christmas and new year cider ?

[mrcwcb]

Has anyone got a tried and tested recipe for this would love to get some going by the.weekend
:

or even a wow but could to help me n.what equipment i would need for the wow

 

[fbsf]

At it's most basic, two 5-litre spring water bottles, a balloon, a syphon tube, 5 litres of apple juice and some yeast (I use a full teaspoon of Young's super Wine yeast compound - £2 a tub from Wilkinsons).

Better results will be got from using a glass demijohn and airlock instead of the water bottle and balloon, but the process is much the same.

As you are a little short on time, I'm not going to suggest a full matured turbo cider with Malic Acid and Tannin, and am just going for a standard TC.

Basically, clean and sanitise the bottle/demijohn (search the forum for details), add 4 out of the 5 litres of juice, add the yeast and shake the bottle/demijohn gently to distribute the yeast. If using the cheap equipment, put two pin holes in the balloon and stretch over the lid of the water and secure using rubber bands. The CO2 produced by the yeast stretches the balloon, opening up the pinhole and letting out the gas before deflating and re-sealing.

Keep it somewhere around 20 degrees C. Might be an idea to put it in an old washing up bowl, in case it goes a bit volcanic...

After about 4 days, top up with the other carton of juice, re-fit the airlock / balloon and leave somewhere 20C-ish. At this stage, there is again the risk of volcanicity, so don't put it on the best carpet...

Once the bubbles subside (or the balloon deflates) - normally after about two weeks - use the syphon tube to transfer it to the other container (again, cleaned and sanitised) to get it off the "trub" (the spent yeast) and leave it alone for another two weeks.

At this point, you can bottle it - either in clean & sanitised (noticing a pattern here?) pressure PET bottles (500ml Coke or similar are fine) or glass bottles with caps (where you will need a crown capper tool). Add about half a flat teaspoon of normal sugar to each bottle before syphoning the cider onto it - this will be eaten by the yeast and make the cider fizzy.

Leave it for another 2 weeks somewhere warm, and you should have a reasonable cider for not a lot of cash.

 

[graysalchemy]

If you do it now and leave it till Christmas it will have about a month in the bottle which will be better than just 2 weeks.

Personally I would add a cup of extremely stong black tea for the tannin or a tsp of grape tannin. If you don't do this it will be increadibly insipid and you will wonder why you bothered.

You could also try spicing it with 1 clove (whole) 1" of cinamon stick and 5-6 green cardomans crushed. If you add these after fermentation to the demi John for about a week then bottle it will add a nice bit of christmas cheer to it. However I would say have a taste of it daily to see have strong the taste is you are better IMHO to have just a subtle taste and not a full on spiced flavour. Once you reach your desired flavour take it off the spices and bottle.

:thumb:

 

[fbsf]

Good point GA - I had forgotten that the tannin works without the need for maturation.

I must get around to doing a spiced cider at some point...

 

[mrcwcb]

Thanks guys for the input.

Gray do the spices need cooked or bashed up and put in a teabag or just thrown in after the first week and left.

thanks

 

[graysalchemy]

You could make a tea bag and quickly sterilize them in a cup of boiling water before you drop them in.

The trick is to sample regularly :whistle: to see how spiced it is as there is nothing worse than over spiced cider. Mind you it makes a good cider to use in a pork casserole. failing that just use plain cider and the formentioned spices, some sage and a bayleaf.

Guess what i am cooking tommorow.

 

[rpc1]

Following the above recipe and time scale would you need to add pectin at all or is there no point?

Also would it be better leaving the cider bottled for a month or only 2 weeks and having a extra to weeks in the secondary fv.

 

[graysalchemy]

I would add pectin as it will help it clear. Using the cocrete floor trick after fermentation you will probably be ably to bottle within 3 weeks if not 2. :thumb:

 

[rpc1]

About to put demi johns of tc using the above method myself!
Just sterilising the jars as we speak :thumb:

Will keep my results posted!

 

[Will12283]

Got my TC going today was thinking of maybe adding spices ( stuff you can get in any supermarket ready for Christmas) in after fermentation. Leave it for a few days just to get a hint in there and bottle ready for Christmas. Will be interesting to see if its any good by then and a nice excuse to have a few over the festive season.

 

[rpc1]

I would add pectin as it will help it clear. Using the cocrete floor trick after fermentation you will probably be ably to bottle within 3 weeks if not 2. :thumb:

Sorry I didn't mean how quick could you bottle,I was wondering if you only had a month before drinking began would you get better results by bottling straight away and leaving for a month in the bottle or leaving it in the fv for a few extra weeks and then only 2 weeks in the bottle.

Sorry all this is new to me,just trying to find whats best,hope this makes sense :

 

[graysalchemy]

Maturing in bulk is always better IMHO wether or not you go for MLF.

However cider always matures in the bottle as well. If you are short of time and taking into account you probably need about 4 weeks in the bottle before drinking (for carbonation), as long as it is clear, then bottle it.

If you have time, mature in bulk. :thumb: