Home Cider Making Kits

Brew Mart stock all the best  cider making kits such as

Bulldog  home brew cider kits

Magnum home brew cider kits

Mangrove Jacks home brew cider kits

Muntons homebrew cider kits

Click here for all the information on how to brew cider at home

Home Brew Cider Kit & Cider Making kit

The stages of fermentation

1. Always use clean and sterilised equipment. Please click here to read The importance of sterilisation.
2. Using the correct size fermenter for the size of kit you are using, empty the contents of the cider kit plus sugars, stir and then add water
3. Take a hydrometer reading. Click here to see how to use a hydrometer.
4. Test the temperate is correct for adding the yeast
5. Pitch your yeast
6. Fit the lid with hole and grommet
7. Attach airlock

The process of fermentation

Before you start, read your kit's instructions carefully, as each type of homebrew cider kit can differ slightly. If it helps, remove the instructions from the tin or pouch and keep them to hand.

Empty the tin or pouch contents into the fermenter bucket; if the tin contents seem a little sticky, stand in warm water for a little while. Squeeze the contents of a pouched cider kit as you would squeeze a tube of toothpaste.

To remove all the contents from the cider kit, rinse out at least twice with hot water, ensuring that you have not left any of the concentrates behind.

How to brew cider from a homebrew kit.

If brewing sugar is needed, now is the time to add it and then top up with the required water.

Using a long-handled spoon or paddle, give the mixture a really good stir. The best implements to use should be made of either food-grade plastic or stainless steel. Wooden implements are not a good idea as bacteria could be present if the wood is scratched at all, and this could harm your brew.

Keep stirring until you feel sure that all the sugar and concentrate is dissolved.

Once this is done, take a hydrometer reading and keep a note of it.

Next is the temperature reading to see if it is safe to add the yeast. The best temperate is between 17 C to 22 C. If the liquid needs to cool, put the fermenter lid on to keep any bacteria out while you are waiting.

Once the liquid is at the correct temperature, pitch the yeast. (Add the yeast).

Replace the lid with the hole and grommet and airlock. 

Fill the airlock roughly half full with water, and this will stop air going in, which could harm the brew but allows CO2 to escape in the form of bubbles.

For an ideal smooth fermentation, it is good practice not to move the fermentation vessel to allow any sediment to collect at the bottom and the temperature not to fluctuate too much. A temperature of 15C is a suitable working temperature to keep the yeast active. Too hot and it will kill the yeast and too cold and the yeast will go dormant.

Cider ferments on average between three to seven days. An indication that the cider has finished fermenting is that the airlock stops bubbling. During fermentation, an amount of foam will appear on top of the liquid, which will subside as the fermentation proceeds.

Keep an eye on the airlock, and if it has ceased bubbling for at least two days, now is the time to take a second hydrometer reading and keep a note of it. The final gravity reading for a finished cider is about 998. If there is any uncertainty that the cider has not finished fermenting, put the lid back on, wait for a day or two and take another reading. If the reading is the same, the cider has finished fermenting, and your brew is ready.

A complete summary of cider brewing equipment

To help you decide how you wish to store your brew, please read

  should you use bottles or barrels?

Click here to read how to bottle your brew

If you have any more questions, you can contact Brew Mart by email or telephone or better still visit our shop.

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