2 Gallons of Turbo Cider

[Wez]

Hi Lindemans, not sure about the yeast thing never used the wine yeast so don't know, maybe one of the other guy's who has used it can help on that one. I have used S-04 which I use in AG beer making before and it turned out fine.

What can you expect to get........bladdered! Did you take a hydrometer reading before pitching the yeast, if you did you can work out who strong it is by taking another reading when you bottle (pre priming) subtract this from the orignial reading and divide by 7.45 to give you a ball park abv. My Example OG 1054 FG 1000 54 / 7.45 = 7.24%

With regard to time it'll take a week to two weeks to finish fermenting, you'll know it's stopped fermenting when the small bubbles stop rising and it starts to look a bit clearer, take a hydro reading that'll tell you.

I'm going to try to leave mine in the bottles for a month, curiosity will kick in though and i'll probably end up having a bottle in two weeks time

It's really rewarding making something nice yourself

Let us know how you get on, when did you kick it off?

[lindemans]

Hi Lindemans, not sure about the yeast thing never used the wine yeast so don't know, maybe one of the other guy's who has used it can help on that one. I have used S-04 which I use in AG beer making before and it turned out fine.

What can you expect to get........bladdered! Did you take a hydrometer reading before pitching the yeast, if you did you can work out who strong it is by taking another reading when you bottle (pre priming) subtract this from the orignial reading and divide by 7.45 to give you a ball park abv. My Example OG 1054 FG 1000 54 / 7.45 = 7.24%

With regard to time it'll take a week to two weeks to finish fermenting, you'll know it's stopped fermenting when the small bubbles stop rising and it starts to look a bit clearer, take a hydro reading that'll tell you.

I'm going to try to leave mine in the bottles for a month, curiosity will kick in though and i'll probably end up having a bottle in two weeks time

It's really rewarding making something nice yourself

Let us know how you get on, when did you kick it off?

Thanks a lot Wez for getting back to me so quickly.

This is my first attempt at any brewing so I'm afraid I didn't take a hydrometer reading but thanks for the tip . I have added a hydrometer to my things to get list.

I was just a bit worried by the lack of action in the bottle when I added the yeast that was all and was just a little concerned that i had buggered it up.
I was expecting an alka seltzer style explosion but I realize I'm just being naive and impatient. After all. I only kicked it off at about 7.30 !!! Just so keen though you see.

I'll get back to you.

[Wez]

I was expecting an alka seltzer style explosion but I realize I'm just being naive and impatient. After all. I only kicked it off at about 7.30 !!! Just so keen though you see.

Nothing wrong with being keen It'll be fizzing away by tomorrow morning, what temperature are you fermenting it at, the room that I did mine in was around 20 degrees.

[lindemans]

You know I didn't even consider that!!! I'm such an amateur. I banged it out in the shed. I'll bring it inside tomorrow and keep it in the spare room.

Thanks again Wez, think I have found a turbo cider mentor. Cheers.

[Wez]

Thanks again Wez, think I have found a turbo cider mentor. Cheers.

I'm no expert, there are other guy's here who know far more than me I just fermented it in the same temperature range that I do my all grain beers 18 - 20 degrees.

I'd bring it in tonight if you can try not to get it too warm though....then again your shed might be perfect, add a max min thermometer to that shopping list

[Wez]

lindemans - how's it going?

[lindemans]

lindemans - how's it going?

Well it's now Saturday afternoon and it's been on since Monday. There has been a change in the air....literally. It most definitely smells like booze now and it has almost gone completely still. There is a nice thick white layer of build up at the bottom and no air lock action at all. Looks cloudy.

So Wez, what do you recommend I do next? Should I transfer to another container when it has totally settled and leave it to clear for a week or so?

Or I have six 750 ml glass bottles. Could I prime 3 with sugar and 3 with original apple juice and leave for a week?

Any more advice would be appreciated. Thanks Wez.

[Wez]

If you aren't getting any more bubbles passing through the airlock and it's still cloudy it sounds like it's time to bottle. It difficult to say without a hydrometer though, you could taste it to see how sweet or dry it is, sweet means that there is more sugar to ferment still dry means it's been turned into alcohol.

With regard to priming I use 1tsp sugar in 500ml bottles leave them in the warm for a few days then transfer somewhere cold to clear, go with 1 to 1 and a half tsp (it'll be quite fizzy) you'll end up with sediment at the bottom of the bottles (but I guess you'd already figured that out)

I haven't ever primed with AJ so can't comment on that. Think that Frothy or Tubby_shaw has though

Sound like it's going well

[lindemans]

My TC is now resting in a big pressure barrel with the lid loosely fastened on. It is really quite dark and cloudy and it is smelling a bit like vinegar if I'm honest.

I will leave it resting for at least another week and see what happens.

Can u let me know what the difference is between finings and campden tablets and tell me what they do please Wez??

[Wez]

Give it a taste, sure it's fine.

Finings are used to clear down yeast and proteins from teh brew campden tablets are used to treat water they also stop yeast working.

[fivetide]

I followed advice to prime with AJ at a rate of 30ml per pint bottle and it made sparkling cider with minimal sediment and a better taste than I had hoped for. But I took the approach of letting the ferment drop clear in the primary both times and only made gallon batches on both occasions to methods used by other guys on here. Why not suck some of yours up with a sanitised tube or straw, put your thumb over the end and take a sample? I bet it doesn't taste of vinegar, more like homemade cider with a turbo kick!

[Wez]

Had a bottle of this tonight and OMG i've just saved myself loads of cash, this is easily as good as the £1.59 per bottle supermarket 'premium cider'

[MickyD]

I made my Sainsburys AJ TC with Youngs Wine yeast. It brewed out in 4 days !!. Have been drinking it this weekend, literally 8 days after starting it. I primed the bottles like Fivetide with 30ml of Apple Juice.

And its great. The bottles have a real champagne style pop when you open them.



Tastes like cider, looks like cider kicks like a mule.

[lindemans]

I made my Sainsburys AJ TC with Youngs Wine yeast. It brewed out in 4 days !!. Have been drinking it this weekend, literally 8 days after starting it. I primed the bottles like Fivetide with 30ml of Apple Juice.

And its great. The bottles have a real champagne style pop when you open them.



Tastes like cider, looks like cider kicks like a mule.

I'm a bit jealous MickyD yours looks great in comparison to mine.

I made a mistake somewhere along the line cos mine has turned orange, it looks like orange cordial and it tastes horrible. I have a mate who drinks absolutely anything and he wouldn't even sip it after he smelt it .
I'll leave it for a week and hopefully it will pull itself back from the brink and not end up getting flushed down the bog.

I'm not too disheartened , just a little frustrated but I'm not going to give up on the home brew quite yet. Gonna start a new one this week based on Subzero's lemon brew recipe so hopefully I'll get this one right.

well at least drinkable.

[lindemans]

Just having a read around and it seems to me I may have not cleaned something correctly and it has infected the brew. That looks the most likely cause to me.

Lesson learned there I think