How strong is my TC?

[ArkAler]

Apart from the obvious memory test after trying some how do I know how strong my TC is?

How can i make it stronger? I'm looking for some super strong leg wobbler to bring back the teenage memories of special red and thunderbirds on a park bench :twisted:

 

[Wez]

You can work out how strong it is by taking a gravity reading before you add yeast and then again when it's finished fermenting (see the calcs page..top left of the forum)

To make it stronger put a ltr of apple juice in a saucepan and dissolve some sugar - play around with the qtys to get the strength :thumb:

 

[ArkAler]

got my saucepan out already.

nice one cheers.
:

 

[Wez]

Let it cool before adding it - you wont need to boil it :thumb:

 

[ArkAler]

100g to 1L seem a place to start?

 

[Wez]

Go 150 :thumb:

 

[commsbiff]

I may try going for a strong tc soon. I think I'll simmer 8-10 Litres reducing (through evaporation) down to about 4-4.5 Litres. That way I should get plenty of sugar and plenty of apple. Has anyone tried this method?

 

[Aleman]

Stewed Apple Cider :sick:

 

[commsbiff]

Aah. I assume that boiling the apple juice would ruin it then?

 

[BarnsleyBrewer]

Does the apple juice need aerating before you pitch the yeast like we do with wort??

 

[MEB]

Aah. I assume that boiling the apple juice would ruin it then?

No. Boiling apple concentrate ruins it. I doubt you'll be buying real apple juice.
If you want to feel like that first time you drank stuff on the park bench at 17 add 2kg raw sugar to 7L apple juice concentrate and warm gently-up to 24C. Add champagne yeast and ferment for 12 days at 16C. Chill in fridge to bring down to 6C, rack off and drink immediately. Comes out about 10-12%, tastes like white cider ie white lighning, diamond white etc, it's fizzy, it makes you stupid. Pretty much my experience of stuff when i was 17. You can tone it down by making it into snakebite. :twisted:

I 'sell' a few batches of TC to the surfer doods along the coast here-they love it. They reckon it's the best thing in the world for making your guitar playing at a beach party sound awesome and apparently works wonders as a lubricant for young ladies pants.

 

[MEB]

Does the apple juice need aerating before you pitch the yeast like we do with wort??

Not really but it will help with the initial lag time. :thumb:

 

[Roger Irrelevant]

I actually read the label on the bottle of Diamond White the other day: apples, sugar, sweeteners. That last one surprised me a bit, but perhaps they're onto something...

 

[tubby_shaw]

I actually read the label on the bottle of Diamond White the other day: apples, sugar, sweeteners. That last one surprised me a bit, but perhaps they're onto something...

The vast majority of "Commercial" ciders contain sugar and sweeteners

 

[tigertim]

I'm planning a gallon of TC myself and I was wondering how I can keep it on the sweet side rather than the dry side? I guess I could wait until the gravity has dropped to a certain point and add some campden power to kill the yeast, then force carbonate it?

Alternatively, could I simply add campden after fermentation has finished, then add some sugar to sweeten and subsequently force carbonate?

If either of these theories sound valid, how much campden would I use for a one gallon batch?

Cheers :
T.

 

[Wez]

I think stopping fermentation early is a good move, alternatively let it ferment out and back sweeten. You can do this with this with a sweetner in the glass.

 

[tigertim]

Thanks, Wez!
Would half a crushed campden tablet (as with dechlorinating water) be sufficient, would you think? Or do I need more for this purpose?

Thanks,
T.

 

[tubby_shaw]

Hey tt, if you want to stop fermentation and not run the risk of re fermentation you will need to add 1 crushed campden tablet per gallon and potassium sorbate at the rate of 1 gramme per gallon :thumb: