BULLDOG PREMIUM CIDER KITS - INSTRUCTIONS

A fermenter bucket with plenty of headspace is best, 27L or more. The airlock is used to let CO2 out but no air in, The siphon tube is used for transferring your cider to bottles (or keg), an extendable (telescopic) model is best.

Only use bottles designed to handle the pressure (swing top bottles, crown cap bottles or PET bottles). Kegs come in many types, the best have a float system inside so you can draw the cider sooner. The economy models have a bottom tap and no float system so you must wait for full clearing before starting to draw the cider.

- Hydrometer (for checking fermentation progress)
- Thermometer
- Heat tray or brew belt (if your room is too cold)
- Home brew paddle (for stirring)

We are pleased that you have chosen a Bulldog Brews Premium Cider Kit, the first true Brewery Quality kit available to the home brewer! Bulldog Brews are
made using exceptional amounts and quality of raw materials, combining traditional brewing values with modern techniques.

1) Clean all equipment with a good homebrew cleaner/steriliser

2) Empty the contents of the juice bag into your sterilised container. Rinse out any remaining concentrate from the bag with hot water and add to the fermenter as well.

3) top up to 23 litres in your fermenter using a mix of hot and cold water to achieve a temperature between 20-30C. Be careful not to add too hot water, especially with glass fermenters. mix well.

4) Add cider yeast/sweetener (sachet no.1) and mix well. Seal the fermenter with an airlock, half filled with water. Leave to ferment in constant temperature between 20-28C. Fermentation will normally take 7-8 days (longer if low room temperature).

Note: Always consider the risk of leaks or frothing over when choosing a place for your fermenter.

5) After 7-10 days of fermentation, check that fermentation is over. This is best done with a hydrometer which should show a value of 1000 or below at this stage. If fermentation is not over yet, leave another day or two, then re-check.

If you don't have a hydrometer, leave for 10 days or until no more bubbles in airlock.

6) For best results, rack off the cider into another vessel (using a syphon tube), leaving only the thick sediment behind. you can skip this instruction but you will then get more sediment in your bottles. Don't use finings here unless you plan to do a still cider (finings not included).

7) Syphon the cider into clean sterilised bottles (or into a keg, see instruction 9). Use bottles with swing tops, beer bottles with crown caps or PET bottles with screw caps.

8) Add 1 level teaspoon of sugar or 1 carbonation drop per 500ml bottle or 1 rounded teaspoon / 2 drops to a 750ml bottle. Be careful not to add too much or your bottles could explode.

9) Seal bottles with crown caps, swing tops or PET screw caps designed to hold pressure and transfer to a warm place for at least one week for secondary fermentation.

For sparkling ciders you can also use an S30 keg or a similar pressure barrel. Transfer to the keg, add 60g of sugar and seal your keg.

10) Store the cider for 5 days at between 20-30C to allow the secondary fermentation (i.e. making the CO2) to take place. Then move to a cool place for clearing.

Leave the bottles in a cool place until your cider is clear which can take at least another week. That's it, Enjoy your cider!

Note: For still cider instead of sparkling, leave up to a week extra for clearing (or use an optional fining agent such as Alcotec Turbo Klar for a 24 hour result) before bottling. Then transfer to any type of bottle and don't add any sugar. For still cider you can use any normal type of bottle closure, wine corks etc.

Please note: The information in these instructions are not owned by Brew2Bottle, and are obtained from suppliers of the kits.

Shop Bulldog Premium Cider Kits here