is NOT, I repeat IT IS NOT anything like the cider enhancer.
It is CONCENTRATED FLAVOURING meant for 23L of cider. NOT YOUR MOUTH.
Honestly, the face Joce pulled for the few seconds before she dry wretched in the sink was absolutely priceless. And something I’ll carry with me always.
Once Joce had some water, we stirred the flavouring in well. Refit the lid and let it for 24hrs so the yeast can settle before we keg it.
Day 10.
Oh, no.
SG has dropped down to 1010 which means, after adding all of the sweetener back on day 1, it will technically have a dry finish.
Uurgh. Dry cider sucks.
Or, does it?
Day 14.
We’ve been flat out in the shed so were only just getting it in the keg now. Nothing else to do now but give it a bit of time and see.
Day 23.
We put it on tap on the KEGERATOR and poured a few to give the final verdict.
Final thoughts over at the Lager Land lunch table…
It’s quite dark, like apple juice. And it tastes like apple juice with a slight floral hint, which we assume is the elderflower. The lime is very subtle. It’s also not super sweet, even with the full packet of sweetener we put in but it’s definitely not dry, either.
Overall it's light on the tongue and easy to drink. We’ll take that as a win.
Final Cider Verdict…
Joce – I could definitely smash a few back on a hot day.
Sharm – I’d have one and then mix the next several with lemonade to make cider shandy’s, like my nana.
All in all…we’re surprised how much we actually enjoyed the final product.
We’d both like to try more flavours. Maybe the Raspberry & Mango or the Passion-Fruit & Peach? There’s quite a few to choose from. And for the price, these pouches offer a pretty good return on investment.
That’s about all from us today.
Be sure to check out our upcoming Facebook post about how you can use cider in the kitchen.
We’re thinking of making some CIDER FONDANT POTATOES and trying our hand at some SPICED APPLE CIDER JELLY SHOTS to get some practice in for Christmas.
And stay tuned for our next blog where we attempt to fire up the BREWZILLA and make a NEIPA to enter in the Brunswick Show 2022 Home Brew Beer Competition. How hard could it be?
Until next time, brewers.
Joce & Sharm
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