Cheeky Vimto

[Chris]

Hi folks,

I'm going to give this a try tomorrow. It'll be a 5L batch using Asda AJ & Vimto. I'll use S-04 yeast as most of you are using it.

I'm a little confused by this potassium sorbate stuff.

A: Does it stop the fermentation process?
B: What does adding campden tablets achieve?
C: Can I just add some of the S-04 yeast as opposed to a fill sachet?
D: Roughly how long in the FV, then how long till it can be drunk?

I don't want it acidy like TC, but fruity with a kick, I also don't want to experience bottle bombs either :thumb: .

Hope you guys can answer my few questions :party: .

 

[Chris]

After reading all the rave reviews i finally got a 5 Ltr on the go.

I thought i had a sachet of cider yeast but i couldnt find it so had to use all purpose white, we'll see how it comes out!!

725ml vimto boiled
150grm sugar
4ltrs apple juice
1 tsp nutrient
youngs all purpose cheapy yeast.

Its going like the clappers. The house smelt nice as well during the boiling process.

Can someone please assist me with what the right amount of Vimto would be for a 5L batch. CptnCrackoff has used the above to 4L of AJ, yet muddydisco says otherwise:

If your looking at scaling down I used 145ml of vimto per litre of apple juice

What should I use??

I've got the lot ready to go, as soon as someone replies I'm off :lol: . :thumb: . Thanks.

 

[Muddydisco]

Chris if your bottling I'd go without the potassuim as this will stop the Fermentation and you will need it to add some sparkle in the bottles.

I'd also Leave out any sugar and just go with the aj and vimto

If you work out the Ratio's 145ml per liter is 725ml of vimto in 5 ltr or near enough!

You can add some of a packet of yeast just make sure It's well Aerated

How long depends on temps and conditions Mostly a week in Fv and 2-3 weeks for drinking

 

[Turbotez]

defo 725 to 4liters of apple, i done one today and had a quick sample proir to yeasting etc and there wasnt a maasive taste of vimto at all.

P.s. mine is taking a while to start :wha:

 

[Chris]

Thanks MD & Turbotez :thumb: . Using a 5L Tesco water jug I wanted to make sure there was enough space for any fizz to happen. I ended up just using 3.5L as AJ, just boiling a little more Vimto now to add.

Trial & error on the 1st batch though. :mrgreen:

 

[snail59]

Trial & error on the 1st batch though. :mrgreen:

It's taken me 4 attempts :rofl: but I now think ive got my personel version of this right for my taste :thumb: and thats what you need to do, tweek the original slightly to your own personal taste. :party:

Enjoy its a cracker. :

 

[Turbotez]

help :pray:

I fired some of this yesterday but i get the feeling i havent boiled the vimto for long enough, i boiled it for about 15mins ish.
It still has not started nearly 24hrs after but there seems to be heavy sediment on the bottom :wha:

shall i just poor it down the drain :hmm:

 

[Muddydisco]

How long did you boil for and what temp is it at?

 

[Turbotez]

i boiled it for about 15mins, but it was starting to reduce down quite a bit so turned it off and let it cool.

I cant see it being the temp where it is now cause 3 other gallons are bubbling away loverly right next to it.

I didnt add any sugar but there should be plenty in the apple juice an vimto anyway shouldnt there :wha:

The way everything has sunk to the bottom makes me guess that its and epic fail but as its my first attempt, lessons have been learnt and im gonna get a litre of vimto today from asda and 4 more litres of apple and boil the vimto for a good 30mins i think :ugeek:

 

[corby_brewer]

Terry, im having the same problem with a batch of strawberry ribena wine which I started on Saturday. There still isn’t any activity in the airlock but quite a bit of sediment on the bottom of the DJ. Now I know it’s not the yeast which is causing the problem as I started a cherry wine on the same day and that’s fermenting away nicely. I also boiled the ribena for 15 minutes to drive of any preservatives.

 

[Turbotez]

well, first batch has gone down the drain today as nothing was happening :cry:

Batch 2 is on the go now tho :party: :thumb:

I boiled the life out the vimto for 25mins (thats 25mins from the start of boiling, not from when i turned it all on) and it reduced it down from 1litre to 500mls!!!!

only been on half hour now so nothing happening yet.

Question tho, for calculating the sugar content of the vimto, should i take it that the sugar from a litres worth of vimto (330g) or should i halve it??

