Turbo cider, first timer

[Somnophore]

I've made sloe gin etc for years and have thought about making cider, I want to start with a turbo cider to get some experience, I got 5 litres of apple juice from sainsburys 56p/l 100% juice from concentrate, I've read some threads here and elsewhere, I have a few questions.

Do I need pectolase? If so why?

What is yeast nutrient? Why do some recipes say use it and others don't mention it?

Any other tips greatly appreciated.

 

[oldbloke]

Yeast nutrient is a mix of chemicals that yeast likes to have around to get going. Anywhere you can buy yeast will have it, so you may as well.

I've never bothered with pectolase in TC, but many do. Maybe depends on the juice you use. Can't hurt, doesn't cost much, but if you can't find any go ahead without and maybe resign yourself to cloudy cider (mine never has been though)

You almost certainly want to add some tannin - chuck in a cup of strong tea.

Straight juice gives about 5 %ABV. Add sugar if you want more - IIRC it's 100g/litre per 1%ABV

You'll be surprised how good it is with such basic (and cheap) ingredients.
It varies by juice used and yeast used.
A proper cider yeast (eg "Young's Cider Yeast") should give a crisper cider, but a wine yeast may give a fuller flavour. I like Gervin D, SB24.

I let it ferment until it's obviously starting to clear (may not be abvious the first time), 7 to 10 days usually, then bottle with 1/2tsp sugar per pint.
It finishes clearing in the bottle, somewhere warm for a week then somewhere cold for a couple more to condition it.
It's drinkable then but will improve more with time.

 

[RobWalker]

pectolase is more important in fresh juice, but you can add a little if you want, this should settle out fine though!

nutrient is recommended for stuff like this because of the low nutrient content of the must juice itself - beer is full of protein and all sorts, cider is just a simple sugar, so it helps the yeast perform better. I hear a teaspoon of tomato puree substitues well if you don't wanna buy it!

Only really one tip. Clear it, and expect it to be a lot better after 3 months of ageing than it is just after fermentation. sulphur smell is normal.

 

[Somnophore]

Ok well I'm going to pop to the local home brew shop at some point today or early next week, I will see what I can get.

I want to make real cider come autumn so this is practice really.

What bottles would you use to bottle it, I want to prime with sugar as I want a fizzy cider.

I heard champagne yeast is good for TC is that right?

So around 5l I'd add 1kg of sugar to get 7%

 

[Springer]

I just use the tea as mentioned. In my early days I thought it would ferment down to a final gravity similar to beer, big mistake, 996 is more the figure, produced quite a potent cider. :lol:
The sure way of determining strength is to use a hydrometer to measure the specific gravity at start and end and then use the forum calculator at top left of page.
Its all out there, with a forum search.
Happy Brewing
S

 

[oldbloke]

If you can scrounge some real cider bottles for your local they're ideal. I use mostly Crabbies alc ginger beer bottles lately. If you expect to get through a fair bit each time, PETs (ex-water or ex-softfizzydrink) from the supermarket may be best of all: they can take all the pressure you can throw at them.

 

[Somnophore]

How are you stopping the old bottles?

 

[screamlead]

Get some replacement bottle caps and a capper. Local HBS should have them in. :

 

[oldbloke]

How are you stopping the old bottles?

Crown corks. I found I never got carbonation with the plastic caps.
I have a 2-handled capper and a hammer-it-on capper. I currently prefer the hammer one, but I'm weird.
I'm saving up for a bench capper.

PETs with their screwtops would be a lot simpler, but I just happen to like glass.
Even though making sure they're clean can be a bit of a pain...

 

[evanvine]

Careful with the sugar!
100gms per litre will raise the gravity by 36 points, this in turn will increase the ABV by 4.9%.
Apple juice from concentrate needs neither pectin enzymes nor yeast nutrient, but it does need tannin.
It is also worth adding 1 Campden Tablet per 4.5 liters to prevent oxidation (sherry taste).

 

[RobWalker]

Sherry...cardboard...vinegar...however you describe effects of air exposure, its always undesirable, and very easy to avoid using a syphon for the most part :p

 

[oldbloke]

Careful with the sugar!
100gms per litre will raise the gravity by 36 points, this in turn will increase the ABV by 4.9%.
Apple juice from concentrate needs neither pectin enzymes nor yeast nutrient, but it does need tannin.
It is also worth adding 1 Campden Tablet per 4.5 liters to prevent oxidation (sherry taste).

Ah, it's 100g/GALLON per 1%ABV (approx), not the 100g/litre I originally said.
Luckily for me I want several-pints-per-session cider, not strong stuff, so I've never added sugar

 

[RobWalker]

This is the exact reason my apple cider that's conditioning is an apple wine :p

 

[Somnophore]

Hey guy thanks for the advice, popped into the local home brew shop in northwich today and picked up the bits I need. What I wanted to ask was

Do I just pitch the yeast into the whole amount of juice? Or do I need to start it off somehow? I don't have yeast nutrient but do have tomato purée, do I put this in at the same time as the yeast or before/after.

 

[oldbloke]

I always follow the instructions on the yeast packet. Some say just chuck it in, some say rehydrate in a bit of sugary water first.
You can't go wrong if you rehydrate first, it's just you may not have needed to - but it only takes 20 minutes.
IIRC a typical packet for up to 5gallons wants to be rehydrated in about 50ml of water with a teaspoon of sugar dissolved in it, and they typically say 35C.
Any hotter may kill it, much cooler it won't rehydrate as well as it might have.
After 20 mins it's ready to go into the main brew and will have cooled enough that it won't get temperature shock if your stuff is anywhere over 20.
If you should have rehydrated but didn't, or did it badly, the yeast will almost certainly still work- just more slowly at first.
You can get away with a lot in this hobby, actually. Don't tell the outsiders, though.

 

[Somnophore]

Well I've got a batch on, champagne yeast but forgot The tea, will see how it turns out and will add tea to the next lot.

 

[evanvine]

You can get away with a lot in this hobby

+ 1000 for that. :thumb:

 

[evanvine]

Well I've got a batch on, champagne yeast but forgot The tea, will see how it turns out and will add tea to the next lot.

I always add my tea, sweetner and CTs after the ferment.
Mind you I don't bottle, it goes straight into the keg.

 

[Somnophore]

Right well I might do that then, I am bottling and want fizzy cider,
What SG should it be when I bottle it? Do I don't need to add campden tablets after the ferment do I because I need the yeast to create carbonation in the bottle.

 

[oldbloke]

I never Campden cider or beer when I bottle. It doesn't really get the chance to oxidise, and the live yeast is capable of clearing up a little bit of oxidation.
I never bother checking the gravity either - after the first couple of times you can tell by the colour when it's ready to bottle, it starts to clear.
But I bottle just before I can fully see through it. Even if you leave it until it's fully clear, there should be enough live yeast for the in-bottle carbonation.