Simple turbo cider experiment

[gouranga]

I was bored the other day and decided to do a poor attempt of knocking up turbo cider with what I had lying around. I've worked as a baker in the past and toured a few breweries so I know a thing or two, but not much. Recipe is (from interpreting several other attempts I'd seen on the Internet):

- 2l tesco value water bottle, milton'ed (sterilising tabs) and rinsed out.
- 2l of apple juice (kids are on holiday for 2 weeks so I nicked 10 of their apple juice cartons )
- 75g sugar to feed the yeast.
- 1/2 tsp allinsons bread yeast (all I had)
- milton'ed balloon as an airlock, with a pin hole.

It went absolutely crazy for about 2 days making smells resembling a tramp after a few white lightnings but has settled down now to no gas output. The colour went from clear apple juice to cloudy dark but is now light. It's still cloudy.

So: do I rack it? Do I drink it? Do I throw it away?

I purchased a DJ, airlock, cider yeast and some better apple juice for a more professional attempt btw...

 

[Laurin]

Its probably good if you get a hydrometer, so you can check if fermentation has stopped (having the same reading a couple of days apart). Even if it not as vigorous there is probably still fermentation going on. Leave it for another week or so.

Making cider from juice definitely benefits adding a couple of things such as malic acid and pectolase. Have a look here on this thread viewtopic.php?f=39&t=23241&p=224696&hilit=turbo+cider#p224696

 

[graysalchemy]

Welcome to the forum gouranga and congratulations on making your first TC. :thumb: :thumb:

Many of the videos and recipes about are from people just wanting to make a quick alcoholic liquor out of apples which is fine if you want to be reminded of you miss spent youth sat on a park bench. But if you are a little more dicerning and want to make a tasty cider then you will need to make a few additions.

Cider from just fermenting apple juice made from dessert apples (which is what carton juice is made from) can be quite bland and insipid. This is because cider apples differ from desert apples in that they have a lot of tannin and malic acid ( which in general makes them inedible). So for good TC you need to add 1 tsp of malic acid and 1tsp of tannin per gallon.

Secondly if you want clear cider then you will need to add 1tsp per gallon of pectolase.

Thirdly wine cider and beer all get some of their flavour profile from the yeast. Yeast is very important so you would be better off using a proper cider yeast or if you can't get that a wine yeast.

Finally for great cider you need time and plenty of it a good 2-3 months aging preferably 6.

Good luck with your venture and let us know how you get on. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[gouranga]

Thanks both for the suggestions and tips - much appreciated. Trip to wilkos tomorrow - will pick up some pectolase, mallic acid, some teabags and a hydrometer and get experimenting :)

This is all inspired by the very under-used huge desert apple tree in my garden (I live where there was once an orchard any there are a few trees left). I managed to get 63Kg of apples off it last year but can't turn all of that into Apple Pie :)

 

[graysalchemy]

:thumb: :thumb:

Glad to see some one is open to advice

Thanks

 

[evanvine]

GA's advice is spot on if you like your Cider dry!
I prefer the sharp edge taken off (medium dry) so I omit the Malic acid and add 1.5 tbls of Splensa per gallon.
I also add one Campden tablet per gallon, as, like wine, cider is notorious for oxidising.
Happy Cider making.

 

[theboytony]

If you decide to put the malic acid in at the start before fermentation and leave it long enough to mature so that the malo-lactic fermentation takes place then you should end up with a smoother cider, however if you don't leave it long enough (atleast 6 months) then you will end up with a sharper cider. As with most things in brewing patience is the key. So basically if you want a quickie cider don't bother with the malic and if you don't mind a wait stick it in.

 

[Leo]

as the malo-lactic fermentation converts the malic acid to lactic acid, is there any reason not to simply use lactic acid from the beginning when making cider this way?

 

[evanvine]

as the malo-lactic fermentation converts the malic acid to lactic acid, is there any reason not to simply use lactic acid from the beginning when making cider this way?

Now there's a damn fine question, I also would like to know the answer!

 

[theboytony]

as the malo-lactic fermentation converts the malic acid to lactic acid, is there any reason not to simply use lactic acid from the beginning when making cider this way?

Now there's a damn fine question, I also would like to know the answer!

Seeing as though we are talking about turbo cider I would say give it a go and see what happens. The malo lactic fermentation doesn't only produce lactic acid, there are other acids it produces but this depends largely on the ph of the cider.

 

[graysalchemy]

What you are trying to do with the addition on malic and also tannin is to emulate the levals of those two compounds that are present in Cider apple Juice and allow it to evolve naturally as Tony says not just malic acid is produced as with all biotic fermentation's other processes will take place also and produce other chemicals which will add to the aroma and taste.

Also the aging process in cider is one of the most important steeps weather malo lactic fermentation takes place or not. Without it 'cider' is simply just insipid and watery just like the cheap ciders found in the on supermarket shelves which in most cases are not made from 100% apple juice and are certainly not aged.