Question on demijohns/containers

[Marc]

Hello there, this is my first post! So be kind

The only thing iv made so far in my short brewing career is lager.. Iv been reading up on peoples posts about Turbo Cider, as it seems to be a good thing for beginners to experiment with!

Now I dont have a demijohn, just 25litre fermenting bins and a keg. Will these be ok to try with the cider? If so how much of everything should I include (ingredients)..?

If not, is there anything I can make to use. Like a water bottle from the shops, the 5litre ones? and attach an air lock (or wont I need one?)

Sorry if im being incredibly stupid guys. If I dont ask, I wont learn

[wasted]

I’m only a beginner myself (since Monday). I’ve got Turbo’s going in 5 litre orange squash bottles. I drilled a hole in the caps for airlocks. They are really fizzing.

[Marc]

So it is possible to make it without a demijohn! Cheers Wasted. The cider looks nice, what have you used?

A question about the Airlock, can I just 'half screw' the lid on so the gas can escape as I only have one Airlock and im currently using it! Or will I be better off just drilling a hole and leaving it?

[Chappie519]

You could put a bit of pipe in the hole and the other end in a bottle of water - to create your own airlock?

Good luck with the cider!

[prodigal2]

Basically if it is plastic of a food grade you can ferment in it

Don't forget even with a virginal 5l spring water, you will need to sterilize before you use it for fermentation.

Oh and any cheap 100% apple juice will do.

[Marc]

Thanks people!

If I want to make it strong, 8% upwards how much honey or sugar should I use and when should I include it..?

I know the method I wanna use, found one by Des

Method:
1. Place 3 li of Apple Juice into a demijohn(assuming everything is sterile)
2. Place 1 tsp yeast into the demijohn
3. Shake
4. Leave for 36-48 hrs to ferment then top up with remaining of the juice( can't fill right up at the start as it will foam quite a bit)
5. Leave to fermment out
6. Rack off and drink ( or if you like cider fizzy then prime as usual)

[prodigal2]

Thanks people!

If I want to make it strong, 8% upwards how much honey or sugar should I use and when should I include it..?

I know the method I wanna use, found one by Des

Method:
1. Place 3 li of Apple Juice into a demijohn(assuming everything is sterile)
2. Place 1 tsp yeast into the demijohn
3. Shake
4. Leave for 36-48 hrs to ferment then top up with remaining of the juice( can't fill right up at the start as it will foam quite a bit)
5. Leave to fermment out
6. Rack off and drink ( or if you like cider fizzy then prime as usual)

Follow Des's instructions as he is the TC guru
I know tubby shaw or des might chime in with their yeast preferences

[subzero]

Welcome Marc and great you want to try some TC. Ive done 2 so far botteld the 2nd today and got one more left.

Follow Des's instructions as he is the TC guru
I know tubby shaw or des might chime in with their yeast preferences

Ive used Youngs yeast from wilkos, but recently frought 5 packs of unicorn yeast from ebay (dont hit me haha). Preparing to make 5 gallons. ^_^

But unfortuantly i have not tried any of my TC's currently in fridge bottled and waiting. My first batch will be had at xmas as it's made from cinamon and cloves. ^_^

[Marc]

Welcome Marc and great you want to try some TC. Ive done 2 so far botteld the 2nd today and got one more left.

Cheers mate!

Any tips on increasing the alcohol volume? Im wanting a strong cider..

[Marc]

You can increase the abv% by adding sugar but don't forget this will thin the flavour and the overall quality drops. Generally the avb % of cider depends on the crop of apples/gravity of the juice used to make it.

Noted!

Thanks DaaB

[tubby_shaw]

If you want stronger cider add more fermentables.
You can add granulated sugar, glucose, honey, golden syrup, maple syrup etc.
The whole fun part of TC is it's easy to make and cheap so experiment
If you want to know how strong the resulting brew is going to be you will need to buy a hydrometer.
The formula is original gravity minus final gravity (Ignore the decimal point) divided by 7.4
So OG 1065 divided by FG 1000 = 65
65 divided by 7.4 = 8.8 % abv

The specific gravity of most supermarket apple juice is around 1.055 ish and this will give you a cider of about 7% abv, which is strong enough IMO

As P2 said yeast is important if you want to make something that tastes like real cider rather than rough White lightening
The best yeast is White labs WLP 775 but the youngs cider yeast is an acceptable alternative

[Marc]

If you want stronger cider add more fermentables.
You can add granulated sugar, glucose, honey, golden syrup, maple syrup etc.
The whole fun part of TC is it's easy to make and cheap so experiment
If you want to know how strong the resulting brew is going to be you will need to buy a hydrometer.
The formula is original gravity minus final gravity (Ignore the decimal point) divided by 7.4
So OG 1065 divided by FG 1000 = 65
65 divided by 7.4 = 8.8 % abv

The specific gravity of most supermarket apple juice is around 1.055 ish and this will give you a cider of about 7% abv, which is strong enough IMO

As P2 said yeast is important if you want to make something that tastes like real cider rather than rough White lightening
The best yeast is White labs WLP 775 but the youngs cider yeast is an acceptable alternative

I'll hopefully have a hydrometer next week, cant wait to start experimenting with it all!

Thank you for the gravity info! It's amazing how beginners like me can learn so fast from a board like this!

[subzero]

Thank you for the gravity info! It's amazing how beginners like me can learn so fast from a board like this!

These are very good forums with a great bunch of people with alot of knowledge and freindly, glad your enjoying HB. ^_^, Also Ebay can be your freind for buying bits. ^_^

[Marc]

Thank you for the gravity info! It's amazing how beginners like me can learn so fast from a board like this!

These are very good forums with a great bunch of people with alot of knowledge and freindly, glad your enjoying HB. ^_^, Also Ebay can be your freind for buying bits. ^_^

Yeah I bought a 30 litre fermenting bin and a vodka kit off it! Next on my list is the hydrometer.

The Vodka is bubbling away as we type. Heard some bad storys about brewing it, with it turning black ect due to the liquid carbon.

Hoping mine turns out ok!

[Weedy SD]

A question about the Airlock, can I just 'half screw' the lid on so the gas can escape as I only have one Airlock and im currently using it! Or will I be better off just drilling a hole and leaving it?

I didn't have an airlock, so I just put a bit of foil over the top of the coke bottle while it was fermenting, then put the lid back on to let it mature. It tasted pretty good after a couple of weeks.