How to make Turbo Cider.

[Bernie]

LHS 4 l supermarket apple juice a cup of strong tea. RHS 8.5k pressed Golden Delicious apples + 1 cup of strong tea. Fermentis Safcider yeast.

 

[rbunsen]

I have been using the 1l cartons of Cloudy Apple Juice (non concentrate) that my local Lidl sell for £0.99 a carton with excellent results.
I noticed today they have family pack 1.5l Apple Juice (from concentrate) for £0.83. Both have no preservatives except for ascorbic acid. Bought some of these to give them a go. Same sugar content, so will be looking at 7.2% alcohol. After this I may try blending the two.

I bottled some cider, made with 8 * 1.5 litre Lidl apple juice, a little over two weeks ago and tried it today. It tasted good to me, but I know very little about cider. My wife also liked it.
I just used the juice and tea. I used Lidl apple juice for the conditioning.

 

[WrexTheDragon]

Just started a batch of the 1.5l concentrate and it is bubbling away. I do not add tea. Works out about 32p per pint.

The longer you leave the better. What counts is you like your results, so easy to duplicate and tweek next time.

 

[rbunsen]

You are right of course, but I just couldn't wait to test it. Most of the rest will get longer to mature. I have also satisfied myself that I can give some to a friend.

 

[Doive]

Went to Lidl last week & bought 12 cartons of their 1.5L apple juice, 4 litres of summer fruits juice, and 2kg dark muscovado sugar. Heated 6 litres of apple juice & dissolved the sugar in, chucked the whole thing in a fermenting bucket & pitched some Lalvin EC1118. Initial tastes were molasses, no surprise with the sugar, but I'm hoping it will reduce during fermentation. OG of 1.066, going to try & stop it around 1.010 so not too dry, which would give a 7.4% strength. This is day 5 and it's still bubbling away merrily.

 

[vassili]

It really does seem that the turbo is a very reliable recipe.
I now have eight different trials on the go, should be bottling five of them next weekend.
Tried honey, muscavado, Demerara, all the above with a tin of pears in syrup.
They all appear stronger than I expect though.

 

[Doive]

Cider now pressurising nicely under secondary fermentation. Lalvin yeast took it down to around 1.012, so somewhere around 7%. Will let it sit under pressure for a week or so, then chill for serving.

 

[Harbey]

I've been having a play with different cider recipes (well, variations on the original theme at least). Great stuff and so easy. 4L of apple juice with a pack of frozen black currents has been the favourite so far. I've carbonated all of the brews so far. It now I have a spiced cider (cinnamon and ginger) which I intend to serve warm/hot and flat once the weather gets a bit cooler on an evening (going for that festival vibe). Results are good so far but there's a slight fizz to the cider even though it is coming straight out of the FV. I'm assuming I need to degas? But wouldn't that introduce oxygen? Or is that only a problem with hoppy beer? Or is there a way to avoid it in the first place?

Speaking of hops, I also dried hopped a small batch. It was... OK. Some work to do on that recipe I think.

 

[Falco]

Going to try the original recipe volume posted by @Roddy with some additional honey in the ferment, any ideas on quantity of said sweetner?

 

[Harbey]

Going to try the original recipe volume posted by @Roddy with some additional honey in the ferment, any ideas on quantity of said sweetner?

Depends how strong you want the finished cider to be I guess. I'd take some gravity readings before adding too much. Even without any additional sugar, mine is coming out between 5%-6%

 

[Falco]

Thanks @Harbey I was thinking more along the lines of taste rather than ABV. I'd read on this thread that the OP's version was shall we say a little on the tart and dry side so was looking to the honey for a little mellowness, not overt sweetness.

I might try your suggestion of some fresh or frozen dark fruits.

 

[Harbey]

@Falco, I'm no expert, and I'm sure the honey would add flavour, but ultimately the yeast will eat it and convert it to alcohol. If you want to sweeten the cider, I think an artificial sweetener is the way most people go. I think you can also kill the yeast through heating or adding a Campden tablet, then add your honey or whatever. Like I say, I'm no expert. I'd just brew the cider first then see if you like it that dry. I find it's bloomin' lovely as it is and I enjoy just experimenting with different flavours and fruits.

 

[DavieC]

I'm assuming I need to degas?

Hi Harbey ,when you begin to heat it up, any co2 will be driven out of the cider.If youre storing in a DJ until you use it any co2 held in the cider wil help to protect it while its stored.

 

[LED_ZEP]

.If youre storing in a DJ until you use it any co2 held in the cider wil help to protect it while its stored

Just a word of warning on this, it doesn't take much co2 to force a solid bung out of the DJ while in storage. Best to use a bung with an airlock till your absolutely certain it's stopped off gassing.

 

[Harbey]

Thanks for the tips. I've only warmed the cider slightly so it still had a bit of fizz but I think it's calming down. Still got an airlock in just incase.

 

[Barley Rubble]

Just a word of warning on this, it doesn't take much co2 to force a solid bung out of the DJ while in storage. Best to use a bung with an airlock till your absolutely certain it's stopped off gassing.

I have encountered this exact scenario myself. I placed solid rubber bungs in 2 DJ's thinking that the wine had finished fermenting, placed them in the garage and each one blew the stoppers out some distance, took me a while to retrieve them. Placed them back after sterilising and blow me (pardon the pun) they both popped again. Took the DJ's out of the garage, placed them in the kitchen and placed the airlocks back. Both started bubbling again for 5 days!!
Mind you it was pineapple, tropical fruit, mango and orange juice. What a volatile mixture! Was racked after 11 days!
I've now acquired a degasser whip wand, so it shouldn't happen again. Until the next time......

 

[johncrobinson]

Re Falco

Honey is ferment-able and will be converted to alcohol leaving a "DRY" wow.

Adding honey at the end does not solve the problem either.!!!!
Fermentation can and probably will restart later risking bottle bombs.Even if using stabilizer.

It might be useful as a flavoring however.
If you want to know what fermented honey tastes like try some Mead. (honey wine)
I made some honey and vanilla mead this year and very nice it was too.

 

[Falco]

Thanks for that @johncrobinson, as it’s the first attempt at TC think I’ll stick with the OP’s recipe and take it from there. If it’s too sharp can always modify it in the glass

 

[DavieC]

Best to use a bung with an airlock till your absolutely certain it's stopped off gassing.

Nice one @LED_ZEP ,I forgot to put that.

 

[Barleylass]

Hi Roddy, have had a 1 gallon turbo cider on the go for 14 days using your recipe and Nottingham yeast, sitting at 22c. It has been stuck at 1.008 for the last 4 days and is now pretty clear. Any ideas what to do? It doesn’t taste particularly sweet but a tad watery.