 

[snail59]

Try simmering not a rapid rolling boil. It may be you have turned the vimto into a syrup and it could have just sunk through the apple juice and not mixed. It could then be possable the yeast has sunk and got trapped in the syrup. This is all speculation and could all be a big load of bollox. It is based on the fact I boiled some ribena to sweetern a ribena wine it turned to syrup and just sank to the bottom of the DJ rather than mixing with the wine.

 

[Turbotez]

umm, thats an interesting theroy! :hmm:

I did however use a litre of apple juice to cool the Vimto and stired that in well and also shook the hell out if it after adding yeasts etc.

Its been in the DJ for 2 and half hours now, and it seems to be sucking in air rather than expelling CO2's :? :? :? :?

Looks like things have sunk to the bottom again but not sure, im just going to leave well alone

EDIT:

Just had a butchers, had a sediment in the bottom and also, the DJ was warmer than all the other ones in the same place :wha: :? :wha: :?

 

[Moley]

well, first batch has gone down the drain today as nothing was happening :cry:

I really cannot comprehend some people's urgency to throw perfectly good ingredients down the sink :shock:

If it doesn't seem to be doing anything after 24hrs, warm it up and pitch some more yeast.
If it still doesn't seem to be doing anything after 48hrs, pitch some more.
If it still doesn't seem to be doing anything after 72hrs try a starter bottle.


Oh, and you've concentrated the syrup but still got the original sugar.

 

[Chris]

The above last few posts are pretty interesting.

24hrs on & mine hasn't done a thing. The room it was in hasn't gone higher than 15oC since last night, so that's too cold, I whacked the heating on & put it by a radiator with a bit more yeast just to see if it kick starts it.

I'll use Moley's technique above rather than just sling it down the sink. Moley, what's a starter bottle? :thumb:

I've just been out to get a bit more fruit juice incase this ends up a disaster. I got 2L of AJ & 2L of exotic fruit juice. The ingredients for the AJ is simple:

Ingredients - Pure AJ from concentrate.

Ingredients from the other exotic fruit juice is:

Water, fruit juices from concentrate (32%) (orange, pineapple, passion fruit, apple, lemon, lime), sugar, fruit purees (3%) (apricot, guava, banana, mango), citric acid, natural flavourings, colours (beta-carotene).

Would the above qualify for making some kind of alcoholic fruit drink? If so, is there anything that should / shouldnt be added.

Thanks :wha:

 

[Turbotez]

well, first batch has gone down the drain today as nothing was happening :cry:

I really cannot comprehend some people's urgency to throw perfectly good ingredients down the sink :shock:

If it doesn't seem to be doing anything after 24hrs, warm it up and pitch some more yeast.
If it still doesn't seem to be doing anything after 48hrs, pitch some more.
If it still doesn't seem to be doing anything after 72hrs try a starter bottle.


Oh, and you've concentrated the syrup but still got the original sugar.

I wasnt happy with it tbh, i dont think i got rid of the preservatives.

Im going to give this one a better shot.

What gets me though is how it seems to be sucking air in rather than trying to get rid of it, what could this be or what could be the cause? :wha:

Oh and as above, whats a starter bottle?

 

[Muddydisco]

Sucking in air could only be the temp inside the Dj has got colder than when you fitted the Airlock causing the air inside to become under less pressure hence the outside air pressure is pushing the water towards the inside of the Dj

Starter bottle is a small sample of the Must with a fresh yeast added to this is this goes then slowly add a bit more to it each day and make sure it still ferments then chuck it into the Full Dj.

I too Think you should of given it longer. :cry:

 

[snail59]

What gets me though is how it seems to be sucking air in rather than trying to get rid of it, what could this be or what could be the cause? :wha:

Its too warm. The contents of the DJ are cooling the pressure in the DJ is dropping compared to the outside this is creating a vaccume and is drawing air in to fill the void. Either that or as the contents cools it contracts and draws air in to replace the volume lost by the contraction its physics and im not that good at physics but its something like that. :hmm: :whistle:

Ive done 4 Vimtos now and all have started within 4 hours of pitching the yeast :wha:

Yes Moley I know im not good at spellin and puntuation ethier. cant see what me english granma has to with owt either :rofl:

 

[Moley]

I'll use Moley's technique above rather than just sling it down the sink. Moley, what's a starter bottle?

I thought that could be a useful thread as a stand-alone, so here it is.


Snail: Your physics sounds right to me, and give my regards to your English granma :

 

[Turbotez]

ummm, the contents could have been cooling as the DJ did feel warm earlier but now feels about the same as the rest. Ill check on it in a mo i think and then leave it till morning and see how it is.

Thanks Moley for writing up that thread, will give that a shot if nothing is happening by Friday afternoon
:thumb: