Finishing Turbo Cider

[Moley]

Calling all TC aficionados, I’m confused, please help:

This seems a popular brew on this forum, so I thought I’d give it a go, but have only gone for 2 gallons first time around.

I mixed it all up on Saturday evening (OG 1.066) and by Sunday morning its trap was starting to pop away gently. First thing this morning, SG’s down to 1.032 (4.6% already) and it’s barely got time to form bubbles in the trap, it’s just a steady stream of gas.

Am I right in thinking that unless I rack this and knock the yeast on the head by adding sorbate it’s going to carry on fermenting to dryness?

I think I’d like to stop it around 1.010 (7.6%) to retain some sweetness, but do I rack to DJs and add sorbate, and if so, when do I bottle and how do I get a secondary fizz?

I've never tried to stop a ferment before, how do I work this?

 

[trunky]

Calling all TC aficionados, I’m confused, please help:
Am I right in thinking that unless I rack this and knock the yeast on the head by adding sorbate it’s going to carry on fermenting to dryness?

I think I’d like to stop it around 1.010 (7.6%) to retain some sweetness, but do I rack to DJs and add sorbate, and if so, when do I bottle and how do I get a secondary fizz?
quote]

I have 4 large batches of cider on the go, 2 are from pressed apples and fermented slowly to a final gravity of .998 over about 2 months. No yeast killing! These will be left to mature for several months more before digging in to.

Also I have two batches of what might be called "turbo" cider, batch one is 'not from concentrate' cloudy (but pasteurised) juice that has fermented out to 1.000 over about 3 weeks, I am going to leave this to clear down naturally since it has already started to do so. I think this could be kegged or bottled now without any etra priming.

Batch two is a 'from concentrate' non cloudy (pasteurised) juice and has fermented down to 1.010 about 2 weeks and is starting to clear down. This is interesting since it may well be the juice that suits those of you that like a sweeter cider - no yeast killing. I think this could be packaged now without extra sugar.

I'll put this into practice tonight and bottle a bit of each. My intention is to force carbonate so extra gas for a natural secondary is a bonus.

Pottasium sorbate will Kill the yeast (I think) so there won't be any yeast to provide secondary fermentation unless you add some - then it will consume the sugar and you'll end up with a dry cider anyway.

If you've used the el-cheapo juice it might be finishing at 1.010 naturally.

 

[tubby_shaw]

I think you have discovered the limitations of TC very quickly :thumb:
I have made in excess of 250L of this stuff over the past few years and have carried out a few experiments along the way some of which were more successful than others :wha:

The only safe ways to get a sparkling TC are;
1. Ferment to dryness, add priming and then bottle or keg.
2. Arrest fermentation by your chosen method ( I would recommend crash cooling, fining, racking to the corny and adding sodium metabisulphate and potassium sorbate as per the instruction supplied ) and then force carbonate in a cornelius keg.
Artificial sweeteners can be added if required.

Just to try and put some more issues to bed Turbo cider as invented by deadlydes or desdeadly (depending on which forum you were on) is cheap apple juice from concentrate (supermarket own) and bread yeast. That's it nothing else.
Turbo cider was never intended to be high quality cider it was a fun experiment that turned out very well :drink:
To make real cider requires cider apples a scratter and a press.

There have been many variation on the theme of TC over the years, some good :party: some not so good :sick:

If you want something that tastes vaguely like cider and is cheap and fun to make use the original recipe.
If you want to try and make a better quality drink buy some wlp775 yeast, I cannot recommend this yeast strain highly enough :clap:

If you want cheap loopy juice add sugar to up the OG and hence the final ABV but beware of the headaches :lol:

In the true spirit in which TC was first envisaged carry on experimenting and having fun but be aware of the limitations :thumb:

 

[Moley]

That was quick, thanks guys :

Ok, I've used cheapo juice (5L of Prince's @ 79p + 4L Morrison's Value @ 56p), clear juice from concentrate, no preservatives, so I'll check the gravity when it seems to be slowing, bottle and prime as normal.

