Brewnight: Strawberry and Lime TC

[Vinotinto]

Tried one of mine tonight and damn... it's flat as a witches tit as well.

I have a theory though.. this had happened a couple of times lately where I have left the brew in the primary after it's finished fermenting for longer than I usually do.

I'm only talking about an extra 10 days or so, but it's the difference between it being cloudy, and clear, when bottling.

My theory is that it's yeasties trapped in the cloudy one that kick off a nice 2nd ferment to make a fizzy brew.

Looking back at my previous attempts, this stacks up.

Just to prove it I'm gonna stick on exactly the same recipe but bottle as soon as it hits SG 1.000

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+1 on this. I have only made 3 TCs . The first was fine, the next two were both left longer and was reasonably clear in dj when bottled. Both seem to have suffered the same 'mammarial' experience that you describe!

I know I mentioned it elsewhere but some of the youtube vids clearly refer to this being an issue. My second batch only went to 1.002 so at that late stage maybe a few grains of yeast with the priming may help?

 

[Roddy]

Hmm... I'll probably avoid adding yeast (even a little) at priming stage, my fear (haha) is that it might do the trick with the fizzy, but leave a yeasty aftertaste/residue. That be total bobbins but if a theory is worth making up, then I'm sticking to it 😂

Will try and get another one on before the weekend to test it out !

Edit..
Looking back at the cherry one I did before this one, and same symptoms. The one before cherry was rhubarb and that was slightly over fizzed, but bottled 8 days after the start.

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[pvt_ak]

Hmm... I'll probably avoid adding yeast (even a little) at priming stage, my fear (haha) is that it might do the trick with the fizzy, but leave a yeasty aftertaste/residue. That be total bobbins but if a theory is worth making up, then I'm sticking to it [emoji23]

Will try and get another one on before the weekend to test it out !

Edit..
Looking back at the cherry one I did before this one, and same symptoms. The one before cherry was rhubarb and that was slightly over fizzed, but bottled 8 days after the start.

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Must give that Rhubarb and Ginger 5 star baby a go at some point. Morrisons keep letting me down.


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[Vinotinto]

The only other consistent difference between the batches was that I used your recommended Cider yeast with sugar from the ebay supplier

 

[Roddy]

Hmm... I've used the same yeast for the last 6 doz batches (cider yeast with sweetener).. hope it's not dodgy yeast !

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[Vinotinto]

I think after 6 DOZEN batches you may have spotted that by now :) . Anyhow, it ferments ok. Just wondered if it bombed completely out and left nothing to carbonate although I have the slightest hint of fizz. May leave the last lot another couple of weeks in the warm.

 

[pvt_ak]

For the last batch I made I went back to the tried and tested 1 teaspoon of sugar straight into each bottle and it's carbed up a beaut !

Bit of a ball ache but with a funnel and good rhythm not too bad.


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[Flixonbrews]

Can't find the Strawberry one anywhere. Has anyone tried it with the Raspberry?

Yup, it came out at 7.5% and cabbages anyone that even takes a sniff.

Despite being heterosexual, I tried to get off with my 6 foot 4, 20 stone mate and had to be pulled off him by the belt in my jeans.

Make sure you back sweeten it with Splenda before you bottle it, otherwise it's too sour.

 

[Deltabrew]

+1 on this. I have only made 3 TCs . The first was fine, the next two were both left longer and was reasonably clear in dj when bottled. Both seem to have suffered the same 'mammarial' experience that you describe!

I know I mentioned it elsewhere but some of the youtube vids clearly refer to this being an issue. My second batch only went to 1.002 so at that late stage maybe a few grains of yeast with the priming may help?

Do you have any links to the particular vids? I had a look, but couldn't find any talking about this problem.

My solution has been to leave it just two weeks, fermenting had only just stopped at 998, but it was still cloudy. Batch primed with 200g sugar (dissolved in a pan of hot apple juice) in 25l and bottled. There is a lot of settlement in the bottle, but it tastes great and has fizz.

 

[private4587]

Do you have any links to the particular vids? I had a look, but couldn't find any talking about this problem.

My solution has been to leave it just two weeks, fermenting had only just stopped at 998, but it was still cloudy. Batch primed with 200g sugar (dissolved in a pan of hot apple juice) in 25l and bottled. There is a lot of settlement in the bottle, but it tastes great and has fizz.

My question here is that my two TC's on the go are just about finished in the fermenter. I am away on hols for two weeks and was wondering if it would be Ok to leave in the fermenter until i return, and would i still be able to batch prime then.

 

[Deltabrew]

My question here is that my two TC's on the go are just about finished in the fermenter. I am away on hols for two weeks and was wondering if it would be Ok to leave in the fermenter until i return, and would i still be able to batch prime then.

