Marrsy86
Regular.
Drank 2 gallons over this week with friends, the fan club just keeps growing and growing. :
Cheeky Vimto
- Thread starter corby_brewer
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i started mine on 7th oct with a starting gravity of 1064 and its still bubling away every 20 second or so , i tested it gravity this morning and it now at 1020 which i gather to be 5.8%
maybe another week is needed ,taste pretty good though
maybe another week is needed ,taste pretty good though
Hey guys,
I was looking for a little advice on this one - I put this together on Thursday night hobo style (doing it as an exercise in cheap homebrew for some university students who have 0 budget):
3.5l Asda SP apple juice
1l Cherry Vimto (boiled for 15m)
190g Sugar (boiled for 10m)
25 Raisins (instead of yeast nutrients - seems to work in hobo mead recipes)
Young's yeast (unmarked but from Bitter starter kit)
I've got it all in a 5l water bottle with a pin pricked balloon on the top and there's a veritable storm of small bubbles rising to the surface.
Anyway - I took a OG reading of 1.066 on Thursday night. On Friday though after bubbling for about 18 hours the gravity reading had gone UP to 1.075. It's quite possible I took the reading wrong (or the acid made the raisins release all their sugar, although that should only have added ~11g of sugar).
Last night around midnight it was at 1.050 - and just taken it now (~12 hours later) at 1.035! We've tasted it to now and there's an awful lot of sweetness left, I'd guess around 6% alcohol but very little vimto flavour.
Now ideally I want to take it to a halloween party on Friday (as Satan Juice) - and could do with getting it carbonated with more vimto in it.
So I'm thinking I can't stop the fermentation or I won't be able to to force a small secondary fermentation in it to fizz it up. Also to get more Vimto flavour into it I need to get rid of more of it's current sugar or it will be way too sweet.
Would I be right in thinking I just need to let it run it's course (the speed it's going it should be done by Tuesday morning) then bottle it adding 40ml of Vimto to each 2l Pepsi Max bottle, leave it in the warm for 2 more days then fridge it (hopefully Thursday morning with an aim to clear it as much as possible by Friday night - not to fussed on clarity, it looks evil atm). I know it will be pretty dry if I let it run it's course but Vimto does contain Sucralose and Acesulfame K which should help - another option would be to use No Added Sugar Vimto for sweetness and more flavour - and either normal sugar, or "half spoon" for fizz.
I got the 40ml figure for the Vimto as the bottle says made up 1 part Vimto to 4 parts water 100ml contains 4.7g so 40ml should contain just under 10g of sugar per 2l bottle.
Does this all sound right? - I'm totally new to homebrew and really looking at beer (which is going well) but did this as a laugh for a mates son.
Oh final question - should I leave a 500ml headroom in each bottle just in case?
I was looking for a little advice on this one - I put this together on Thursday night hobo style (doing it as an exercise in cheap homebrew for some university students who have 0 budget):
3.5l Asda SP apple juice
1l Cherry Vimto (boiled for 15m)
190g Sugar (boiled for 10m)
25 Raisins (instead of yeast nutrients - seems to work in hobo mead recipes)
Young's yeast (unmarked but from Bitter starter kit)
I've got it all in a 5l water bottle with a pin pricked balloon on the top and there's a veritable storm of small bubbles rising to the surface.
Anyway - I took a OG reading of 1.066 on Thursday night. On Friday though after bubbling for about 18 hours the gravity reading had gone UP to 1.075. It's quite possible I took the reading wrong (or the acid made the raisins release all their sugar, although that should only have added ~11g of sugar).
Last night around midnight it was at 1.050 - and just taken it now (~12 hours later) at 1.035! We've tasted it to now and there's an awful lot of sweetness left, I'd guess around 6% alcohol but very little vimto flavour.
Now ideally I want to take it to a halloween party on Friday (as Satan Juice) - and could do with getting it carbonated with more vimto in it.
So I'm thinking I can't stop the fermentation or I won't be able to to force a small secondary fermentation in it to fizz it up. Also to get more Vimto flavour into it I need to get rid of more of it's current sugar or it will be way too sweet.
