First ever TC - pitched

[booldawg]

Made plenty of beer kits, AG brews and Ginger beer, thought I'd have a go at a TC.

Reading on here some people recommend adding grated Bramley apple and some tea! I did both...

I'm hoping the grated apple is meant to be bunged into the FV rather than just boiled with some AJ and then sieved in. TBH I'm rather worried about the apple bits blocking up the tap when its time to bottle. I hope they all sink to the bottom as the gravity gets less dense and ends up stuck in the yeast cake.

The OG was 1060 but I guess its alot more dense due to the apple bits rather than sugar content. Funnily enough when I pitched the yeast starter the OG went down to 1050...not sure why its only a 600ml starter.

Recipe is:

12L Apple Juice
1 cup of tea made with 3 teabags
3 x Bramley Apples (grated)

No extra sugars added.

[Tequilla6]

Well I got my 23L of Apple juice this morning along with a pack of local East Anglian Bramley apples.

I too have been looking for info on how to add the Bramleys but not found any details yet. I also decided that I would use some Earl Grey Tea as we still use loose leaf tea in this household, another dying art...sigh. I am hoping that besides the tannins that it is added for, that maybe some of the citrus Bergamot flavour will come out as a background flavours of the Turbo Cider.

Keep us posted on how it goes.

[Coppernicus]

I've just bottled my first ever TC and to be honest I'm slightly (read very) concerned about the smell...

The TC bubbled away for 10 days, that'll be the yeast munching its way through 150g of demerera I added for that extra little je ne sais quoi, and all was looking good until I removed the airlock.

I've decided to bottle the stuff anyway and leave it for a few months to see if it turns out alright.

Any ideas what could have caused the pong?

Recipe

5L Aldi apple juice
2 Bramleys boiled down with the juice added to the demi
150g demerera
wine yeast

[simple one]

What does it smell of?

[Coppernicus]

Definitely apples, but an underlying sulphur... not like eggs, but something not too far away

[simple one]

Hmmmm..... I would say, dont worry about it. Bottle it as normal. Put the bottles away in the warm for a few days, then in the cold for 2 ish weeks.

After bottling taste some. If it tastes horrid, dont dispare, HBs have a nasty habit of being a bit odd early on. Just sample after 2 weeks. If its still rubbish wait another 2. If its still horrid..... well thats when you have to start looking at what might have gone wrong.

- ferment temps or infections spring spring to mind. But it could be yeast type, apple juice type etc etc loads of things.

For now. Dont worry.

[Mitchamitri]

Cider is best fermented at a temp lower than beer - slow and patient, even if its called "turbo"!

[Tequilla6]

Well I followed the lead of booldawg and now have a batch of Cider on.

Recipe was as per Dreadskin's without the Honey and a different tea.

20 Litre Tesco Value Apple Juice
1-1/4 Litre Earl Grey Tea ( I Drank the other quarter litre, Can't brew a cuppa without having one yourself )
6 Large Donated Bramley Apples, Grated and bunged in

OG measured at 1052

Pitched with a large dollop of Brupak's Real Ale yeast, Just racked off my Alconbury Old and decided to use this yeast slurry as it was all I had available today. I do get impatient at times and couldn't wait and order the correct yeast online and I had a very good colony going down there in the sludge so thought I would give it a go. Anyone can see any issues I may encounter with the type of yeast I'm using? Should I add a cider or Champagne yeast to my next online order just in case I need to re-pitch a different yeast?

So if the Cider fermentation is meant to be better at a lower temperature than Ale what temperature should I be aiming for? I currently have it in the Kitchen as it's the coolest room in the house (North facing so no sun) but normally the beer room is at 19-20C. I guess at 12C the garage is going to be a little cold?

Does it matter in the end? I don't really like Cider and it's only going to be the SWMBO that is going to drink it anyways.... or is this stuff potentially good drinking that I maybe converted

[simple one]

I would say ferment at the bottom of the yeasts temperature profile. It can be as low as some larger yeasts, down to 12C or less.

Fermenting low means the yeast imparts the least amount of its charecter on the brew.... I guess cider isnt as complex as beer and doesnt hide it as well.

Am I missing a trick or something. I thought the idea was to leave the most body possible in the beer. Surely this is done by using a non agrresive yeast?

Am I wrong in thinking Wine yeasts are the most aggresive with ale yeasts least (generally)?

[DREADSKIN]

with cider its best to give it time and to forget about it for a while. just stick it somewere outta the way and dont worry about the temp. no need for beer belts or anything. cider is supposed to be easy. just wait till the apple fall out then rack, top up and leave and rack again and get the punkrock on and yer mates round... hell yeah

[Tequilla6]

Hows your first TC brew coming along booldawg

Checked mine and it was down to 1012 and pretty clear. Still slightly sweet and as I have just racked off my Alconbury Old and I had a spare FV I racked off the Cider to a clean vessel with a lock. Checked this morning and its still bubbling away at a steady pace. Gave the trail jar to SWMBO who said it tasted like Cider but a bit sweet still for her at the moment . So we will leave alone until the lock stop bubbling now I suppose. It's been 10 days for mine so yours is 2 days ahead. Whats it tasting like or have you not yet checked it out

[PMH0810]

I'm hoping the grated apple is meant to be bunged into the FV rather than just boiled with some AJ and then sieved in. TBH I'm rather worried about the apple bits blocking up the tap when its time to bottle. I hope they all sink to the bottom as the gravity gets less dense and ends up stuck in the yeast cake.

I siphoned out of the fv rather than use a tap and used a disposable muslin hop bag (£0.20), pre boiled for sanitisation, tied over the FV end to keep the apple bits in the fv.

TC with bramley tasted soooo good I am never going back to plain TC.