credit crunch cider

[THE EMBALMER]

my mate has brewed this and i am going for it dont know if any one on here has already done it but here goes,
go to tesco get 4x 750 mls or 2x 1.5ltr of double concentrate apple squash like below link:

http://www.tesco.com/superstore/xpi/5/xpi62308245.htm

1x kilo glucose fill fv to 20 litres add yeast and hay ho silver lining
i have tasted it and it tastes pretty good and all for under a fiver for 40 pints

[lukesharpe]

That juice contains Sodium Metabisulphite, will that not kill the yeast? How is it getting on by the way?

[wgardner]

Interested to hear the results on this one

[THE EMBALMER]

not drank too much of it myself but some one who likes sweet cider said it was not bad at all. i think the additive that messes with the yeast gets well diluted so must not upset fermentation too much. give it a go chaps got to be a fiver well spent for 18/20 litres of cider...

[lollypopp]

Never done this one, presumably you make it up with 17L of tap water? what strength does it finish at? and do you need cold tea for tannins? will certainly like to have a go at this one!!!

[DREADSKIN]

im goin to do this next. think of it people, no cartons and cartons of lydl apple juice taking up space in the bin!

as for tea, yeah, lots and i think im going to stick in the usual couple of bramleys and maybe a few pears too. aint done this yet and heard a few people on here have been doing it. i recon it may be a natural way to add a bit of non fermentable sweetness

[Alibee]

Am I missing something here?

3l double concentrate apple juice makes 6l of apple juice. If you make this up to 20l with water it will be exactly the same as TC made with 6l AJ and 14l water.

The classic TC recipes add bramleys and tea bags to a must that is 95% AJ already. So even if you add enough sugar for the alcohol it will be very low in acid and tannin.

If I was going to do it I would have 9l of concentrate plus 5 tea bags and 10 bramleys to make 20l.

Either that or put in 4 kilos of sugar so I wouldn't remenber drinking it.

Al

[trucker5774]

I guess you would have to add water to the concentrate until you have a gravity of about 1046 (around that of apple juice)That will give a reference point as to how much to use and the cost relative to cartons of juice

[DREADSKIN]

aye, what the trucker said. i was just going to get enough of it in till it tasted right then brew from there.

[Philipek]

That juice contains Sodium Metabisulphite, will that not kill the yeast? How is it getting on by the way?

I get the impression that sodium metabisulphite evaporates off or breaks down after a while. I read in a book about cider and wine making that every time you rack it you should add a campden tablet to de-oxygenate the cider/wine.

[moobli]

just done a version with the tesco summer berry double concentrate
1.5 litre bottle
340g blossom honey
1 litre of berry burst five alive
glug of plj
6.5 litres of water all the above warmed through enough to dissolve the honey
yeast nut
wine tannin
super wine yeast
all split into 2 dj.s and shaken well
hopefully by warming through that will kill the sod met in the juice
we shall see

[Mitchamitri]

"I get the impression that sodium metabisulphite evaporates off or breaks down after a while. I read in a book about cider and wine making that every time you rack it you should add a campden tablet to de-oxygenate the cider/wine."

sorry, but thats old and poor advice. if your processes are good and everything is sterile you shouldnt need a campden tablet at all. If you add a campden tablet to a gallon of cider when racking it will basically stop the fermentation (it may restart later). If you rack (and you probably dont need to) then rack with a cane at both ends to avoid putting too much air into the cider, remember that any unnecessary oxygen will soon be driven out by the c02 produced by the fermentation.

I avoid campden tablets where I can as a) they taste and b) they make your hangover worse.

Where I have used them before its either one in 5 gallons of tap water to drive off the chlorine (for AG brewing) or one in 5 gallons of real cider just after pressing. Leave it for a day and the effect of the tablet is driven off. I definitely wouldnt use a whole one in a demijohn despite what the instructions say, but i might put a part of one in to really determine the end of a fermentation of wine before bottling.

[EoinMag]

sorry, but thats old and poor advice. if your processes are good and everything is sterile you shouldnt need a campden tablet at all. If you add a campden tablet to a gallon of cider when racking it will basically stop the fermentation (it may restart later). If you rack (and you probably dont need to) then rack with a cane at both ends to avoid putting too much air into the cider, remember that any unnecessary oxygen will soon be driven out by the c02 produced by the fermentation.

It's actually standard advice in winemaking, not necessarilly cider, so I presume a lot of people apply it for cider on the basis of it being tried and tested for winemaking.

[KevP]

Am I missing something here?

3l double concentrate apple juice makes 6l of apple juice. If you make this up to 20l with water it will be exactly the same as TC made with 6l AJ and 14l water.

The classic TC recipes add bramleys and tea bags to a must that is 95% AJ already. So even if you add enough sugar for the alcohol it will be very low in acid and tannin.

If I was going to do it I would have 9l of concentrate plus 5 tea bags and 10 bramleys to make 20l.

Either that or put in 4 kilos of sugar so I wouldn't remenber drinking it.

Al

Tesco suggest it needs diluting one part juice to nine parts water, that would equate to 3litres needing 27litres water? Sounds just right.

[trucker5774]

Just off topic slightly................in winemaking (which I intend to try) at the end of fermentation as well as the addition of a campden tablet, they pour back and forth from vessel to vessel to "degas"..........I assume that post fermentation this is not an issue with regards to oxidising the brew? Just a thought! Anyone cover the basics for me, please?