Raspberry Turbo Cider

[Crusty]

Hmm, something has occurred to me.....
I've never made wine, but given my TC strength is likely to be in "wine territory", is it worth not carbonating and seeing how it pans out as a vino?

I'd obviously need to degass it and clear it a bit more, but I'm open to advice from experienced TC / juice wine brewers. From what I can make out from Chippy_Tea's WOW topic, that's pretty much what I've done so far, minus any grape juice (mine is still bubbling away like mad after a week in primary!)

I'm no expert on this, so advice and ideas are appreciated!

 

[Chippy_Tea]

The only difference i can see is yours will be a lot stronger tasting, you have used 23 litres of Tesco apple juice and a bottle of lowicz raspberry syrup i use 10 litres of juice plus 1.5 litres of black tea to make 22.5 litres of wine plus glycerine for mouth feel.

 

[Crusty]

Ahh, ok. Cheers mate. Might run with it as a wine to see how it pans out. Tannin, along with pectolase and malic acid is already in the mix, so will chuck in some glycerin once the fermentation has calmed down.
Would I need to add that stuff to stop fermentation at some point to stop it going too dry?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

It depends how you like it, i let it go until its only bubbling once every couple of minutes then give it a week then finish it, i don't like very dry wine and the end result isn't.

 

[Crusty]

It depends how you like it, i let it go until its only bubbling once every couple of minutes then give it a week then finish it, i don't like very dry wine and the end result isn't.

Excellent, thanks for that mate.

 

[Crusty]

Well, mine has fermented out now. I decided against making a WOW, so will keep it as a strong TC. Ended up at 11%, but after a sneaky taste I was surprised how nice it tastes - you definitely get a lovely hint of raspberry / summer fruits. Not too harsh or overpowering at all. I've racked it to secondary to finish it off and added kwik klear finings, ready to bottle in a week or so. Looking forward to this one! :)

 

[Southerton]

Did you add rasberry syrup from the start crusty? I thought the idea was to add that before bottling which will cover the carbonation and flavour? Guess doing it your way has give it the strength. Where fermenting just Apple juice first gives it 5-6%.

I think I'll try the weak option and add syrup when racking to bottling bucket lol

 

[Crusty]

Yeah, I added the syrup at the start. It is strong, but tastes lovely!

With 23 litres of the stuff to get through, there will be some very drunk people at my place come BBQ time......

 

[Southerton]

Ha ha there will be for sure. I am yet to try my strawberry Tc it should be ready this weekend but I was pretty drunk Saturday from my keg cider of around 6% so a bit scared now lol

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Well, mine has fermented out now. I decided against making a WOW, so will keep it as a strong TC. Ended up at 11%,

That may not be as strong as a standard juice drink wine (WOW) at 13% - 14% but before making my own wine i was buying cheap white wine from ASDA that was only 9%, i wouldn't recommend drinking something as high as 11% by the pint.

 

[Crusty]

i wouldn't recommend drinking something as high as 11% by the pint.

Hell no! It'll be bottled in litre PET bottles, but will definitely be shared around. Not one to drink on your own!