Stripped back Turbo Cider how-to

[ScottM]

Brewing up another batch of my straight up turbo cider. I made this a few months ago and I'm now reaping the benefits, so much so that I NEED to get this on the go again.

This is really, really easy. So easy that it doesn't really warrant a how-to but I guess it gives insight into just how easy it can be.

Equipment required:

Fermenting Vessel (I'm using a 5 gallon fermenting bin)

A Paddle/Spoon

A measuring spoon (A teaspoon is fine)

A Hydrometer (Optional)

Airlock (Optional)


Ingredients:

23L Asda Smart Price Apple Juice (Any apple juice is fine, just make sure it's 100% juice either whole or from concentrate)

Pectolase

Tannin (Can be substituted with 6 tea bags worth of very strong tea)

Yeast Nutrient (Either the real thing or tomato paste or something that yeast love)

Yeast (I use Youngs Super Wine yeast, hasn't let me down yet)

Instructions:

Firstly sterilise everything. I use starsan no-rinse and I can't recommend it highly enough.

I line up all my cartons, pop the tabs and cut them off in a line.

Then dump the lot in the FV

I then make up the tannin/tea. I use boiling water in a cup as it can be notoriously bad for clumping. (3tsp per 5 gallons is perfect for me, feel free to adjust to taste)

The tannin get's dumped into the FV along with 5tsp of nutrient & 5tsp of pectolase.
Check the temperature of the wort, ideall you want between 20 and 24 degrees (I was a little off the mark so added extra yeast)

At this point it's a good idea to check the gravity (I hit 1.049@17 degrees, my hydrometer reads around 3 points high though)

Drop in 3tsp of yeast (approx 15g) and wait 5 minutes while the yeast hydrates.

Give a little stir, put on the lid and put on the airlock... you're done!

Secondary and kegging/bottling to follow :)

 

[abssm]

How does this turn out taste wise, any similarity to Bulmers/Magners etc?

 

[ScottM]

How does this turn out taste wise, any similarity to Bulmers/Magners etc?

The flavour is a lot stronger than those ciders but as mentioned above I drink it reasonably dry. In order to get to bulmers/magners you would need to add a LOT of sugar for backsweetening. As a reference Stella Cidre has 50g of sugar per pint. I'm guessing all the sweet ciders use similar levels of sugar.

Be aware that if using sugar you won't be able to bottle condition and you will need to kill the yeast. I use a sodastream to carbonate my cider so I don't need to worry about this part. The options are basically forced carbonating, backsweetening with sweetener rather than sugar, drinking flat or not sweetening.

I accidentally let half a pint of the stuff go flat because I forgot about it. Not wanting to let it go to waste I chucked in a few cubes of ice to cool it and drank it. Not being fizzy took very little away from the cider and I would happily drink it flat. The key component for me is that it's ICE cold.

 

[grimmy]

ive just done your original TC. 10 ltrs in all, bunged it all in the FC and it bubbled like mad for 4 days then just stopped? how long b4 I bottle it and can I not prime the bottles? oh shi....... ive just realised ive put twice as much sugar and yeast,tanin,malic acid,nutriant,and pectose . wonder what that's gona taste like

 

[chris006]

Im planning this for tomorrow. But I would like to have a strawberry flavour, would I be able to add something like ribena strawberry concentrate?

And would I put it in the same time as the apple juce or after fermentation?

 

[reidy125]

Hi all, I followed Scott's recipe except added 600g granulated sugar which in hindsight was maybe too much.

The other difference was I pitched too high as the AJ had been stored by the boiler by SWMBO! Pitched at 30 C. Since then been hovering between 20-24 C.

4 days after pitching it's already fermented to 1.000 from 1.058 so that was quicker than expected.

The only problem is it stinks when poured (when taking hydro reading). The only way I can describe it is like a fizzy bile smell!

Is this normal at this stage of the fermentation and is it normal to drop to 1.000 in such a short time?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[reidy125]

Left this for 15 days in primary. Cold crashed for the last 4 and it cleared up no end.

Taste test 10 days after bottling and it's pretty good but bone dry. Clear as a bell. Any suggestions for sweetening this up just a little? Will topping up the drinking glass with AJ or lemonade help or is there a better solution?

 

[reidy125]

It's exposure to too much oxygen that could cause your brew to go off. I've left brews in the primary for over 2 weeks and have heard of people leaving it up until 3 weeks before bottling/kegging. As long as your brew is still fermenting and you have a good seal/airlock/FV setup then oxygen won't get in.

From my relatively small amount experience, if you don't mind bottle priming individually, leave it in the primary for 2 weeks and crash cool it for 3 - 4 days which will help it clear, then bottle. I've never needed to rack it in secondary.

The TC I've just done I bottle primed and after only 1 week it was really clear and tasted really nice.

 

[acott]

I stuck 5ltrs of this on to give it a go, I'm not a huge Cider drinker but can definitely appreciate a cold bottle on a warm summers day ( not that we get many in Ireland ). Is there any particular cider you could pair this with?

Mine is bubbling away nicely now, the smell from the airlock is heavenly :party:

 

[Kinleycat]

Sampled batch 4 of the straight TC last night and this is by far the best so far.
It has a much deeper golden colour, is well carbonated and has a better tang due to the extra tannin (tea bags) added at the back sweetening stage with the sweetex.
My previous efforts have been good but a bit thin and lacking in bite, which the extra tannin has given this batch.