Turbo cider tastes like beer!

Mr Benevolent

My TC fermented for three weeks and then I primed and decanted it into bottles about ten days ago. Took a sip yesterday and it tastes like appley beer, a bit like a high ABV Erdinger in fact. I used a 5l water bottle (cleaned) and no airlock, just the cap screwed on loosely

The recipe was:

4L Tesco AJ from concentrate
454g honey
1 cup of very strong tea
Juice of 1 lemon
1 packet Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast

ABV is now about 9%. It's drinkable (actually not bad at all) but doesn't really taste like cider! Have I done anything wrong?

guildofevil

Is it still cloudy by any chance? The fact that you think it tastes like Edringer leads me to think that you might be referring to the taste of yeast in suspension.

BeerNut

Apple juice from concentrate probably isn't a great idea -- a lot of the appliness has likely been filtered out. But leave it to sit a few months and see how it turns out.

Mr Benevolent

Is it still cloudy by any chance? The fact that you think it tastes like Edringer leads me to think that you might be referring to the taste of yeast in suspension.

Yep, it's still cloudy and there's a bit of yeast in the bottom of each bottle. Think I'll buy some coffee filters.

BeerNut wrote: »

Apple juice from concentrate probably isn't a great idea -- a lot of the appliness has likely been filtered out. But leave it to sit a few months and see how it turns out.

It's been done before, and from my research it seems to work better for TC. I'll filter again and leave it for another month. Have turbowine brewing anyway in the interim which nearly burst last week. Lucky I found it in time.

stimpson

I've done plenty of brews with concentrated AJ. Malic acid is the secret - lemon juice makes it taste too citrusy - 1 tsp per gallon (use measuring spoons).

The latest batch is very drinkable, although at 10% you cant drink *that* much of it

Mr Benevolent

stimpson wrote: »

I've done plenty of brews with concentrated AJ. Malic acid is the secret - lemon juice makes it taste too citrusy - 1 tsp per gallon (use measuring spoons).

The latest batch is very drinkable, although at 10% you cant drink *that* much of it

Two people have tasted it now and both say it tastes like cider. Malic acid will be going into the next batch though.

It's amazing how easy brewing is. 5l of red grape juice, 600g super and a sachet of champagne yeast has stopped fermenting after three weeks and is actually starting to taste like wine. Incredible!

howamidifferent

stimpson wrote: »

I've done plenty of brews with concentrated AJ. Malic acid is the secret - lemon juice makes it taste too citrusy - 1 tsp per gallon (use measuring spoons).

The latest batch is very drinkable, although at 10% you cant drink *that* much of it

Is the Malic acid added during fermentation or at the bottling stage?
Or does it matter?

howamidifferent

howamidifferent wrote: »

Is the Malic acid added during fermentation or at the bottling stage?
Or does it matter?

Anyone know the answer to this please?

stimpson

Doh sorry. I added it at fermentation stage.

howamidifferent

So I have 28 litres on the go since the 24th/25th Jan. Would it be too late to add some at this point if I was to leave it in the bucket for 2 to 3 weeks total?

stimpson

I'd lob some in. It's not going to ferment so you shouldn't need to adjust your fermentation time. If you have already added lemon juice I wouldn't put a huge amount in.

howamidifferent

stimpson wrote: »

I'd lob some in. It's not going to ferment so you shouldn't need to adjust your fermentation time. If you have already added lemon juice I wouldn't put a huge amount in.

Cheers for the info...I hadn't added any lemon juice so will try some malic acid later. Will update the thread with results come drinking time.

oceanman

Confab wrote: »

Two people have tasted it now and both say it tastes like cider. Malic acid will be going into the next batch though.

It's amazing how easy brewing is. 5l of red grape juice, 600g super and a sachet of champagne yeast has stopped fermenting after three weeks and is actually starting to taste like wine. Incredible!

can i ask is that just standard red grape juice that you can buy in the shop, or special juice for wine making?..... total newbe here.

sharingan

Confab wrote: »

It's amazing how easy brewing is. 5l of red grape juice, 600g super and a sachet of champagne yeast has stopped fermenting after three weeks and is actually starting to taste like wine. Incredible!

Thats because it basically *is* wine.

If you have kept the proportion of red wine to other fermentables high then it is a real wine.

Its probably more real than the bottles of lambrini that the students seem to like.

It is easy to get clarity - you just wait, and rack and rack some more if you need to. And if you put good ingredients in the first place it will taste good. Making simple country wines is the easiest decent brews you will make. Cheap as hell, and very drinkable. Pro-tip: ginger is amazing in brews.

howamidifferent

howamidifferent wrote: »

Cheers for the info...I hadn't added any lemon juice so will try some malic acid later. Will update the thread with results come drinking time.

Ok, I added 5 level teaspoons of malic acid last night and gave it a stir trying to minimize exposure to the air by moving the lid only just enough to get the paddle in. Fizzed up like mad, and the airlock went mad for the next few hours with CO2 escaping. I'm hoping that will have displaced any oxygen that might have gotten in. I'll give it another 2 weeks or so before I bottle it.