Cider Beginner

[fredl]

Hi Everyone,
So my question is ...dum but....
Is there anyway to brew a cider more healthily ..as in either a sugar substitute or something else but sugar to raise the abv more healthily?
Or shouldn't I care as it brews into alcohol?
it just seems like so much sugar for a stronger brew

many thanks

[Baldy]

Sugar turns into alcohol - I don't think there's much you can do about that - if you use a yeast that will survive high alcohol levels you can turn more of the sugar into alcohol -> not saying that makes it 'healthier' though
If you use artificial sweeteners you'll make a sweeter 'drink' but you need the sugars to get the alcohol
If you think about the taste of a dry cider - there isn't a lot of sugar left...

[fredl]

Re:beginner

Thanks , i did just pop down to my local cider museum & ask there as I wanted to know if they sold cider apple juice which they don't
What was interesting was that I didn't realise that brewing from certain cider apple varieties without using sugar neednt take the months & months I thought it would
So now on a search of where to obtain fresh cider apple juice or concentrate.

[Baldy]

One day I'll put together my own apple press a la
http://www.jamieoliver.com/jimmyciderpress/cpf.pdf


Keep an eye open for apple days / cider festivals - sometimes people allow others to press apples in their presses.
There are quite a few here who have made cider from bog-standard apple concentrate...

[fredl]

re beginner

indeed I have made it myself first from a kit then from shop brought juice adding the juice of bramleys to experiment
I just don't like all the sugar used so..i will take your advice & also phone up some cider makers to see if they sell

[burnie]

I've got a fruit press and made my own cider without adding any sugar or yeast, no idea how alcoholic it was, it bubbled away in a demi john for a fair while. However it wasn't particularly nice to drink, you need the right apple varieties, I now make wine instead. I am off sugar after medical advice and do have the odd libation of cloudy scrumpy and my bloods are ok I also make my wine with sugar and hope changing it into alcohol will keep me out of grief.

[Kirk]

I would suspect that if you used a kit then you had to add sugar to replace what was lost from the apple juice. So in effect it is sugar that you add or sugar that is in the apple juice, but sugar none the less.

If you visit a home brew shop there are sort of alternatives but it is really a different type of "sugar". I think the one we tend to think of as sugar is suctrose, whereas the home brew shop may stock fructose as an alternative.

Bit like the "end" product, we call it alcohol, but the term alcohol refers to a family of chemicals, not a single one. What we term alcohol is ethanol, but there is effectively an infinite number of alcohols. Methanol, Ethanol, Propanol, Butanol, Pentanol, Hexanol,,,,,,,,, all alcohols, and most will kill you.

[Alison]

My OH makes lovely cider just with foraged apples which he presses and puts in a demijohn to ferment naturally. Always a mix of apples and never a failure although alcohol levels vary, usually quite a dry drink

[Owamya]

I've tried turbo style cider from carton Apple juice, best one was Lidl vitafit pure Apple juice (not from concentrate) , there's still sugar in it so without adding anymore sugar you'd get around 4%. With a full ferment your sugar will have turned to alcohol. Sweet.

[Jay-ell]

Hi fredl and a belated welcome to the vine.

Can I ask what your location is, as Cider in the States is more like Pure Apple Juice in the UK, where as Cider in the UK is Hard Cider in the US - just want to make sure we're all on the same page.

[Jay-ell]

Hi fredl and a belated welcome to the vine.

Can I ask what your location is, as Cider in the States is more like Pure Apple Juice in the UK, where as Cider in the UK is Hard Cider in the US - just want to make sure we're all on the same page.

[Ananke]

I've got a fruit press and made my own cider without adding any sugar or yeast, no idea how alcoholic it was, it bubbled away in a demi john for a fair while. However it wasn't particularly nice to drink, you need the right apple varieties

I done this a few months ago. The plan was to sterilise the juice and add a cider yeast but the press I have is quite small, I use it to press cheese so not great for doing large batches of apples. It took me ages and the juice started to ferment naturally before I could get through all the apples so I just let it do it's thing. Didn't add any sugar.

How long did you leave yours before drinking?

[burnie]

A few weeks, went by looks more than anything, I have wine in the loft at the moment from the same apples, that's nearly 18 months old now.

[Fuzzyduck]

One day I'll put together my own apple press a la
http://www.jamieoliver.com/jimmyciderpress/cpf.pdf


Keep an eye open for apple days / cider festivals - sometimes people allow others to press apples in their presses.
There are quite a few here who have made cider from bog-standard apple concentrate...

Thanks for the link Baldy, may get the OH to make me one.

Fuzzy

[Snoop Puss]

Yes, thanks from me too, Baldy.