Nearly ready to make some cider :)

[Gayle]

Hi all! (I think I have forgotten to post an introduction post, will do so momentarily, so this is my first post!)

Well actually there's still quite a lot to do with regards to making cider, my FV's have been sitting outside all winter and need cleaned, and one of them is currently storing a gallon of homemade laundry liquid....but anyhoo....

I'm hoping to make some Turbo Cider, I will probably just go for cheapy apple juice and see how it goes. One of my fermenting buckets is 2 gallons (10 litres or something?) so will start with that, I don't want to end up with 40 pints of dodgy cider (again). I have a few questions - should I add in roughly half the yeast, or measure it out to the gram to compensate for the smaller amount of juice? Secondly, in a plastic fermenting bucket, do I need to add half the juice, then top it up a few days later, as I have seen discussed on here? or is that just for demijohns?

Thanks for any advice, I'm looking forward to getting on here more :)

 

[keith1664]

Depends how close to the top of the bucket your juice takes you, personally I'd leave a good four inches head space.
The yeast... personally I'd chuck it all in, but then I don't want half opened packets of yeast cluttering up the house potentially picking up infections.
I've made just the one batch of turbo cider so far (I'm not a great cider drinker) but it turned out quite nice. The 3 tips I'd give you for a drinkable TC are as follows.
1. Use a cider yeast
2. Don't use loads of sugar, if any.
3. Give it time

 

[Cider Minx]

Hi all! (I think I have forgotten to post an introduction post, will do so momentarily, so this is my first post!)

Well actually there's still quite a lot to do with regards to making cider, my FV's have been sitting outside all winter and need cleaned, and one of them is currently storing a gallon of homemade laundry liquid....but anyhoo....

I'm hoping to make some Turbo Cider, I will probably just go for cheapy apple juice and see how it goes. One of my fermenting buckets is 2 gallons (10 litres or something?) so will start with that, I don't want to end up with 40 pints of dodgy cider (again). I have a few questions - should I add in roughly half the yeast, or measure it out to the gram to compensate for the smaller amount of juice? Secondly, in a plastic fermenting bucket, do I need to add half the juice, then top it up a few days later, as I have seen discussed on here? or is that just for demijohns?

Thanks for any advice, I'm looking forward to getting on here more :)

welcome :thumb: I'm new at turbo cider but I tend 2 put a full pack in 5ltr ............ I have just tried 1tsp per 5ltr and also tried 1 sachet for 10ltr all seem fine lol I don't know the exact amout you add but like I said mine all seem fine

Depends how close to the top of the bucket your juice takes you, personally I'd leave a good four inches head space.
The yeast... personally I'd chuck it all in, but then I don't want half opened packets of yeast cluttering up the house potentially picking up infections.
I've made just the one batch of turbo cider so far (I'm not a great cider drinker) but it turned out quite nice. The 3 tips I'd give you for a drinkable TC are as follows.
1. Use a cider yeast
2. Don't use loads of sugar, if any.
3. Give it time

I thought it depended on how you liked your cider lol I've added sugar to all of mine except one ............. we all find they taste good but we like really dry cider and wine :/ I also use champagne or wine yeast as my % are stong ...............I toatally agree with the time bit though it really does taste better the older it gets :

 

[Gayle]

Thanks :) I'd like a sweet cider, preferably, is it easiest just to add Splenda or the like at the end? (am I right in thinking that adding sugar during the fermentation process will only make it stronger and dryer?) I guess if I'm very organised, I could probably split the yeast between two small batches at the same time, making one of them into a cheeky vimto, or ribena cider or something :hmm:

I agree about the timimg thing, I made cider from a kit (Magnum, I think it was), and it tasted fine before I added the "apple flavouring", then after that and the secondary fermentation it just tasted a bit skanky. 7 months later its still in the keg and actually pretty nice now!

Off to buy apple juice!

 

[Cider Minx]

if you want sweet then I wouldn't add any sugar as the juice already has a lot in

I did one without and it reads 6.5% and it is really sweet for my taste but my mum loves it :)

you need to work out the sugar in the juice if you don't have hydrometer

(I'm a beginner so I'm sure someone can help you with the working out and also with the sugar question) I just thought I'd try and help from just what I have read on here :) good luck :thumb:

 

[Gayle]

I've got the apple juice in the bucket, done it yesterday, now it appears to be doing something, there are bubbles in the tub, but I think my OH may have ruined the lid...instead of letting me drill a nice round hole in it for the airlock, he took a knife to it which resulted in a slash in the lid, I stuck the bubbler in it and sealed around with lanolin (I couldn't find bluetack) and hoped for the best, but it doesn't seem to be doing the job - the bubbler is not bubbling!

Any ideas what I should do? Will it be OK perhaps, as it does seem to be fermenting a bit but I'm worried it may get contaminated. Probably I need to get a new lid

 

[simonranson]

I should do? Will it be OK perhaps, as it does seem to be fermenting a bit but I'm worried it may get contaminated. Probably I need to get a new lid

You could tape the hole up and drill another one. Dont be too alarmed that you arent getting any bubbles as the big plastic lids arent that airtight around the lip.

Simon

 

[Gayle]

I should do? Will it be OK perhaps, as it does seem to be fermenting a bit but I'm worried it may get contaminated. Probably I need to get a new lid

You could tape the hole up and drill another one. Dont be too alarmed that you arent getting any bubbles as the big plastic lids arent that airtight around the lip.

Simon

Oh, thats a great idea! Thanks! I had been searching online to try to get a new lid but can't seem to do so, even though I think I remember buying my fermenting bucket and lid separately...?

If there's not many bubbles, will it affect the carbonation of the cider, or might it improve with bottling/kegging etc?

I guess I'm just used to brewing ale, it always seemed to have started fermenting like crazy within the first day!

 

[Gayle]

Ok so, I'm now not sure when the fermentation process will be done. As the airlock bubbler thing has not been bubbling at all the whole time, I don't know if it has finished yet. I can tell that fermentation is indeed happening, will it do any harm to carefully take a reading now? Or should I wait another few days? (Its been about 3 days so far)

What will happen if I throw in another carton of juice now? I have one left and if it didn't do any harm I'd throw it in now (and would it need to be boiled first?)

 

[nickmcmechan]

hi gayle, i haven't brewed my first TC yet, but i intend to and have done a bit of reading up.

although it is indeed 'turbo' if you want a really nice cider then, from my understanding, i'd leave it in the FV for 2 weeks and then bottle after that at about 20c for a couple of weeks. Then store somewhere cool for as long as possible - apparently the longer the better.

I'm brewing ny first lot in a couple of weeks and its being brewed for summer bbq's....well thats the plan if i can hold out that long!

 

[Gayle]

As far as I'm aware from brewing ales etc previously, the cider needs to be racked off to another FV after the primary fermentation is done - if it is left too long, the dormant yeast sediment at the bottom can start to break down (or whatever it is that yeast does then!) and cause the brew to taste bad. I will probably leave it for another few days and check it then, if it's done I'll taste it and see how it is. I might just prime and bottle then if it's OK, or else do secondary fermentation for a few weeks.

Last year I made a 5 gallon batch of Magnum cider, it tasted great after 5 days of primary fermentation and I was giddy after one taster pint but something must have happened during the secondary fermentation and it ended up tasting a bit blurghh. There's still half a keg left and even "3ltr value white cider" drinkers among my friends won't touch it :shock:

 

[somptingsaint]

I've got the apple juice in the bucket, done it yesterday, now it appears to be doing something, there are bubbles in the tub, but I think my OH may have ruined the lid...instead of letting me drill a nice round hole in it for the airlock, he took a knife to it which resulted in a slash in the lid, I stuck the bubbler in it and sealed around with lanolin (I couldn't find bluetack) and hoped for the best, but it doesn't seem to be doing the job - the bubbler is not bubbling!

Any ideas what I should do? Will it be OK perhaps, as it does seem to be fermenting a bit but I'm worried it may get contaminated. Probably I need to get a new lid

hi gayle ,my lhbs sell lids seperatly ,,quite handy ,,heres the link , http://www.brewathome.co.uk/

 

[evanvine]

Panic not Gayle, your TC will take 10 days before the keg/bottling stage!
The bubbler not working doesn't matter, you would need the fermenting vessel with the 4" screw on top for it to work.
Cider Minx has more than popped her cherry on cider making, she knows what she is talking about.
Your cider will ferment out to dryness unless you get involved with Potassium Sorbate!
Would suggest you ferment for 10 days, add tea from 1 tea bag per gal, 2 tbl spoons "Splenda" per gal and 1 Campden Tablet per gal.
Store for min 8 weeks, this of course does not include QA testing, you may never make the magic 6 months!

 

[Peapodmaster]

I seem to notice with most turbo recipes that you don't really need to have and airlock and airtight FV i just leave the lid loose ontop to keep out the nasties.

 

[evanvine]

I seem to notice with most turbo recipes that you don't really need to have and airlock and airtight FV i just leave the lid loose ontop to keep out the nasties.

This is quite correct!
I only use the fermentor with the screw on lid so I can monitor the " bubble rate", an indication of ferment progress.

 

[bluebell]

Had an interesting conversation about the history of wine and cider making in our family the other day. My Gran used to have a large wide necked 'crock' which she used to brew beside the kitchen stove, it was never covered in the initial stages of fermentation except by a layer of slices of bread, which then had the yeast spread on top. Once main fermentation was complete it was moved to smaller vessels and put outside in the garage with a muslin covering the top.

Guess we would consider this a high risk way of working but it worked for her.