Would I be right in thinking I just need to let it run it's course (the speed it's going it should be done by Tuesday morning) then bottle it adding 40ml of Vimto to each 2l Pepsi Max bottle, leave it in the warm for 2 more days then fridge it (hopefully Thursday morning with an aim to clear it as much as possible by Friday night - not to fussed on clarity, it looks evil atm). I know it will be pretty dry if I let it run it's course but Vimto does contain Sucralose and Acesulfame K which should help - another option would be to use No Added Sugar Vimto for sweetness and more flavour - and either normal sugar, or "half spoon" for fizz.
I got the 40ml figure for the Vimto as the bottle says made up 1 part Vimto to 4 parts water 100ml contains 4.7g so 40ml should contain just under 10g of sugar per 2l bottle.
Does this all sound right? - I'm totally new to homebrew and really looking at beer (which is going well) but did this as a laugh for a mates son.
Oh final question - should I leave a 500ml headroom in each bottle just in case?
Marrsy86
Regular.
I tend to add around 15ml Cordial per 500ml for carbination with that method.
The Hydromiter reading might have went up because you didnt let the brew cool to room temperature or something too.
If its only going to be in the PET bottle a few hours then theres no reason to leave the 500ml head room as it wont have time to fill it anyway.
It should have stopped fermenting within a few days and be "drinkable" then but it does improve alot over time.
The Hydromiter reading might have went up because you didnt let the brew cool to room temperature or something too.
If its only going to be in the PET bottle a few hours then theres no reason to leave the 500ml head room as it wont have time to fill it anyway.
It should have stopped fermenting within a few days and be "drinkable" then but it does improve alot over time.
Marrsy86
Regular.
If it turns out anything like the various batches I have made it tastes like pop and you end up hammered very fast lol.
Enjoy your haloween I have 80 Pints of Homebrew for my Halloween Party, was hoping all 380 Pints would be ready but I guess some will just have to wait till Christmas
Enjoy your haloween I have 80 Pints of Homebrew for my Halloween Party, was hoping all 380 Pints would be ready but I guess some will just have to wait till Christmas
Damn looks like it'll be late for the party - it's still bubbling every 20 seconds or so. I don't really mind though as I just tasted it and I'm not at all sure I want to share!
Should I boil the extra vimto to carbonate it or leave the preservatives in?
Should I boil the extra vimto to carbonate it or leave the preservatives in?
i brewed mine on the 7th oct marrsy and s now bubbling in the airlock every 60 secs or so , would you think its time to put some campden tablets in the bottle to stop it or carry on letting it brew till no bubbles at all ?
thanks.
thanks.
Marrsy86
Regular.
I usually bottle mine around that stage but I often add campden tablets and wine stabilizer to kill the yeast off as I enjoy flat Cider.
If you want to carbonate it then try hold off on the campden tablets.
If you want to carbonate it then try hold off on the campden tablets.
cheers marrsy
i added 1/2 tea spoon of wine stabilizer and a crushed campden tablet to each of my 2 litre bottles and syphoned the cider into each bottle and ive put it into a dark room to settle for a couple of weeks ,
how long will it keep for ?
thanks again for all your help think ill be doing a wow and a turbo cider next
it finihed or i finished it of at 6.9 -7.2%
i added 1/2 tea spoon of wine stabilizer and a crushed campden tablet to each of my 2 litre bottles and syphoned the cider into each bottle and ive put it into a dark room to settle for a couple of weeks ,
how long will it keep for ?
thanks again for all your help think ill be doing a wow and a turbo cider next
it finihed or i finished it of at 6.9 -7.2%
sheffieldlad
Well-Known Member
I have my cheeky vimto on the go at the moment.
4 days into fermentation and it's still growing strong.
It smells like someones baking an apple pie :grin:
I was surprised at how quickly it started fermenting.
I put the apple juice in and pitched the yeast while I boiled off the vimto and sugar and by the time I'd cooled it (a couple of hours,) The yeast was doing its thang :party:
I'll add photos when I get round to it :
-Paul
4 days into fermentation and it's still growing strong.
It smells like someones baking an apple pie :grin:
I was surprised at how quickly it started fermenting.
I put the apple juice in and pitched the yeast while I boiled off the vimto and sugar and by the time I'd cooled it (a couple of hours,) The yeast was doing its thang :party:
I'll add photos when I get round to it :
-Paul
Wow halloween is really cursed. After a day in the fridge clearing - the shelf broke.....
