My son wants some cider...

[Vince4]

I'm not much of a cider drinker and have never made it, since I usually prefer stouts, but I thought I'd give it a go in a spare demijohn. I read quite a number of posts and came up with a copy & paste recipe that I hope will work. Any additions or steps I have missed out? I'm not quite sure about quantities or what I top up with? Also, how long should this take to ferment at about 22C?

3.5l apple juice, (buy 5l & keep 1 for priming)... any brand, but not cloudy and no sorbate or sulphite preservatives in it.
0.5l cranberry juice,
0.5l tea,
1tsp yeast nutrient,
cider yeast
200g fresh ginger sliced

Method
Standard sanitising regime.
Rehydrate the yeast, or even make a starter, if your yeast needs it;
Chuck everything in the fermenter, leaving decent headspace;
Top up after initial vigorous ferment dies down.
Ferment it right out, bottle it primed with apple juice as the sugar source for priming. Keep spare apple juice to prime, you need about 50ml to each 500ml/pint bottle

[Pinto]

Looks legit I prime with sugar as I prefer more fizz. Also helps to follow the rule of thumb "one in the warm, two in the cold" (weeks) to allow it to carb up and mature before drinking it.

I'd get extra apple juice in too - turbo ciders are that easy and moreish you'll be making your next batch soon

[oldbloke]

I prime with sugar. If you're going with juice, remember to put the priming juice in the bottles first, it'll be hard to stop filling at the right point otherwise!

Looks like some of your recipe is from posts I've made. Just a warning- I've said bottle when it clears, but my last two batches have lacked carbonation and have no sediment in the bottles. Clearly I left it too late and the yeast was completely gone. I know one lot was clear plus a week, coz I got busy with other stuff. So, bottle when clear but no later. If you have a "it'll be clear tomorrow" feeling, go with that. Like ale it'll finish clearing in the bottles.

[Vince4]

Thanks oldbloke. Yes, your posts were very helpful. I just wanted to write it down so that the recipe and method were clear in my head. Just to be clear, are you talking about it clearing when it finishes fermenting in the demijohn? I would usually leave it to finish fermenting, test the SG and bottle if ready whether clear or not.

[oldbloke]

Yes, I normally let it run until I can see through the demijohn well enough to read large print, then bottle.
I may be bottling a little before that in future!
Or...
Fill all the bottles, retrieve a bit of the yeasty trub and add a little to each, to make sure there's some yeast in the bottles!

If you're taking gravity readings, that's your guide. I don't usually bother, but at last I've had a case where it would have been a damn good idea!

[Vince4]

Turned out very well for a first attempt, so thanks oldbloke .
I actually achieved a pretty fizzy cider, so priming with juice worked well. It was very dry with slight lemony overtones and a taste of salt somewhere??? but not unpleasant. I'm going to try another one, but would like a more appley taste (controversial I know). Any suggestions?

[oldbloke]

Concentrate instead of juice.
Costs a bit more and ups the ABV a bit but you can easily get at least 14% more actual apple in.
I always base my TC recipes on Suma concentrate now

[scotsloon]

@oldbloke,
How much concentrate would you suggest for a 23L batch?

[oldbloke]

My starting point when deciding what to do is 500ml concentrate, 500ml standard AJ, 500ml something else, tannin, sweetener, yeast, nutrient.
That'll get you up to about 6 to 6.5%. I might add more standard AJ, sometimes when I've had the 5l of concentrate instead of the bottles I've upped that to 600ml. Starts to get a bit special-occasion-strong then though.
Multiply up by 5 for 23l (well, 22.5)
Try an ale yeast, may give a softer flavour and leave a little residual sweetness to counteract the fermented-out dryness.