 

[tubby_shaw]

A little tip to pep up the end result is to prime with more apple juice, try 15ml per 500ml bottle, this should give a nice sparkle :thumb:

 

[pansub]

When my TC reached the alcohol content i wanted i bottled 4 litres in PET bottles and i am astounded by the results.

I just bottled no priming no yeast stunning, kept the bottles under the stairs for 2 weeks releasing the pressure from the bottle once a week. Then put in the garage for a few weeks. It has turned out very strong as it just continued to ferment in the bottles, everyone including myself says it is better that the kegged TC which i used sorbate on.

 

[Moley]

Batch two is a 'from concentrate' non cloudy (pasteurised) juice and has fermented down to 1.010 about 2 weeks and is starting to clear down. This is interesting since it may well be the juice that suits those of you that like a sweeter cider - no yeast killing. I think this could be packaged now without extra sugar.

If you've used the el-cheapo juice it might be finishing at 1.010 naturally.

Well, 4 days and it's down from 1.062 (I said 66 before but that was without checking my notes) to 1.012 (50 drop, 6.8%).

Fermentation has slowed slightly, the trap can't be popping much more than 4 times a second now, so it doesn't seem in any hurry to stop anytime soon.

Just out of interest, has anyone ever chucked a hydrometer in a Strongbow or similar?

I think the wife's got a Magner's she's forgotten about down the cellar (and I could do with the empty), I might go and test that. :whistle:

 

[Moley]

Magners (sic): too damn fizzy to get a steady reading but I make that around 1.014

That's sweet!

Stupid prices for only 4.5% too (but the case she bought was on offer in Netto),
"taking the Mick" makes more sense now. :hmm:

No apostrophes in the names on the labels either! :x

 

[MEB]

I've always racked mine off into PET bottles, added a squirt of Apple juice and then just drank the stuff. I still have one 750ml PET bottle of TC i made over 16 month's ago. Might give it a blast tonight....

 

[arturobandini]

Batch two is a 'from concentrate' non cloudy (pasteurised) juice and has fermented down to 1.010 about 2 weeks and is starting to clear down. This is interesting since it may well be the juice that suits those of you that like a sweeter cider - no yeast killing. I think this could be packaged now without extra sugar.

Most yeast strains will ferment cider right down below 1.000 when measured with a hydrometer calibrated for Beer. What temperatures are you fermenting at Trunky?

I'm giving some good thought to making "real cider" from apples now but I need to fix my press/buy a macerating juicer. I've often wondered though how quickly you can move up the slower fermentation of "real cider" with a cider yeast strain added. EG- Treat your apple pressings with Campden Tablets to kill off the wild apple yeasts and then add your dried/liquid Cider yeast to the must to produce a speedier ferment? Or is it the sugars in a naturally pressed apple juice are less easy to break down than one that has been concentrated and then rehydrated? My first turbo Cider was a Princes Apple juice special and because my low temperatures it took about 2 weeks to ferment down to .994 with an ale yeast. I did a super cheapo Tesco Apple Nectar and pitched it onto a recently finished wine yeast and that was done an dusted in 5 days.

 

[trunky]

I ferment the cider initially at about 20c then after a week move it to a slightly cooler area - about 16c, when the yeast cap is subsiding and it's pretty much finished it's off to the cellar at 13c.

I would have a go at pressing apples as soon as possible if you want to get some practice in before the Autumn brings it's glut of fresh apples!

The 'traditional' way is to chip the apples in very small pieces and press the juice out under extreme presure. I have been doing it a bit diffeently; the apples are pushed through a semi-pro mincer and then pressed. This produces more juice for less effort at the risk of getting more apple pup through into the juice and therefore the risk (advantage??) of a cloudy cider.

I do treat the juice with campden tablets and pitch a cider yeast the next day, even so the fermentation is fairly slow - at least 4 weeks with a yeast cap. It's been interesting to see the flavours develop in the cider and now at +3 months I am itching to have a session, but I'll try and leave them 'till Summer.

 

[arturobandini]

You're a true Cider kingpin Trunky, thanks for the info!