If you want fizz you need to bottle now, if you leave it two weeks it will clear, but will likely be flat even after adding sugar.

 

[Deltabrew]

Have you had any more thoughts on why TC can't be resuscitated by sugar after a certain time Roddy? Giving a little bit of thought I think it has to be something in either the yeast with sweetener in it or the apple juice....
Any thoughts?

 

[MattH1973]

just stumbled across this debate. FWIW (and I'm an interested novice only) I like the theory that bottling when cloudy means more yeast is present to chew through the priming sugar.

I'm currently considering how to condition the 25 litre batch of cider from apples that I kicked off at the weekend. Bottle conditioning worked well for me last year but I might leave 5 litres or so in a demijohn all winter and see what happens when I bottle. I have always worried about oxidation when leaving in a demijohn long term as there presumably wouldn't be a layer of CO2 sitting above the cider. Maybe I'll add a bit of sugar or more juice to that batch to trigger just a bit more fermentation.......

 

[needmorstuf]

just like to confirm everyones findings.. I had a similar failur eof priming with some prosecco I left to clear too much, i did a further batch and left it to clear about 50% of the way down the DJ (the bottom half of the DJ was a lot hazier than the top half) and it primed just fine.

 

[Deltabrew]

just stumbled across this debate. FWIW (and I'm an interested novice only) I like the theory that bottling when cloudy means more yeast is present to chew through the priming sugar.

I'm currently considering how to condition the 25 litre batch of cider from apples that I kicked off at the weekend. Bottle conditioning worked well for me last year but I might leave 5 litres or so in a demijohn all winter and see what happens when I bottle. I have always worried about oxidation when leaving in a demijohn long term as there presumably wouldn't be a layer of CO2 sitting above the cider. Maybe I'll add a bit of sugar or more juice to that batch to trigger just a bit more fermentation.......

I once left some in a bucket for too long, it grew a gossamer thin layer of brittle white stuff over the top

 

[Deltabrew]

It seems to be a very fine balancing act, you've got to catch it just at that right point and bottle it (with just the right amount of or without sugar). I got it bang on with the last TC I made and hoping to do it again. It had settlement in the bottle of course, but that was the only side effect.
I've been both sides of this point too with flat cider and bottle bombs

 

[MattH1973]

as long as you check fermentation has completed with a hydrometer pre bottling I would hope that bombs can be avoided. My understanding is that if there's only a tsp of sugar for the yeast to chew through then it doesn't matter how strong the yeast is - it will simply finish the sugar before creating a bomb.....

I'm leaning toward just a week in secondary and then bottling. That will hopefully limit the sediment and I will still get a fizz / preservative. The Christmas turbo cider I made last October seems to have preserved fine over the last year, slight fizz - mellowing nicely.

 

[Deltabrew]

as long as you check fermentation has completed with a hydrometer pre bottling I would hope that bombs can be avoided. My understanding is that if there's only a tsp of sugar for the yeast to chew through then it doesn't matter how strong the yeast is - it will simply finish the sugar before creating a bomb.....

I'm leaning toward just a week in secondary and then bottling. That will hopefully limit the sediment and I will still get a fizz / preservative. The Christmas turbo cider I made last October seems to have preserved fine over the last year, slight fizz - mellowing nicely.

Everything must be the same for a consistent result, temperature included and that is where I'm finding it a bit difficult as I don't have much to control that. Back in Summer it went fine just sat on the kitchen floor - 2 weeks and bottled IIRC, but obviously now the temp is much lower so it's taking longer. I've currently got all my brews sat on the heated floor in the bathroom to bring fermentation back to a suitable level.

To go back to what we are discussing though and that is there seems to be a point of no return where adding sugar in just doesn't create fizz any longer.

 

[Roddy]

Yeh I've not done too much to alter the priming process apart from adding a little more sugar on occasion

I'll generally try and prime/bottle before it starts to clear too much now. There has to be truth in the opinion that cloudy = yeasties [emoji3]

Bottling my rhubarb and ginger TC tonight, 23L with 350g sugar dissolved in a cup of warm water

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[Graz]

Should have read this through to the end regarding priming. I bottled mine up last night, it had been 17 days in the DJ and getting quite clear. As I'd only done a gallon I bottle primed it by adding about 8-9ml of Lowicz to each 500ml bottle. Hoping it will carb up but won't know until I try it. Oh well, I'm not averse to a still cider anyway. Also did a straight turbo cider to which I added two Cooper's carb drops to each bottle so will be interesting to see how that compares.

Both tasted good, quite sharp as I used a CML cider yeast so no sweetener. May add a little Lowicz or sugar syrup when serving it if it's a bit too tangy.

I do enjoy doing these small batches of stuff alongside the beer. Cheap and fun to experiment with :nod: