Confused first turbo brew....

[coopsy]

Hi.

I'm newish (last brewed over 25 years ago) to this brewing business.

I have been gathering all the necessary equipment and think i'm about ready to brew....

Thought i'd begin with a simple turbo cider, so i have waiting 20 litres of apple juice, and some Alcotec 48 turbo super yeast, recommended by the store i bought my gear from, i'm unsure how to use these ingredients, or if the yeast is suitable ?, do i use all the yeast for 20 litres ? (seems a lot !), do i need to heat the juice to activate yeast, and do i need any further ingredients ?, there are a few use strong tea i believe !.
Like i say, just a basic simple brew will do for starters......

Any advice welcome, many thanks

P.S. It states on the yeast packet "Do not use an airlock", any idea why ?.....

"i would give up beer, but i'm no quitter"........ :

 

[narmour]

Hi and welcome back to the fold!!!

TC is very easy to make, but requires patience. Just chuck it all in the fermenter and sprinkle the yeast on top.

My turbo cider recipe is:

23 litres apple juice
1 sachet champagne yeast
5 tsp malic acid (1 tsp per gallon)
5 tsp grape tannin (1 tsp per gallon) (or a mug of tea steeped for 15 minutes with 3 tea bags)

Mix the grape tannin with a small amount of apple juice in a separate cup and add to the brew after. Do each teaspoon separately as it clumps and is difficult to dissolve. Take your time with this. Chucking in tea is easier, but you can't get the same level of accuracy of replication when making future brews. That is why I opt for grape tannin.

I would highly recommend going down the malolactic fermentation method of cider making, it takes longer, and has extra steps but the cider you make will rival any of the commercial scrumpys you can buy. It involves making a started from a bottle of Old Rosie, the method is here

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=48&t=27372

Another method is to use a commercial preparation of MLF bacteria, one which I have had good results with is called WYEAST malolactic culture. I used this one:

http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk...d_yeast.html?gclid=CIWXj6_kjLwCFSsCwwodQBYAVA

It is designed for winemaking but will do the job just as well. I have made ciders from both and I don't see an obvious difference.

As far as yeast goes, I always use a champagne yeast. I have used the same batch since day one, and just thrown more apple juice on top of the lees after racking. It works fine. I don't know much about Alcotect 48 but I do know it is designed for brewing in conditions which are deemed to be more hostile than the average yeast can endure, and making cider is a gentle process so I would imagine this yeast is overkill. I have always used an airlock with no problems, but this is with the champagne yeast.

Tea works fine, as does grape tannin. But don't leave it out. It provides a 'bite' to the flavour, which makes for a dull, insipid drink without it.

Many folk swear by TC made with a small quantity of another flavoured juice. I have never made this so cannot comment, good or bad. I'm sure someone with more experience of it will weigh in. But the golden rule is, if you are making a plain apple alcoholic drink, do the malolactic fermentation. If you don't want to do MLF, add anothyer flavour. NEVER LEAVE BOTH OUT. It makes a very dull drink which you won't be in a hurry to brew again.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

:hat:

 

[jkp]

Have a read of the TC How to guide here. It'll answer a few of your questions.

 

[graysalchemy]

Don't use the Alcotec turbo yeast it is not for cider or for that matter anything apart from making High alcohol washes which need to be filtered. I would take it back as that stuff is not cheap you were badly advised.

What you want is champagne yeast.

You also need also to add tannin. you could use tea bags but I prefer 1 tsp per gallon of grape tanin powder. You also need in my opinion some malic acid again 1 tsp per gallon. Don't be tempted to bolster teh ABV with sugar as sugar and the resulting alcohol will dilute the flavour. Finally let it mature for a few months before bottling to make a better tasting cider.

:thumb: :thumb:

 

[oldbloke]

grays is right - you don't want that yeast. A champagne yeast or Young's cider yeast, or I have 2 bottles left of a very nice one made with Young's general purpose red wine yeast.

I'd add a bit of some other juice to broaden the flavour spectrum. Cranberry, blueberry, cherry, pomegranate all work. Apple juice on its own can be a bit uninspiring.

There are several HowTo's for TurboCider in the HowTo section, all well worth a look

 

[coopsy]

Ok guys, think i'm getting this now (your advice is priceless, many thanks all).

Gonna go with this for starters.

18 L Apple Juice.
5L Cranberry Juice
1 sachet champagne yeast
5 tea spoons Malic acid
1 mug of very strong tea

All thrown into FV with air lock, shaken an stirred and left to ferment, am using a immersion heater as brewing in shed.

How does sound ?....

Any improvements welcome......

Coops :

 

[oldbloke]

I'd do 3 cranberry 20 AJ
If you're not going for secondary malolactic fermentation I wouldn't bother with the malic unless your juice is lacking in acidity

 

[coopsy]

Thanks for all the advice, i followed Oldbloke's suggestion 20 AJ and 3 Cranberry, left out the Malic, but did add around a quarter of a cup of brewing sugar dissolved in some warm AJ, on the advice of another forum member, "to help speed up yeast activation, and fermentation".........2 days in, and the brew has a healthy looking frothy covering, so hopefully all is well, roughly how long will this need in the FV ?, do i just wait for the froth to subside ?...

Many thanks.

Coops.

I would give up beer, but i'm no quitter..... :

 

[oldbloke]

With demijohns, you can see when it clears, give it an extra day or 2 to be sure, then keg/bottle
With a 23l bin, might be harder - I'm not sure how low the hydrometer will go.
Depending on temperature etc, anything from 10 to 21 days!

 

[marksa222]

As far as yeast goes, I always use a champagne yeast. I have used the same batch since day one, and just thrown more apple juice on top of the lees after racking. It works fine.

Good idea. I used youngs cider yeast and put together my first tc on Saturday. I was going to put another batch on straight away as I only have 2 dj's, and plan on leaving several months in bottles before drinking. Is there any drawbacks in doing this than cleaning dj's and pitching more yeast?

 

[coopsy]

I'll post a reading after around 8 days, see it makes any sense, i,m using a pressure barrel, will the brew need any priming sugar when barreling, seeing as it is usually a still cider ?...

Many thanks,

Coops.

 

[coopsy]

Should i siphon the brew to another FV after first ten days or when fermentation is complete, or siphon directly to the pressure barrel where it will be conditioned ?.

Also i'm using an immersion heater, now the brew has stopped bubbling and settling, should i remove the heater ?.

Many thanks.

Coops.

 

[oldbloke]

Don't do anything until it clears, then rack to your barrel with about 2tsp priming sugar per litre

 

[YoungJames]

Don't use the Alcotec turbo yeast it is not for cider or for that matter anything apart from making High alcohol washes which need to be filtered. I would take it back as that stuff is not cheap you were badly advised.

I made scratty Kilju with that stuff, it tasted like ****.

 

[coopsy]

What is scratty Kilju ?.......

 

[YoungJames]

What is scratty Kilju ?.......

A Sugar Wine that is scratty!

 

[coopsy]

Ok, my T/C has now stood 20 days in the FV. It looks pretty clear and smells great, i was going to barrel it in a pressure barrel, but am now pondering with the idea of using 5 litre bags in boxes, i guess i will need to emit any sugar for priming, but will i need to add anything else to the brew or just bag it up ?.......
I would prefer the bag method as not so keen on gassy drinks, i generally buy the Westons Wyld Wood, or Vintage in the 3 litre boxes, i guess i'm trying to emulate something similar.
Be interested to see what you guys think, good or bad idea ?....

Many thanks.


"I would give up beer, but i'm no quitter" :

 

[graysalchemy]

Don't use the Alcotec turbo yeast it is not for cider or for that matter anything apart from making High alcohol washes which need to be filtered. I would take it back as that stuff is not cheap you were badly advised.

I made scratty Kilju with that stuff, it tasted like ****.

If you have the desire to use turbo yeasts then you have to filter them with activated charcoal to get all the Sh*te out of it first, not something I would want to drink yet you see youtube experts advocating it. :evil:

 

[coopsy]

I went with the Champagne yeast as advised...... :thumb:

 

[coopsy]

Any advice on bagging the brew up (as above), as opposed to barreling ??