1st Brew (Turbo cider)

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Hi Guys,
New to brewing. But got to start somewhere. :)

I like Cider, mostly Bulmers, Aspalls or Strongbow.
I know it will be very difficult for me to get a cider tasting like these, but would like to get fairly close. The misus will drink it too then. :)

I'd like to try and make a turbo cider that will hopefully be ready for Xmas.

I have two 5l Demijohns from my Dad (he used to make wine), and have bought yeast nutrient, sterilising solution, a new airlock and bung, a hydrometer and a syphon.

I have ordered some cider yeast online which should be here ready for the weekend.

Hope you don't mind, But I have a few questions so that my first TC doesn't put me off making future ones.
Is there anything else I need?
Do I have enough time to make something which is nice?

My current plan is to put 3l apple juice, cup of black tea and yeast in to Denijohn, leave for around 5 days to ferment, add another litre or two of apple juice and leave to ferment.
Rack off to 2nd demijohn and leave for another couple of weeks before priming with sugar and bottling.

Does this sound right? Do I need to add campden tablets? I'm guessing not as I won't get carbonation otherwise.

Also how long will it last bottled?

Many thanks for any help and sorry for all the questions.
Cheers
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[Tony1951]

Hello Ads.

I'm no expert having only made one turbo cider brew. My advice though is to use juice and not add sugar and water like I did. I found a recipe somewhere that advocated adding 600gm sugar and about half water - yuk ! It was pretty tasteless, though highly alcoholic.

If you look around there are quite a few turbo cider threads. LarrryF posted this recipe in a thread to me:

Tony, I've done 3 16L TC brews over the summer and they've come out really nice, I use Lidl Apple juice 49p a liter, it's made from concentrate but it's pure.
Per 8L DJ

7L Apple juice plus one to top up
400g sugar (49p kg in lidl)
2tsp pectolase
2tsp glycerin
1tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 cup strong tea (2 x Yorkshire left to stew)
1tbsp lemon juice
yeast, I've used Coopers, 1 pack per 8L, also used Wilko Wine yeast (not the compound, I chucked that) and a Youngs yeast and they were all fine.

I warm a liter of apple juice and dissolve the sugar into it, then chuck everything into the DG and give it a good shake. When it hits 25c or just under chuck in the yeast and give it another good shake. When the krausen goes down I top it up. I leave it for three weeks and then bottle into 1L soda water bottles, I prime the bottles with 1 1/2 tsp sugar and three canderel tablets. Leave it alone for two weeks and then it's good to go. It's very fizzy and quite sweet but that's how I like my cider. I have it over a glass of ice with a touch of lemonade. I didn't take any readings but I'm guessing it's about 8% but doesn't taste it, hence it can be a bit lethal.

I think you missed out the pectolase from your ideas above. It is cheap but important. The pectolase goes in at the start of the fermentation and helps the cider clear.

Larry suggests using canderell sweetener. Some yeasts can take the cider down to very dry. Champaign yeast does that. I used Gervin Cider yeast and that took the brew down to about 0.980. It wasn't that dry, I didn't think and I would not have needed to sweeten it myself. Like I said mine wasn't great, but I did add 3 litres of water to a 10 litre brew....

 

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Thanks Tony,
I was thinking I wouldn't need the pectolace as I'll be using Juice and not fruit. But I'll get some and put it in anyway. Can't help.

I didn't want to add any extra sugar as 5-6% would be fine for me. :drink:

Do you know what the Glycerin does?
I'm also not sure about timings, other than 10 days for the initial fermentation, is it worth doing a second after?

Cheers
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[LarryF]

Hello Ads.

I'm no expert having only made one turbo cider brew. My advice though is to use juice and not add sugar and water like I did. I found a recipe somewhere that advocated adding 600gm sugar and about half water - yuk ! It was pretty tasteless, though highly alcoholic.

If you look around there are quite a few turbo cider threads. LarrryF posted this recipe in a thread to me:



I think you missed out the pectolase from your ideas above. It is cheap but important. The pectolase goes in at the start of the fermentation and helps the cider clear.

Larry suggests using canderell sweetener. Some yeasts can take the cider down to very dry. Champaign yeast does that. I used Gervin Cider yeast and that took the brew down to about 0.980. It wasn't that dry, I didn't think and I would not have needed to sweeten it myself. Like I said mine wasn't great, but I did add 3 litres of water to a 10 litre brew....

There is pectolase in my recipe, it's the third ingredient listed.

 

[Tony1951]

Good call Tony, I do use the pectolase but completely forgot it in my recipe.

No Larry you did include the pectolase. My remark was directed at Ads because he didn't mention pectolase, but he has since said he didn't include it because he wasn't using actual fruit. maybe he is right - I don't know. I should stay out of this as I only made one brew and it wasn't great - :)

I'm sure cider experts will come in and advise in time.

 

[LarryF]

Sorry Tony I misunderstood.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Pectolace is used to prevent a pectin haze which makes the wine look cloudy.

 

[Tony1951]

Sorry Tony I misunderstood.

Not a problem Larry. The remark could easily be taken to be referring to your recipe. I was quoting your recipe for Ads because I thought it probably had a lot more chance of turning out good than my own one. LOL :)

I'm saving mine for Christmas presents for people I don't like, or maybe I'll hand the bottles out to winos as a good deed. :) Honest - its that bad.

 

[LarryF]

Sorry to hear how it turned out Tony, maybe some lemonade through it might make it palatable?

 

[Ads]

Thanks guys. Will get some pectolase tomorrow to add to the recipe. Seems my theory was wrong.:)

Do i need to rack off after the fermentation stops to a second Demijohn and then leave to condition before bottling with priming sugar etc?
If so how long do I leave it? Could I have it ready in time for Xmas?

Cheers Ads.

 

[LarryF]

Ads, after three weeks fermenting I go straight from the FV into 1L bottles primed with 1tsp of sugar and the three canderel I mentioned earlier. Two weeks later it's good to go.

 

[Ads]

Perfect. Thanks Larry. I was a bit confused as I had heard of people conditioning in a 2nd DJ. Maybe this is just when you are adding malic acid.
I'll give it a go the quick way first and see how I get on. I can then change the recipe to my taste after. Thanks for the help. :)

Out of interest what commercial cider would you compare this to?

Cheers Ads

 

[Ads]

Do you need to add Campden tablets when bottling?
or is that only for wine?

Cheers
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Coming to the end of the 1st week fermenting and it's going well. Currently the gas coming off is smelling like Apple pie. :)

Looking ahead, I was thinking of priming with more apple juice rather than just sugar. But I'm not sure how much to use. The apple juice has 11g per 100ml, so I am guessing 100ml apple juice per litre of TC would do the trick??

Also anyone know how long this should last in bottles?

Cheers
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[Roddy]

Good to hear :)

No doubt someone will be there to correct me, but if you're sticking in >10% of apple juice to the batch to prime it, you're going to dilute it a fair bit and lose a lot of abv (I think)

I'd be inclined to just prime it with sugar (dissolved in just enough AJ to get it liquid). You would need to batch prime in another clean DJ before bottling though (as you would if priming using only AJ), but if you use just a tsp sugar when bottling, you won't need to rack it off first.

Your calcs work out at 5.5g of priming sugar (equivalent) per 500ml, I would go for a little bit more (like 6.5-7g per) if it was me, although I like them quite fizzy.

When I make my TC's I drink them as soon as they're clear and fizzy in the bottle (couple of weeks), although I had some "vintage" ones (from April-June) and they definitely get better with age. Yours should be taste-tastic by Chrimbo though. I've not had any that have lasted more than 5 months, so can't vouch for their longevity, but up to a year I reckon, if stored properly (cool/dark etc..). I don't use Campden tabs either

Coming to the end of the 1st week fermenting and it's going well. Currently the gas coming off is smelling like Apple pie. :)

Looking ahead, I was thinking of priming with more apple juice rather than just sugar. But I'm not sure how much to use. The apple juice has 11g per 100ml, so I am guessing 100ml apple juice per litre of TC would do the trick??

Also anyone know how long this should last in bottles?

Cheers
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[Ads]

Thanks for the info Roddy. Very helpful.

The SG was 1046, so I'm guessing it will be around the 5.5-6% mark.

I maybe wrong, but I thought if I added apple juice to prime then when that suger ferments out in the bottle it would add to the ABV? My first time though so who knows.

I have another demijohn, so was going to Rack anyway. I might do some bottles with apple juice and some with sugar and see which ones I like best. Ready for the next batch. :)

 

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Just checked my brew last night, it's not looking or smelling very nice now. The other day it was smelling lovely.
Only been on 5 days, bubbling has slowed down a bit now too. Hopefully the next 5 days will get better.

Is this normal?

Cheers
Adam

 

[Roddy]

yeh it will go kinda straw coloured and not smell great as the fermentation creates the co2

won't taste all that, at this stage either, but sounds pretty normal to me 😃

 

[Ads]

Thanks for that.
Good to know it hopefully won't be going down the drain then.

 

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Just an update on this. I tried a bottle last night after being left for 2 weeks warm 1 week cold and both the missus and me like it. :)

I ended up putting 5 teaspoons of sweetener per 500ml. Which I thought was a lot, but worked out really well. Carbonation was good with around 5g per 500ml, I batch primed. My father and a work collegue have also tried it and both like it too.

So I have put some more on. I also have just bottled some strawberry cider from the Ribena recipe on here.

I'm impressed with what I have ended up with and if it gets better the longer it is left then it should be perfect for christmas / new year.