BTW got a second batch on with 1/5 strawberry vimto 3/5 apple juice 1/5 cranberry juice. But the fermentation is MUCH slower - is that the cranberry inhibiting the yeast?
BTW got a second batch on with 1/5 strawberry vimto 3/5 apple juice 1/5 cranberry juice. But the fermentation is MUCH slower - is that the cranberry inhibiting the yeast?
Marrsy86
Regular.
I have never had problems with Cranberry juice, did you remember to boil the strawberry vimto? Are you getting activity in the airlock just at a slower rate ? could it be that the airlock is not on your DJ tight enough and you have a leak ?
Oh sorry - was just a slow starter, all bubbling away now.
First batch went down a storm on saturday night - except with my wife. She loved the drink, but didn't like having to get a cab to work Sunday morning as I was pretty incapacitated.
First batch went down a storm on saturday night - except with my wife. She loved the drink, but didn't like having to get a cab to work Sunday morning as I was pretty incapacitated.
sheffieldlad
Well-Known Member
how long have people been leaving the vimto TC before they drink it?
:
:
Marrsy86
Regular.
At my haloween party I racked it on the Friday and we drank it on the Saterday, It was definatly the best one I have made so far! Cherry Vimpto! Taasted awsome and got everyone drunk :thumb:
With the rest if time alows I try to leave it for at least one month.
With the rest if time alows I try to leave it for at least one month.
Yeah ditto - 1 day (just bottled my second batch for the Fireworks party tomorrow). Now I just need to make up some more "Hobo ****" labels.
Edit: Had a couple of litres left this week - so will try to leave it longer. The stuff also seems better at room temperature, in fact the colder it is the more sour it gets.
Edit: Had a couple of litres left this week - so will try to leave it longer. The stuff also seems better at room temperature, in fact the colder it is the more sour it gets.
sheffieldlad
Well-Known Member
Zaust said:
Mines been stood clearing in bottles for around a week. I decided to have 2 ltrs sparkling and 2 ltrs flat.
I'ev had 2 pints of the flat tonight and it tastes great out of the fridge. no sourness at all.
I'll try it room temp tomorrow and see if it tastes even better.
:drink:
Once I've let the gas build up and be absorbed in the sparkling I'll let you know how that turned out.
:
-Paul
Just drank the leftovers from last weekend tonight - not only had it fizzed in the shed it did taste even better.
My latest attempt is definitely struggling to get going - very slow fermentation even though there's a lot of sediment at the bottom:
1l Strawberry Vimto (boiled)
5 cap fulls Sodastream Energy drink (boiled)
400g sugar
3l apple juice
1l cranberry juice
1tsp yeast nutrient (upped to 2 tonight)
1tsp youngs high alcohol yeast (again upto to two tonight)
1/2tsp citric acid (added after 2 days of little activity)
I know if it works it will be a dangerous brew - high alcohol and caffeine could lead to a wild night. Starting gravity was 1082 but it's really not bubbling anywhere like the other 2 batches did - I'm wondering if the energy drink's preservative (potassium sorbate) withstood the boiling. If that's the case could I use a chemical to kill it or just reboil the whole lot then add yeast again.
EDIT: Nm think I got it - I found a page online which said use bread yeast to kill off the potassium sorbate. I didn't have any of that but made an ale yeast starter and I definitely have activity this morning. I'll add some more wine yeast once fermentation has been going for a couple of days.
My latest attempt is definitely struggling to get going - very slow fermentation even though there's a lot of sediment at the bottom:
1l Strawberry Vimto (boiled)
5 cap fulls Sodastream Energy drink (boiled)
400g sugar
3l apple juice
1l cranberry juice
1tsp yeast nutrient (upped to 2 tonight)
1tsp youngs high alcohol yeast (again upto to two tonight)
1/2tsp citric acid (added after 2 days of little activity)
I know if it works it will be a dangerous brew - high alcohol and caffeine could lead to a wild night. Starting gravity was 1082 but it's really not bubbling anywhere like the other 2 batches did - I'm wondering if the energy drink's preservative (potassium sorbate) withstood the boiling. If that's the case could I use a chemical to kill it or just reboil the whole lot then add yeast again.
EDIT: Nm think I got it - I found a page online which said use bread yeast to kill off the potassium sorbate. I didn't have any of that but made an ale yeast starter and I definitely have activity this morning. I'll add some more wine yeast once fermentation has been going for a couple of days.
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