My first Turbo Cider - A little how to.

[oldbloke]

Well, I can't get the car out at the mo so won't be down to Worcs any time soon!

No snow here in sunny Upton. :)

Gritter - with plough - failed to get up the hill this afternoon. Only the peeps who actually know how to use the 4wd settings in their cars are moving from our bit of the village

 

[Pearlfisher]

I made four x 4.5L variations of TC last autumn two of which showed plenty of signs of MF. I transferred these 2 into my "tap a draft" bottles and primed with sugar, I also added some Ritchies Wine Sweetener as they were very dry.
Yesterday I attached the serving dispenser to one of them and tried a sample ,the colour was very pale , similar to Diamond White colour , the taste was ok , but then again I'm not a cider drinker . I could do with an expert to give me their opinion of it.

Tried a sample of this again yesterday and it seems to be getting more cloudy? ,anyone any idea of what's going on , when I transferred it ,about 4 weeks ago ,I primed it with 8 tsp's of sugar.

 

[ScottM]

I made four x 4.5L variations of TC last autumn two of which showed plenty of signs of MF. I transferred these 2 into my "tap a draft" bottles and primed with sugar, I also added some Ritchies Wine Sweetener as they were very dry.
Yesterday I attached the serving dispenser to one of them and tried a sample ,the colour was very pale , similar to Diamond White colour , the taste was ok , but then again I'm not a cider drinker . I could do with an expert to give me their opinion of it.

Tried a sample of this again yesterday and it seems to be getting more cloudy? ,anyone any idea of what's going on , when I transferred it ,about 4 weeks ago ,I primed it with 8 tsp's of sugar.

Possibly MLF?

My current cider is crystal clear but my last one with malic was a little cloudy. It seemed to get worse on pouring as the MLF sediment seems to remain and take AGES to drop.

 

[graysalchemy]

MLF doesn't make it cloudy as the bacteria cells for a solid pelicle which usually drops to the bottom intact.

I would suggest that 8 tsp's of sugar in a gallon is way to much and infact you are kicking up the sediment when the bottles are opened., thats what happens with mine when I prime at 7g/L which is far less than what you are using.

:thumb:

 

[Pearlfisher]

Thanks both , it's in a 10 pint 'tap a draft' which is made from brown plastic so it's difficult to see what's going on inside.
It may have not been 8 tsp's as I usually only put 4 in when I transfer Ale into them ,but this is the first time I've made TC.

 

[ScottM]

MLF doesn't make it cloudy as the bacteria cells for a solid pelicle which usually drops to the bottom intact.

I would suggest that 8 tsp's of sugar in a gallon is way to much and infact you are kicking up the sediment when the bottles are opened., thats what happens with mine when I prime at 7g/L which is far less than what you are using.

:thumb:

My last cider was very cloudy with MLF, my current one didn't have any malic acid to promote it. Other than that they are identical.

The only other difference that I can think of is my last cider sat for 3 months, this one only sat for 4 weeks.

 

[Pearlfisher]

I started this one off back in August and it had a good 1/2" crust of MLF but the rest of it was very clear?

 

[ScottM]

I started this one off back in August and it had a good 1/2" crust of MLF but the rest of it was very clear?

Not sure, mine was clear until I moved it lol.

 

[Badger]

good advice with the raa=cking I'm about to do that with mine!

 

[mikey1967]

Your recipe appeared to only have 4l in it.
Instead of 3l AJ and 1l pomegranite, try 4 AJ and 0.5 cranberry

Yeah, that's because I'm using DJs. Using a 5L bottle I could fit 4.5L in but with the DJs I can only just get 4L in to leave the correct shoulder depth. After the initial fermentation has calmed down I top it up to 4.5L with water/juice, depending on what I have used to calculate the levels.

The above recipe will hit around 7% when lengthened out to 4.5L with water.

Cheers :)

with this if you topped up with juice then bottled would the sugar in the juice cause to much activity in bottles along with sugar?

 

[ScottM]

Your recipe appeared to only have 4l in it.
Instead of 3l AJ and 1l pomegranite, try 4 AJ and 0.5 cranberry

Yeah, that's because I'm using DJs. Using a 5L bottle I could fit 4.5L in but with the DJs I can only just get 4L in to leave the correct shoulder depth. After the initial fermentation has calmed down I top it up to 4.5L with water/juice, depending on what I have used to calculate the levels.

The above recipe will hit around 7% when lengthened out to 4.5L with water.

Cheers :)

with this if you topped up with juice then bottled would the sugar in the juice cause to much activity in bottles along with sugar?

The yeast won't differentiate between the sugar and the sugar in the juice, it'll just eat the lot and overprime your bottles. The cider won't be any sweeter, it'll still be bone dry.

Unless you kill of the yeast of course.

 

[ibby33]

Just about to start with this but using cranberry and raspberry in stead of the pomegranate

 

[ScottM]

Just about to start with this but using cranberry and raspberry in stead of the pomegranate

Sounds lovely, don't go too crazy with the raspberry as it adds a VERY tart taste when dry..... unless you are backsweetening of course :)

 

[ibby33]

Using some of Aldi apple juice 3L and 1L Cranberry/raspberry for 4L in total.

I'm thinking strawberry and lime next

 

[ScottM]

Using some of Aldi apple juice 3L and 1L Cranberry/raspberry for 4L in total.

I'm thinking strawberry and lime next

Sounds nice, still might need some back sweetening though. Strawberry is always a nice addition :)

 

[m0zzwigan]

I'm still getting to grips with this, but what does it mean by:

Sugar for "Primary"
Sugar for "Priming"

 

[ScottM]

I'm still getting to grips with this, but what does it mean by:

Sugar for "Primary"
Sugar for "Priming"

Primary = Primary fermentation, primary vessel.

Priming = Getting the brew ready for bottle conditioning/pressurisation. Effectively making the cider fizzy in the bottle.

 

[m0zzwigan]

I'm still getting to grips with this, but what does it mean by:

Sugar for "Primary"
Sugar for "Priming"

Primary = Primary fermentation, primary vessel.

Priming = Getting the brew ready for bottle conditioning/pressurisation. Effectively making the cider fizzy in the bottle.

ahhh

 

[ibby33]

So to get the cider stronger would you add more sugar?

 

[graysalchemy]

Yes but the problem with adding sugar to cider to get more alcohol is that you end up with a very insipid bland drink. Cider is delicate in flavour so adding more alcohol upsets the balance. By just brewing apple carton juice to dryness you will end up with something about 5-5.5%.

Feel free to try it but most people who don't take this advice post back saying how tasteless their cider is. :grin: :grin: