Turbo cider?

[Wraeccan]

Hi chaps / chappettes

I'm an absolute beginner and have been looking around here a bit. I've seen a lot of posts referring to 'turbo cider' but can't actually find any recipes for it.

Could any one direct me to some, and also let me know how it comes out?

Ta muchly...

 

[HLA91]

Turbo cider is simply supermarket Apple juice 4.5L with yeast in a dj. Once you have done the simple one then you can start adding stuff to it ie fruits. As for how it tastes I personally don't know as I have my first ever 2 in the dj now but overall opinion is that it is ok, not fab but ok. Lots of people add things so experiment.

 

[Wraeccan]

Seems simple enough. I'll be giving that a bash this weekend then.

 

[Telford_QPR]

I've also never tried a TC but want to give give it a go. One thing I'm not sure on - do you heat the juice before adding the yeast? If you do, Is it like ale, around 21C ?

Cheers

 

[HLA91]

The only time you need to heat the juice is when either it had preservatives in it or you wish to dissolve sugar into it. As long as the juice is at room temp when you put it in the dj you can simply pop in your yeast give the dj a wiggle to shake it up and fit the airlock and that's it all done.


If you buy supermarket value aj and the ingredients say from concentrate 100% then no preservatives are in it.

 

[Scribblor]

Presumably you can scale it up and use a 23l fermenter?

 

[donny_1972]

I always do 23 ltr batches now it makes more sense. No need to boil anything just add your cider yeast at 21c.

 

[Scribblor]

Excellent. I think a TC will be my next brew once I bottle my alcoholic sarsaparilla. Where's the best place to get the apple juice from? I notice you can get 8l for £5 at Asda, which would make it around £15 for a whole fermenter's worth.

 

[HLA91]

Whatever supermarket you wish really. It doesnt make a big difference just check the ingredients otherwise you will have to boil.

 

[bigred]

As I understand it, turbo cider is about speed and ease, not quality. What I don't understand is if you can buy 3 litres of cider at £3 - £3.50 what is the point of brewing it?

 

[HLA91]

Well if your talking cost wise plain TC is cheaper at a about £2.50 and also you can add bits too it to make it more interesting without raising the price ie look in the freezer for a handful of frozen fruit or grab some from the hedgerows and throw it in. Also I would rather drink TC than cider that is sold for £1 a litre with god knows what's in it and TC can be made just to your liking dry, medium, sweet, etc....

 

[bigred]

Saving 50p - £1 on 3 litres doesn't seem worth the effort once you allow for the occasional bad brew. If you are saying it is better quality, fair enough, sweetness can be changed with a spoonful of sugar.

 

[Wraeccan]

Right. Just started my first batch of 20 litres. Aside from equipment, it's cost me about £20. Sainsbury's have their slightly better AJ at 8 litres for £5 at the moment. Added 2tsp nutrient, 2tsp citric acid and 1 large tsp of wine tannin.

OG was 1052. Just have to sit and wait now. Used turbo yeast as that was recommended by the nice chap in the shop.

I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[bigred]

ok, I decided to try a small batch. Threw in 5ltr apple juice, 1 level tsp wine tannin, 1 heaped tsp youngs super yeast, 1 level tsp yeast nutrient. OG was 1044, then I noticed the temperature was 10 degrees C, bugger, forgot it was chilled in the supermarket. Got it up to 18 degrees C over a couple of hours but it's been 12 hours now and no real airlock activity, just a bubble every 5-10mins. Has my yeast froze to death? should I just throw another spoonful in? There is a lot of white bits doing a lava lamp effect though.

When I bottle it I should prime with 1.5tsp sugar to add gas and sweeten with Splenda, is that right? I assume the de-gassing I normally do before I add the finings should be skipped, or should I do it anyway to help it clear then rely on the priming to re-gas it?

 

[Moley]

Right. Just started my first batch of 20 litres. Aside from equipment, it's cost me about £20. Sainsbury's have their slightly better AJ at 8 litres for £5 at the moment. Added 2tsp nutrient, 2tsp citric acid and 1 large tsp of wine tannin.

OG was 1052. Just have to sit and wait now. Used turbo yeast as that was recommended by the nice chap in the shop.

I don't understand your maths, 8 litres for £5 = 20 litres for £12.50 plus 50p for the powders.

Nice chap in the shop is an idiot, turbo yeast isn't for making beer, wine or cider, it's for making a lot of rather harsh alcohol in a short space of time, which is then charcoal filtered and flavoured with spirit essences.

Any discussion of its other uses will be deleted :nono:

 

[nickmcmechan]

I don't understand your maths, 8 litres for £5 = 20 litres for £12.50 plus 50p for the powders.

I think he's referring to the Sainsbury's offer just now (but your right the math is still wrong).

2 x 4 pack of apple juice for £5, meaning if you buy the offer 3 times you'll spend £15 for 24 litres of apple juice.

Not a bad offer, I'd use 20 litres for TC and keep the remaining 4 litres for a WGJ + apple WOW?

Either that or go for the Tesco deal just now 3f2 on their cheapo apple juice, 21 litres for price 14 litres = £7.84!!!

 

[SamWise72]

My turbo is MUCH better than the cheap supermarket cider, and gets nicer the longer I leave it. Try adding a spoonful of sugar to supermarket cider if you like, but do it over the sink! Also, I make turbo with ginger, vanilla and cinammon, raspberry, cloves and all sorts. I would rather drink my turbo cider than most premium glass-bottle ciders, never mind the cheapies. The rep for low quality is not deserved; it's just a result of people not sweetening enough, or drinking too soon.

 

[bigred]

My TC has nearly stopped fermenting, do I degass and add finings or skip the degassing? I then add sugar to prime at 1.5 tsp per pint once it has cleared and sweeten with something like Splenda? what's a sensible amount to add to a pint if you like a dry cider? How long should I keep it after bottling to let the priming take full effect and how long before it is drinkable?

 

[evanvine]

The apple juice I always fall back on is “Rio Doro” from Aldi at 56p per litre (32p per pint).
Depends how dry you like your cider, it will ferment to total dryness, sucks your cheeks in, so I add 10 tablespoons of “Splenda” per 24 litres.
Personally I think 1.5 teaspoons of sugar per pint for conditioning is a little high, try 0.5 to 1.
You also need to add a bit of tannin, tea from 4 T-bags per 24 litres seems to work well + 1 campden tablet per 4.5 litres to prevent the “sherry” flavour.
Not all supermarket AJs fully clear, finings won’t help.
As to maturing, you need to think in months rather than weeks.
TC is drinkable immediately, after 4 weeks it’s good, after 8 weeks it’s bloody good and after 6 months it’s out of this world.

 

[bigred]

Thanks for that evanvine, I'm using Rio Doro as well as it happens. I forgot to add pectolase, will it clear? can it be added late?

I plan to bottle into 2 ltr PETs, has anyone had one of these explode?