Homebrew Cider

Cider ferments best at 15 to 20 degrees, and most cider yeasts prefer a range of 15 to 22 degrees. Check the juice temperature is inside the yeast's recommended range before pitching.

When the gravity reading is stable across two consecutive readings taken 48 hours apart. Do not go by the airlock. Bubbling slowing or stopping tells you very little, and bottling early is a common cause of problems later.

Because most yeasts ferment apple juice completely dry, producing a crisp, tart cider with little residual sweetness. Adding standard sugar before bottling will not fix it, since the yeast is still alive and will ferment that out too. For a sweet sparkling cider you need a non-fermentable sweetener such as lactose or stevia, added before bottling.

Mangrove Jack's M02 Cider Yeast is the straightforward choice. SN9 is the wine yeast option if you want a drier, more vinous finish. If you are out of both, EC-1118 is the safest substitute.

A 23 litre cider kit needs a 25 to 30 litre fermenter so there is headspace for the krausen during active fermentation. Filling a fermenter to the brim is how you end up cleaning the floor.

Metro: usually a few business days. Regional: often a bit longer. You get tracking when it leaves the warehouse.

If something isn't right, tell us. We'll sort returns or replacements under Australian Consumer Law and our written policy. No drama.