Turbo Cider - a question or 2

giftgrub

23 Litres in the cupboard for a week now. GAGGING for it. going to move a few of the smaller bottles into the fridge for another week.

My big problem now is that everyone keeps asking for some of it...none for myself!!

flanaganred

You were spot on was a bit rough after 10 days left it for another few days and the difference is amazing,great carbonation as well delighted with the first batch

Khannie

loyatemu wrote: »

Khannie - how well did your fruit cider clear in the end?

Mines been a week in secondary now and its still looking very murky despite adding pectolase.

Mine is always murky enough, but I'm happy with that.

The pectolase wont clear it if you used the cloudy apple juice as your base. I've added pectolase to a few of mine and found it made a small difference but definitely not enough to clear it out fully.

loyatemu

Khannie wrote: »

Mine is always murky enough, but I'm happy with that.

The pectolase wont clear it if you used the cloudy apple juice as your base. I've added pectolase to a few of mine and found it made a small difference but definitely not enough to clear it out fully.

I've had reasonable results with pectolase in home-pressed cider before, think its the red fruits adding the extra murk. anyway, bottled up yesterday - looking forward to trying it.

tommiet

Khannie, Have you every used lactose to sweeten and add body to the cider....

Khannie

tommiet wrote: »

Khannie, Have you every used lactose to sweeten and add body to the cider....

I never have and never would. Lactose adds a heap of calories.

303Techno

Got another 22l on the go today, got some pectolase and a syphon too. Hopefully makes a bit of a difference.

Conmaicne Mara

Moving house soon, can't put another batch on until we've that job done. Soon as, there'll be another 40 litres bubbling away :cool:

303Techno

So going to be adding some pectolase today to try clear it a bit. Although it started 2 days ago, hoping it'll still work well.

Ronan|Raven

This thread provided me with the inspiration to go and try this.

I have two 4.5L batches on at the moment
I followed some of your tips and tricks so it will be interesting to see how it turns out. I made one with all cloudy apple juice and one batch with apple and grape...

I have to admit I was unprepared for the intensity of the initial fermentation, it is happily fizzing away and bubbling like crazy.

I did wonder at first why the water in my airlock was uneven and more to one side but I assume this is from the pressure of the C02.

I did of course forget to take a gravity reading of it before starting... ho hum will be more of a surprise I suppose.

Khannie

Ronan|Raven wrote: »

apple and grape

Was half thinking of doing this myself for the tannins. Did you use red or green grape juice?

Ronan|Raven

I used red grape, I have no idea how it will turn out but thought it could possibly taste nice!

It is my first attempt at brewing anything in many years so it is still very much a case of experimentation.

Khannie

Interested to hear how it goes.

blueshed

just bottled a 22lt brew that turned out at 13%, I added 1kg of sugar plus 2 jars of honey. also bottled a 5lt brew of apple/pear/raspberry cider, Lidl had this juice on special a few weeks back. only thing is I forgot to put any sweetner into the botls of this brew.

Ronan|Raven

A question for people much wiser than I...

I started the two batches at around 7pm on Monday evening, this morning very little airlock activity or even fizzing for that matter. Could it have finished already?

I do have a warm apartment which unfortunately doesn't cool down very well.

I was going to put in the remaining 500ml of juice into both containers later but not sure what to do now..

BeerNut

Finished, no. Done most of the primary fermentation, yes possibly.

At any stage if you add more fermentables the fermentation will kick off again, so you can go ahead and add your juice.

Ronan|Raven

Thankyou BeerNut

Ronan|Raven

Added the remaining 500ML to both and they are happily bubbling away again..

stenan

New to this, just got a few questions;

I'm going to use a 5 liter water bottle from aldi and cloudy apple juice from aldi. So I'm going to boil small handful of raisins and 3 tea bags together. Add this, yeast and the apple juice into the bottle. Can you add to much yeast?? And where is the best place to buy the yeast.thehomebrewcompany charge 5 euro for delivery?

Then close it up with some type of airlock. Leave for a 1 or 2 weeks?

Right can I add the sugar, sweeteners and extra juice into the same container after the week or do I need to siphon it off into something else for some reason?

Then bottle and leave for another week.

Right how does that sound. Is that all right?

Oh yea, is the primary batch the fermentation process and secondary batch when you adding the sugar and sweeteners?? Newbie!!!!

Thanks for any help

BeerNut

stenan wrote: »

Can you add to much yeast?

Not really. One sachet per batch is fine, up to 30L or so.

stenan wrote: »

thehomebrewcompany charge 5 euro for delivery?

E-mail them and ask if they'll post it.

stenan wrote: »

Then close it up with some type of airlock.

Even just a bit of tin foil on the top to keep flies and dust out would be fine.

stenan wrote: »

Leave for a 1 or 2 weeks?

At least two. And make sure the gravity has stabilised before you bottle.

stenan wrote: »

can I add the sugar, sweeteners and extra juice into the same container after the week or do I need to siphon it off into something else for some reason?

I don't see the point of adding extra juice during the process: put it all in at the start. If you want the cider to be fizzy, add a little sugar at the bottling stage. Half a teaspoon full per 500ml bottle will do it. There's no reason to siphon it into another vessel.

stenan wrote: »

Then bottle and leave for another week.

At least two, and as many as you stand. I found my ciders only really started getting good after three months in the bottle.

stenan wrote: »

is the primary batch the fermentation process and secondary batch when you adding the sugar and sweeteners?

Secondary fermentation is when you move it to another vessel to mature. It's not a necessary part of the process.

stenan

Thanks very much BeerNut.

stenan

BeerNut wrote: »

Not really. One sachet per batch is fine, up to 30L or so.

E-mail them and ask if they'll post it.

Even just a bit of tin foil on the top to keep flies and dust out would be fine.

At least two. And make sure the gravity has stabilised before you bottle.

I don't see the point of adding extra juice during the process: put it all in at the start. If you want the cider to be fizzy, add a little sugar at the bottling stage. Half a teaspoon full per 500ml bottle will do it. There's no reason to siphon it into another vessel.

At least two, and as many as you stand. I found my ciders only really started getting good after three months in the bottle.

Secondary fermentation is when you move it to another vessel to mature. It's not a necessary part of the process.

Thanks again BeerNut. Just another question! Would this yeast below be ok?

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Youngs-Super-Wine-Yeast-Compound-60g-Homebrew-/170784708679?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Food_SM&hash=item27c38fd847

Oh and is there any particular temperature that the bottles need to be left in after there bottled or can they go straight to the shed? I'm going to ferment within the house as I heard you need 12degrees

BeerNut

stenan wrote: »

Would this yeast below be ok?

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Youngs-Super-Wine-Yeast-Compound-60g-Homebrew-/170784708679?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Food_SM&hash=item27c38fd847

Sachets are easier to manage, but I guess that stuff would work. Presumably you need to measure out the amount you need.

stenan wrote: »

Oh and is there any particular temperature that the bottles need to be left in after there bottled

Bottle conditioning is just fermentation, so leave them at room temperature.

stenan wrote: »

I'm going to ferment within the house as I heard you need 12degrees

Ordinary room temperature is fine.

303Techno

I bottled today after 15 days on primary syphoned many times as pectolase didn't clear much but hoping for very little sediment this time Wondering though, can I drink this now? Had a glass there I'm fine with drinking it, it's just needing another 4 weeks of hot/chilled for taste or the process or what? Also can there be any use of plums, plum tree out my back is getting a good few this year, even a wine or something new to this homebrewing but much better than off license.

BeerNut

303Techno wrote: »

Wondering though, can I drink this now? Had a glass there I'm fine with drinking it,

Answered your own question It'll get better, but if you're happy drinking it, drink it!

303Techno wrote: »

can there be any use of plums

Like any fruit they're mostly just sugar and water, so are good for turning into alcohol. Might be interesting to add to a cider but I'm sure there's lots you can do with them. Google around.

Ronan|Raven

Just bottled my apple only batch, had a bottle there and it tastes fine, not as dry as I was expecting / hoping ( I like dry cider..)

I bottled some with a bit of sugar and some with apple juice and sweetener.. I took a reading with hydrometer before bottling and it was down to around 0.990.

I forgot as stated previously to take a SG so I dont know the percentage.

I have the remaining batch of apple/ red grape ready tomorrow for bottling.

303Techno

Still looking for plum options hmm....

Syphoning few times, tap etc has helped but not cleared entirely. Anyone else add pectolase wondering if people feel it makes much difference? Less added the better for me.

Ronan|Raven

Khannie wrote: »

Interested to hear how it goes.

I bottled the grape / apple TC today, upon having a swift taste test it is much nicer than the apple only mix I made. Obviously needs some weeks in the bottle to improve.

loyatemu

303Techno wrote: »

Still looking for plum options hmm....

Syphoning few times, tap etc has helped but not cleared entirely. Anyone else add pectolase wondering if people feel it makes much difference? Less added the better for me.

I've used pectolase when making cider from scratch (ie pressing my own apples) and it cleared pretty effectively.

Also used it for a batch of Khannie's mixed fruit cider and its still a bit murky (though a lot less so than when I bottled) - possibly the solids in the mixed fruits are less susceptible to it than apple pectin.

303Techno

So 22l of cider has been 2 weeks warm 2 weeks cold after bottling in a few days (2), hoping to properly enjoy on Saturday.

Have used 5l bottles this time, found less collection of sediment although I syphoned a number of times, added pectolase a bit late at like 5 days primary. But also some 1l bottles for early/late tasting. Like to see the difference over a few weeks but it's difficult to keep some.

Going to be trying this plum wine recipe, well a combination if it interests anyone hope link sharing is okay:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Plum-Wine/

Will report back.

Also, wondering now as I've done 2 batches and slowly adding more things to improve. So far I use Yeast/Campden Tables/Pectolase/Cologran/Large Cup of Raisins Chopped/4 Tea Bags 500ml/22l Apple/2l Prime.
Is there anyway I could go about improving things more? Like these yeast nutrients? Looking forward to seeing if the pectolase added earlier helps. Wondering if I should start adding some sugar at start or bottle.

Edit: I couldn't wait and had to try one of my saved sample litre bottles. There isn't as much fizz but I like this, makes it easy to get down you. Beautiful, no alcohol smell this time which I'm not sure if is due to syphon or pectolase or better priming. Going to have to have my other litre now, highly recommend these 5l bottles though, easy to carry for any festival goers. I've gotten much better results with syphoning a few times which just takes a bit of extra effort, sieving and pectolase. Recommend to anyone new to this as I am.

Also, anyone ever add caffeine powder itself to their batches? I wouldn't mind making a more buckfast like wine and could easily throw in a tea spoon or two.