FYI, my low carb porter was a hit with my buddies. I think they liked the fact that it had less body, and I went easy on the hops to let more of the malt flavor come through. So it was more like their usual commercial beer, only darker and maltier.

I have a bag of ingredients for another batch of something, I forget now what it is supposed to be. I'll have to get it going Thursday night since we'll be out of town for the weekend. Though it is a shame not to be present to witness the bubbling goodness of a new batch of beer.

LoL. I know what you mean.

FYI- Cider is bubbling away!! We (well, I) was worried that it might not... Why? IDK. Craziness I guess.

DB says it's bubbling MORE than the beer did even

Mmmm, cider

Do you add yeast nutrients or something to adjust pH to make cider? Or just pitch yeast right in fresh unpreserved apple juice?

We followed a recipe (Home Brewing for Dummies) that called for apple juice (we used cider; it was what we had) and 1lb of honey. Once you transfer it to the secondary you add 750ml of raspberry liquor...

There was a recipe that called for 'Yeast Nutrient', but we didn't know what that was...could you enlighten us?

It's bubbling heartily though, so something is working...

It is a powder in a bottle labelled "Yeast Nutrient".

I think its B vitamins and other nutrients that yeast need to thrive. These things are found in malt extract, so you normally don't have to add them when making beer. But sometimes a juice won't have enough and the yeast don't do so well without them, so you buy and add. If you're getting fermentation then you are doing fine.

You're recipe sounds good. Honey is a funny thing, it ferments really well. SO you might think you are sweetening a brew by adding honey, but in fact it comes out drier (more fully fermented) than without it. The only way to sweeten, is after the fact when fermentation is over, and you are about to drink it.

LOL. Figures

We were talking about this (I'm glad you brought it up!) and trying to figure out if Splenda would work for sweetening or if it's fermentable. Anyone know?

We're planning to experiment. Wait until the fermentation in the primary is complete and then add some (we're thinking ~1c) and see if it starts bubbling again...?

If someone here has tried it though, we won't need to

*gasp!* What a read this thread has been!! I am so glad it's still active. We make our own wine, and the hubby loves it... but I am a cider drinker at heart and am dying to try making some myself.

Can one of you PLEASE give me a step-by-step with a recipe? I live in an agricultural town, so I have access to fresh pasteurised or unpasteurised cider and inexpensive unpasteurised honey if that helps. And I have all the winemaking equipment and experience from using it for just over a year now.

I am so excited to have found this thread!!! Thanks!

JB, Splenda will not ferment. Some say it adds some body to light beers, but, be carefull on the amount you use. I brew 10 gallon batches and put in 2 5 gallon Corny kegs. One batch I put 1/2 cup in one and none in the other. Everyone thought the keg without was much better.

I've brewed three 10 gallon batches of Low Carb beer. If LC beer is clean (no funky tastes) it can be quite good. It's not for the people who like beers with lots mouth feel. It will taste very thin after drinking regular home brew. I try to have my fellow brewers drink mine before they drink the other brews.

Sorry Babs, never tried ciders, but there are tons of recipes for mead (honey) out there. Do a search and I bet you'll find some cider recipes. Honey will take a long time to ferment (similar to wine). I've tried to make mead 3 times and it never was real good. One batch actually came out with a FG BELOW "0"! Talk about pucker! One of our guys mades excellent mead and brings some regularly to meetings. It's a treat!

Brews

You'll probably be able to find a good recipe here.

Here's one I did a couple of years ago:

• 12 liters unpasterized cider
• 2 kg dark brown sugar
• 2 pints strawberries
• Lavlin EC-1118 champagne yeast

- boil the water and sugar
- rehydrate yeast according to the instructions on the pack
- Add cold cider to fermenter, add water/sugar mixture and enough clean water to make 5 gallons
- Pitch yeast when 70-75 F

I let it ferment for two weeks, then transferred. Added the strawberries, then left it in secondary for about three months. After bottling, it was pretty nice after a few more months. The only thing I would have done differently is rack it one more time to get rid of the strawberry trub.

Original gravity: 1.066
Final gravity: 0.992 (!)

Strong... and really dry. It doesn't have that sweet 'carbonated apple juice' taste that commercial sweet ciders have, but that's the price you pay for a low carb cider.

Hey Brews <chuckle> We're planning to put the Splenda in cider, not beer. I'm not sure if that makes a difference..?

Babs- Our recipe called for 5 gallons apple juice, 1lb honey, champagne yeast and 750ml raspberry liquor (added to the secondary). We're still waiting <not so patiently > whilst it bubbles away... I'll let you know how it turns out!
Blond

Oooohhh... I look forward to hearing about it, blond!

FInally got to boil up another batch of beer on Saturday. Its a dark ale, made with DME (too lazy to mash) with extra flavor from roasted barley, chocolate malt and some crystal malt. I used Liberty hops this time. And I added Beano when I pitched the yeast to save time. The stuff had an initial gravity of 1.06, definitely heavier than my low carb beer. I think it should wind up being around 5% alcohol or a little higher. It'll be more of a stout, and I rarely drink more than one, two at most. Often I dilute it with some Miller Lite (I know, sacrilege), making my own black and tan. That drinks smoother if I'm in the mood to drink some quantity.

Anyway, it was good to smell a wort boiling on the stove again.

Now I have to investigate this hard cider thing. I like the idea of sweetening it up with Splenda/stevia, and making it spicy with some citrus notes as well. Something to be drunk fresh, while its still slightly yeasty. I used to do mead that way, drink it before it was all the way fermented. It was interesting.

Speaking of cider, we racked ours to the secondary yesterday. Had to try a little (of course) and it was mighty tasty! Added some raspberry liquor and will add some Splenda once the bubbling stops (little test of the fermentability of Splenda ).

Cheers to everyone!!

Blond