: :"best kit in Aus ???" - no kit. My best ciders have come from apples :(juiced and fermented with wine yeast). Next to that, good quality apple :juice. I don't know where you are, but if in Sydney or nearby, get :yourself up to Bilpin (go through Richmond and up the Bell's Line of :Road) and buy some juice from there. It's nicer juice than what is in :the supermarkets. I've also tried a couple of kits, but the cider they :made was pretty boring. : I've also found a lot of strongbow boring, but Scrumpy jack, now that's a Cider !. the concentrate didn't taste too bad when I stuck my finger in to taste it, as you do of course. See how it goes. I have been to Bilpin many years a go as a kid, I'm on the Central Coast so it's well worth the effort I suppose, may father also has a few apple trees grwoing but I think the climate is a tad too warm for apples near Taree.
I just bottled a 'sampler' off the neeeeaaarrly fully fermented wort and stuck it in the freezer so I'll crack that open in about half an hour and try her out : -). They say wait two weeks but it's only gonna make for creamier carbonation and I'm dying to try it. IG 1040 FG 1005
Cheers, Bob. Thanks for your comments BTW.
:As to beer yeast vs cider yeast, I'd be surprised if the yeast in the :Black Rock kit was something other than an ale yeast. Do you still have :the sachet? What was written on it? : nothing just said Cider Yeast. :You can use any good brewing yeast (ale, cider, wine, even lager yeast :in winter). Some people swear by bread yeast, most who have tried it :swear AT it. Stick to brewing yeast. I use wine yeast, but I get a very :dry cider (i.e. not much sweetness left). I like it like that, but you :might not. Some suggest the a good liquid yeast is best, but I've never :tried one yet. For beer, stick to ale and lager yeasts. : :The kit you are using requires sugar to be added because it only has :enough concentrate for half a fermenter (12L odd) of cider. Adding sugar :just lifts the alcohol content of the end product, and does nothing for :the flavour. I still use sugar for carbonating my cider though (or you :can skip that step if you don't want bubbly cider).
In the bottles you mean ? : :cheers, :Ross. :-- :Ross McKay, WebAware Pty Ltd :"Words can only hurt if you try to read them. Don't play their game" - Zoolander