Making cider from apple juice?

[Bob Monkhouse]

Could someone give me a little bit of advice on whether its viable to make cider from apple juice and is it cost effective? (ie cheap) :lol: .I have some cider yeast slopes courtesy of Brewlab and would like to give it a go.My children aren't over keen on the real ales that we brew(everyone else is, too keen some of 'em) and wondered if its possible.Any advice would be gratefully received, Thanks, Bob.

 

[falafael]

Hi bob, I have done countless batches of Cider made from apple juice, i really rate it, i like my cider dry, so tend to ferment it off, it's always crystal clear, crisp and refreshing.
I always bottle mine, as its easy to chuck some in the fridge on a hot summers day( remember them!!).

I tend to use the farmfoods or princes ones, usually buy about 25 litre cartons, empty them into a clean FV, and put the juice in at room temp, then just sprinkle a pack of Cider yeast, must be cider yeast, and let nature do the rest, usually 6 days for me.

I have also done a few varients, 22 litres of apple juice, then 1 litre bottle of blackcurrant and 1 strawberry cordial, (boil/simmer the cordial for 20mins first, then add a 1kg bag sugar), once dissolved, add to the apple juice, sprinkle yeast and ferment.

Last one of mine came out at 10%!
Enjoy!!
:

 

[Bob Monkhouse]

That ends up at around £25 for 25 litres though.I was wondering if theres any cheaper way of doing it. My beers cost next to nothing-around a tenner for 25 litres- so its not really worth doing if its going to cost so much(we won't be drinking it so I resent providing alcohol for nowt for others to drink it) :)

 

[calumscott]

...and if you prefer a more "west country" style...

to your 23l of apple juice add:

5tsp pectolase
5tsp malic acid
5tsp wine tannin
5tsp yeast nutrient

and culture your yeast from a bottle of old rosie. That way you will get the wonderful lactic acid bacteria (lactobacilus mostly) that create those "farmyard" flavours.

You would then have to age, in bulk, for many months to make sure it happened otherwise you are left with very tart cider because malic acid really is sharp...

 

[calumscott]

In terms of cost, the main cost is the juice. You don't need the posh cloudy apple juice, the "from concentrate" clear stuff that looks like wee is fine. Sometimes you can get it for less than 50p a litre.

 

[LeedsBrewer]

or just do a gallon of it in a demi john or 5L water bottle (if you dont have a demi john).

Id suggest making up 2 gallons of the stuff cos a lot of the cost is the yeast and a dried pack of yeast can be split in two and used for the 2x 1 gallon batches.

use the cheap from concentrate AJ at around 62p per litre.

I'd go for 3L apple juice
1/2L cranberry
1 very strong cup of tea (to add tannin)
1tsp yeast nutrient (you can buy a tub of it from wilkos for 80p if you havent got any already)
1 tsp pectolase (can never remember if you need this or not for TC??)
1/2 sachet cider yeast

same again for the other gallon batch.
You're only filling up to 4L mark in order to leave some headspace in the DJ. After initial fermentation has completed you can top up the other 5ooml with apple juice.

Total cost:
AJ: £4.34
Cranberry juice: £1
Yeast nutrient: £0.80
Pectolase: £1 (cant remember but its prob around that)
Cider yeast: £1.50

Total: £8.64
probably around 8 bottles per DJ so works out at 54p per bottle.
It's easy to make and cheaper than store bought. :thumb:

 

[Bob Monkhouse]

Thanks for the advice, I'll try getting some cheap apple juice and give it a go. Why do I need tannin? Do I need to add sugar or sweetener to stop it being tart? The yeast slopes I've been using from Brewlab are far superior to the dried yeast so I'll be going with those(a fiver for enough to do about a million gallons)and the difference is staggering.The beers I've been brewing with their yeasts are almost identical to the professional brewers beers we've been copying so I'm quite pleased with them and the service you get is excellent.

 

[falafael]

i'm lucky in that i get my juice from work, usually 25 litres for £3!, no wonder i make so much!

 

[calumscott]

Tannin gives an astingency and slight bitterness to cider. It's present in cider apples in reasonable quantities but not so in desert apples which are what get made into juice. Cider made without it can be quite thin and insipid.

 

[Gayle]

I make all my cider from Apple juice, and it works well. plain cider will taste better after a few months aging, and usually ferments very dry, so I like to add other flavourings to make it seem sweeter and tastier. I use the cheap juice too so it works out less than 40p per pint including the yeast, which is good for decent cider.

some people like to sweeten their cider with splenda and such, but I've started to much prefer drinking dry cider than sickly sweet commercial ciders! I usually have some sort of fruit flavourings in my cider so it doesn't need to be sweet. to sweeten with sugar you'd need to kill off the yeast with chemicals and end up with a sweet, still cider, or force carbonate it. if you add extra sugar to the brew it will ferment and make a stronger drink.

 

[oldbloke]

If you don't want the long wait that malolactic fermentation requires, and maybe you prefer a clean style to a twangy farmyard style anyway, it's really quick&easy.

Cheap apple juice, some tannin, yeast is the basics. Works but uninspiring.

I usually add a bit of yeast nutrient, but the main thing is to round out the flavour: try replacing 1/2l per gallon of AJ with something like cranberry.
This gives something much better, especially after a few weeks aging - I generally bottle with 1tsp priming sugar per pint(or500ml) and give it 2weekswarm2weekscold, after which it's drinkable but another couple of weeks will improve it a lot.

For me, next improvement is to use AJ concentrate instead of AJ - gets more apple into the product (but also ups the ABV a bit). One my wife rather liked was:
500ml Suma AJ concentrate, 1/2l Morrison's cranberry & raspberry, 1/2l Morrison's cranberry, 1/2l strong Yorkshire Gold tea, tsp nutrient, 1/2pkt Young's cider yeast
Make up to about 3.5l with water, top up with more water after about 4 days, bottle when clear. Thsi one started out a little bit sharp but was very nice after about10 weeks in botltle.

 

[Bob Monkhouse]

i'm lucky in that i get my juice from work, usually 25 litres for £3!, no wonder i make so much!

Where do you work and is there a back door? :rofl:

 

[Bob Monkhouse]

Thanks guys, you've been really helpful, 40p a pint sounds more like it, we'll be starting to make some this next week or so and I'll let you know how it goes. :

 

[zakswfc]

Hi guys!
Is this just the case if The juice and yeast?? are you not adding any sigar or anything else???

Zak

 

[stevie1556]

Hi guys!
Is this just the case if The juice and yeast?? are you not adding any sigar or anything else???

Zak

Adding more sugar will make the cider stronger in strength, but personally I think there is enough sugar already in the apple juice.

 

[oldbloke]

With just juice it comes out at least 5% maybe as much as 6. That's plenty, if you want to enjoy a few before falling over.
Extra sugar doesn't help the taste, you maybe get a slight improvement in mouthfeel from the extra alcohol.
If you do want something stronger, I feel it's better to use AJ concentrate so you get more apple as well as more sugar.
1/2l concentrate + 1l AJ +0.5l (eg)cranberry will be around 7.5% and taste much better than AJ+sugar would at that strength

 

[zakswfc]

Im new to this brewing so bare with me please haha

Im currently brewing from a coopers starter kit (lager kit)

Would it be the same process then?
Pour the apple juice in the fermenter and sprinkle the yeast?
How long does it need in the fermenter?
Would i bottle upon completion of fermenting?
How long would i have to leave it in the bottle before drinking?
And finally will it need carbon drops in the bottles?

Thanks
Zak

 

[GeorgeSalt]

Im new to this brewing so bare with me please haha

No bother Zak.. there are several threads on Turbo Cider across the Wine & Cider sections, and we all have our own slight variations on the theme. Worth looking at a few of those threads to get the gist of things.

 

[oldbloke]

Pour the apple juice in the fermenter and sprinkle the yeast?
How long does it need in the fermenter?
Would i bottle upon completion of fermenting?
How long would i have to leave it in the bottle before drinking?
And finally will it need carbon drops in the bottles?

That's pretty much it. Chuck everything in and wait. That's the joy of TurboCider, it's very easy.
Except - leave a good headspace for the first 4 days, if it's something small like a demijohn, or it'll escape.
I like mine dry, so just ferment until it clears completely and the yeast gives up: anything from 10 to 20 days, depending on ingredients and fermenting conditions.
Then I bottle with 1tsp sugar per pint/500ml. If you don't want it totally dry add some Splenda at this point.
I do 2WeeksWarm2WeeksCold for conditioning, but you can shave a bit off that if you're desperately degenerate.
Then I have one to see what it's like, then leave the rest at least 2 more weeks as it improves a good deal over that time.

 

[alank950]

Pour the apple juice in the fermenter and sprinkle the yeast?
How long does it need in the fermenter?
Would i bottle upon completion of fermenting?
How long would i have to leave it in the bottle before drinking?
And finally will it need carbon drops in the bottles?

That's pretty much it. Chuck everything in and wait. That's the joy of TurboCider, it's very easy.
Except - leave a good headspace for the first 4 days, if it's something small like a demijohn, or it'll escape.
I like mine dry, so just ferment until it clears completely and the yeast gives up: anything from 10 to 20 days, depending on ingredients and fermenting conditions.
Then I bottle with 1tsp sugar per pint/500ml. If you don't want it totally dry add some Splenda at this point.
I do 2WeeksWarm2WeeksCold for conditioning, but you can shave a bit off that if you're desperately degenerate.
Then I have one to see what it's like, then leave the rest at least 2 more weeks as it improves a good deal over that time.

So for an ordenary none malic cider could i just use 24ltr of AJ/1ltr of cranberry with 5 tsp of tannin bottle and drink in a month or so?..
Just started my first TC on Sat,,with 25ltrAJ/1ltr of Cranberry ,5tsp of Malic acid and 5tsp of Tannin,,,fermenting away with a sweetened cider yeast..is it necessary to add Pectolase or will this not matter...i used a none cloudy AJ from Lidl.