Lidl Turbo cider

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Tau

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Thought I'd get it in brewday early before the rush :)

10.5 ltrs of lidl apple juice (95g sugar per litre)
300g sugar disolved in apple juice and added to the rest
1 tsp of pectolase (doubt needed)
1 tsp wilko yeast nutrient
1 tsp powdered tannin (chestnut based)
2.5 tsp of malic acid
2 tsp of young dried yeast
All in 10ltr bucket (obviously bigger than 10ltr), cling flim around edge as seal isn't that great, has an airlock though.

Youngs dried yeast for beers & wine, hopefully will work opened long ago but haven't really used it. Not sure on max' abv for the yeast but at most cider can get to is 7.6% so should be ok. Just hoping to foam as there isn'y much room in the bucket.
 
She blew, luckily had bucket on a large frying pan. She has been consigned to the shed, which will be too hot and full of flies, spiders and will probably be a bucket of vinegar before the week is out. Yet only glimmer of hope is that farmyard cider seems to survive open to the air so who knows.
 
Just tested, has good bite with the added malic acid, tastes dryish and not sweet even though sg is 1.006, might be a false sg as still fermenting and lots of co2 was being released. Surprisingly not vinegar, even the spill onto the frying pan hadn't turned, bit was on side of bucked, cleaned it up and stirred in 2 crushed camdens to prevent or stop even any vinegar infection. Probably continue to ferment for a little while, pause and hopefully stop by the end of the weekend. The seal isn't any good on the lid wrapped clim film around. So around 5.5% abv at the moment and would be happy for a quick drinker through the summer, would prefer 6% above for longer storage.
 
Have you tried without yeast nutrient? I never use it.
I'm using the yeast with sweetener and 1kg sugar per 25L and fermentation is very steady. I can fill the bucket right to the top and it's ok, it just fizzes and bubbles away for a couple of weeks or so.
 
Have you tried without yeast nutrient? I never use it.
I'm using the yeast with sweetener and 1kg sugar per 25L and fermentation is very steady. I can fill the bucket right to the top and it's ok, it just fizzes and bubbles away for a couple of weeks or so.

I hate sweeteners, I used a yeast I don't usually use to use up and really would have been better off using something else. Because it was a processed apple juice I added the nutrient, no harm.
 
I hate sweeteners, I used a yeast I don't usually use to use up and really would have been better off using something else. Because it was a processed apple juice I added the nutrient, no harm.

Yeah I make it a lot stronger hence the need for a sweetener.
It is pure apple juice you are using though, so you should be able to get away without nutrient.
 
Well bottled it today, pet and old 2ltr bottles, final sg was 1003, making it aound the 6% abv mark. Was cloudy still, could have just racked then bottled but couldn't be bothered, will just have to be careful pouring. Only got 9.5 ltrs in the end. Taste had improved somewhat dry and the malic had started to change.
 
Sounds good, are you aiming for some fizz and if so how are you managing it? I've got it tasting just how I like it, but for some reason it keeps coming out flat.
 
I’ve been adding citric acid more recently to my cider.
I’m liking what it adds.


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Sounds good, are you aiming for some fizz and if so how are you managing it? I've got it tasting just how I like it, but for some reason it keeps coming out flat.

Well there's at least 10g of sugar/gallon still in the cider at 1003 and there is still some yeast in it, so that would help carb'. In last batch of turbo cider I used malic acid and the sg was much lower .995 and it carbonated from the co2 from malic/lactic fermentation. So if remaining sugar doesn't ferment a little, then the malo/latic fermentation will add the fizz.

@pvt__ak You'll find the malic acid to be more in keeping with cider apple levels of acid. As juices tend to be from dessert apples, you need the natural malic acid to be increased, although apples contain citric acid, it's the malic you want.
 
Well there's at least 10g of sugar/gallon still in the cider at 1003 and there is still some yeast in it, so that would help carb'. In last batch of turbo cider I used malic acid and the sg was much lower .995 and it carbonated from the co2 from malic/lactic fermentation. So if remaining sugar doesn't ferment a little, then the malo/latic fermentation will add the fizz.

@pvt__ak You'll find the malic acid to be more in keeping with cider apple levels of acid. As juices tend to be from dessert apples, you need the natural malic acid to be increased, although apples contain citric acid, it's the malic you want.



Thanks buddy - will give the Malic a go. Putting a cider on this weekend .


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Well there's at least 10g of sugar/gallon still in the cider at 1003 and there is still some yeast in it, so that would help carb'. In last batch of turbo cider I used malic acid and the sg was much lower .995 and it carbonated from the co2 from malic/lactic fermentation. So if remaining sugar doesn't ferment a little, then the malo/latic fermentation will add the fizz.

Thanks for the reply, I was reading Roddys thread and I don't think I put enough sugar in, I waited till it had finished then added 1/2 level T spoon per 330ml bottle, I think maybe it should have been a full one.
How do you know that there is still 10g of sugar in?
Maybe i'll give the malic acid a try in the future, when do you add it?
 
She blew, luckily had bucket on a large frying pan. She has been consigned to the shed, which will be too hot and full of flies, spiders and will probably be a bucket of vinegar before the week is out. Yet only glimmer of hope is that farmyard cider seems to survive open to the air so who knows.

Part of that is the fact that it is brewed out to a higher abv, when I make strong ginger beer once it's taken and I've tweaked it and had later additions as weeks go on it isn't phased by such mortal things as oxidisation or having that flat or still flavour as it's a force to be reckoned with!
 
Thanks for the reply, I was reading Roddys thread and I don't think I put enough sugar in, I waited till it had finished then added 1/2 level T spoon per 330ml bottle, I think maybe it should have been a full one.
How do you know that there is still 10g of sugar in?
Maybe i'll give the malic acid a try in the future, when do you add it?

Might have underestimated the sugar, at an sg of 1.000 there's 4g of sugar per litre, so that's 17g per gallon, at 1003 it is around 50g of sugar per gallon even a little more. link not perfect for each sg point but gives an estimate to sugar in your brew http://www.brsquared.org/wine/CalcInfo/HydSugAl.htm

I have added the malic acid at the start, but it depends on how long you are going to store it before and after bottling. As it could change before bottling, you can buy malo/lactic bacterial cultures from some hbs and to ensure that malo/lactic fermentation occurs in which case you could add just before bottling.
 
Thanks again for the info :thumb:
My problem is i'm not scientific enough and don't make precise enough notes, but I can work on that, although reading Roddys thread he seems to be having similar issues too.
I have just had 25ltrs with 1kg of sugar in for two weeks, just as it's stopped fermenting (.998), but hasn't cleared i've batch primed with 200g sugar, so i'll see how that goes. Sadly I forgot to take an initial reading :doh: but nevermind.
 
Have tasted over the past couple of weeks, not keen on the smell that the yeast I used has given it, very ale like in nature would have helped if I had let it condition in the bucket for a few additional weeks. Flavour good and tasty strong but not falling over strong, it has carbonated quite a lot just from the malic acid to lactic acid co2 and any yeast/sugar that was left in the cider at bottling as there's a trace of sediment in each bottle. Was a bit lazy and didn't rack before bottling, although had washed up and sterilsed a container to do so, thought what the hell and bottled instead.
 
12 ltrs of lidl apple juice (110g sugar per litre) & 0.5 ltr boiled water to dissolve extra sugar.
340g sugar disolved in apple juice and added to the rest
1 tsp wilko yeast nutrient
1 tsp powdered tannin (chestnut based)
2.5 tsp of malic acid
Harris premium yeast as it's going outside and can work at 10 degrees Celsius

Bought a 5 gallon bucket from wilko as seal on small bucket had gone, seems to be a much better seal possibily too now for without an airlock it might blow. I tested with boiling water in the bucket shook and it blew, seal might not be as good now :)

Worked out est' 1048 og, so max' of around 7.6%, I'm in no rush for this one.
 
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