Cider House Select Apple Cider

Very Good kit.... I add more sugar than recommended (6lbs Turbinado) and 2-3 lbs of slced apples to the boil.... (60 mins).
Also use Lalvin ec-1118 yeast.
I don't use the apple flavor packet and only about 1/3 of the sweetener....
Ferment at 70 degrees until done and then crash to 35 for 2 weeks...
Very nice indeed....
Usually ends up between 7% and 8% ABV

Very easy kit with clear directions. I kegged it and tried it for the first time today. It tastes great and was exactly what I hoped it would be. Great kit.

Haven't made it yet; events supposedly more important keep getting in the way.
Of course, the two 6.5 gallon carboys being full of fermenting wine was totally irrelevant.
At any rate, I have made a couple of these kits from local vendors with great results. One of the vendors sold the same brand name so I am expecting more great results.

The Cider House Select Apple Cider kit was as easy as 1-2-3! Super simple and easy to follow instructions. Kegged this batch after 10 days. C02 for another two weeks at 12psi. Absolutely delicious and a hit with the fambam!!!

Made for a friend’s birthday party

Have made this before, still very good. Yielded 55 bottles.

Brilliant

I've made this brand of apple cider twice before, but this time I added two cups of real maple syrup about two weeks before bottling and I'm looking forward to sampling it soon!

Cider House puts out a great product with clear, easy-to follow instructions. I appreciate having all of the yeast, flavoring, etc. included in the kit. However, first-time cidermakers might overlook the need the purchase 2# of corn sugar in addition to whatever they need for carbonating a sparkling cider. My order arrived earlier than expected. Excellent job, Northern Brewer, as always!

I have made wine (kit) and beer (all grain) for several years. But, I have not ever been able to make a good cider. As a last shot, I decided to give this kit a try. It has produced the best cider that I have ever made and rivals the cider that I have had in the UK.

I have ordered the Cider House Select Cider three times now, and I rather enjoy the simplicity of its production. I have also enjoyed the flexibility to adjust the recipe a little to make it drier or sweeter with included ingredients or by adding my own. Great value and great service from NB make the experience just that much better. Cheers!

Second time I have used this kit. Both batches were very good in my estimation.

This kit is about as easy as it gets for those who don’t have the time or resources to go pick their own apples. I live in prime apple country but still love getting this kit. I think it matches or at least comes awfully close to store bought 6 packs.

Great kit! Easy instructions, creating a solid bubbly and refreshing cider in just a couple of weeks. Will definitely try this brand again in possibly a different flavor.

Easy to make

Tastes great i add a cup of dark brown sugar with the dextrose and use all the flavoring packs. Also leave in fermenter a full 2 weeks. Makes a huge difference in taste and clarity!

I didn't add any additional sugar at the step where the option was presented. I like the dryness, but the apple flavor itself was lacking. It tasted more like a lightly apple-flavored sparkling wine. But it didn't taste bad per say. Very easy process as well.

It only takes roughly an hour to make and you can drink it in roughly a week or more. Quick and easy. I need to order another kit.

This was a simple process to make a good, but not great, hard apple cider. In reading the instructions, I used 1/2 packet of sugar as I don't like overly sweet ciders. The cider has a bitter aftertaste, thus the four star rating. I don't believe this is a result of too little sugar as I find the sweetness to be just right for my taste. I'm hoping it improves as it ages. The apple flavor is also a bit weak. My least favorite thing about this product is the packaging.

I’m not a cider expert, and this was my first attempt at making a batch, so used the convenience of a kit. Overall, the kit makes things very easy; however, there are a few things that could be improved upon, IMO. First, the package needs to make it clear that there are other ingredients hidden within the larger package. If you haven’t used this kit, the large package has a side section that holds sachets of sweetener and flavoring, as well as the yeast (and an instruction sheet, which can also be printed out from NB website - thanks NB!). Would be helpful to have the hidden pocket clearly indicated, and on which side to find it - better still to have it within a pocket that cannot be accidentally cut open when ready to start the batch.

Second, the recipe is for 6 gallons, but the final product was a bit weak on flavor (not sweetness) to my taste - amount of flavoring seems better suited for a 5 gallon size perhaps.

I won’t comment much on the sweetness, because that is adjustable to taste. I did a fairly dry batch, which came out fine (sweetness-wise), and there was plenty of sweetener available; enough to make it very sweet if you use it all - that’s just not what I was shooting for.

Third, and maybe most disturbing, was the sulfury smell of the finished product. As I said, this was my first attempt, so it was something unexpected, but after reading about it more, it appears to be linked to a lack of nitrogen during yeast growth/sugar metabolism. From on-line advice, this is overcome one of two ways: 1) with the addition of yeast nutrients as you start the batch - If only this had been part of the instructions…better yet, include a dose of nutrients in the kit, and make it part of the instructions; or 2) add a secondary conditioning step, where the yeast can do some "clean-up" of off-flavors/sulfur prior to bottling - but this wasn’t part of the instructions either. Maybe it was a beginner mistake at not realizing or reading up on the benefits of secondary fermentation of ciders. I'm hoping that bottle aging may improve the sulfur situation a bit, but I've read that once it's in the bottle, it's there to stay. We'll see.

Bottom line, through technique improvement, this one could have been better. Through product improvement, some of the mistakes I made could have been avoided. Admittedly, beer is my preferred HBB and I brewed this for the wife and daughter (but they weren't too thrilled with the result). May or may not try a cider kit again -

I wish this wasn't so expensive, but it did make a good cider. Easier and much quicker than brewing beer.

I prefer a dry cider and find most commercially produced ciders too sweet. Giving the brewer the option of adding whatever amount of sweetener they choose is a good feature of this kit. I used a little (between a quarter and a third of the packet). Also, the extract you can add for extra flavor at the end was unnecessary for my tastes - but again, it is good that this is customizable! I actually bottled a few without any extra flavoring, bottle a couple with a small amount of flavoring, and bottled a couple with more flavoring. I actually preferred the bottles with none of the flavor packet, but they were all good. I will make it again.

Beware - they suggest their fizz drops for carbonation. These are not completely uniform and some don't fit through the mouth of a standard 12-oz bottle. You can break them up with a hammer or something (and risk introducing infection), or just prime with corn sugar.

I made this for my daughter in law. She said it was better than anything she has bought to date. Not too tart nor sweet.

Dependable quality, makes great cider.

The cider is good. Making it was easy, but I've made cider and beer before so had the knowledge to modify the kit. I used honey as a primer. Don't know how well the tablets would work...I don't use them.
I would definitely reorder this kit.

My first time brewing a cider. I added 2 oz of caramel flavor at bottling and it tastes great!! The wife loves it and she only drinks ciders.

We make this once a year for Easter. This year just 3 lbs of blackberries added for that berry beautiful taste!

Great cider!! Have made it many times. Easy to make also.

I'm being asked to review a product that takes 6 weeks to make and I only ordered it 15 days ago. So...the package looks like the picture on the site. Other than that, not much to review. All but one of my serious reviews never got posted anyway.

Always good, easy to make

Easy to make cider. refreshing taste

Nice balance of tart and sweet. Easy to make.