Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

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bigdave

Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by bigdave » Thu Mar 29, 2012 10:45 pm

If I go shopping at Lidl on saturday and buy 20 ltrs of apple nectar, can I just chuck it in a plastic FV with a pack of champagne yeast and let it get on with it?

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keith1664
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Re: Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by keith1664 » Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:19 pm

You might want to open the packet first.

And perhaps a little tannin.
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Pinto
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Re: Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by Pinto » Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:47 pm

Pretty much, yes - the beauty of turbo cider :)

20l Apple Juice
Champagne Yeast (I'd consider a tsp of yeast nutrient with champers yeast as straight juice is a little short on em)
Cup of cold stewed tea (I use 4 teabags)

You can then either put it in the FV as a straight cider or play with the formulation - the above should come out ~6% without extra sugar fermentables, anything up to 12% with ! You also have a world of flavourings....cinnamon...clove.... or try to flavourings by adding other juices into the mix like pear, cranberry, etc

I'd note one thing tho - champagne or wine yeast will take the FG to below 1.000 (my last ones came out to 0.994) and though strong, they'll be "dry" on a whole new level and might need back sweetening. I've bought some ale yeast for my next batch and hopefully it'll crap out before the FG drops too low and i'll have a slightly sweeter batch
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oldbloke
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Re: Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by oldbloke » Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:27 am

What you're suggesting is the basic TurboCider recipe.
The Lidl apple nectar works well, better imnsho than their juice.
You almost certainly want to add some strong tea, for tannin (or use grape tannin from a homebrew shop)
I use about a half litre of strongish Earl Grey in each gallon
A proper cider yeast will give a nice crisp clean flavour
If you like slightly funky scrumpyish ciders, try a wine yeast like Gervin D
I know a chap who insists you must add malic acid and pectolase, but I never bother and it's fine - maybe not gourmet, but fine.
I do generally add nutrient, but it's not really needed, I do it out of habit.
A lot of people sub some of the apple juice with something else. Half a litre of cranberry per gallon works well.
It'll take 10 to 20 days to ferment, bottle when clear with 1/2tsp priming sugar per 500ml or pint. Then leave it somewhere warmish for a week, then somewhere cold for a fortnight.
It's then drinkable, but the longer you leave it the better it gets.
I make 2 gallons of it a month: we're not big drinkers, really, and there's that all that wine I keep making...

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Re: Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by oldbloke » Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:35 am

Pinto wrote: You can then either put it in the FV as a straight cider or play with the formulation - the above should come out ~6% without extra sugar fermentables, anything up to 12% with ! You also have a world of flavourings....cinnamon...clove.... or try to flavourings by adding other juices into the mix like pear, cranberry, etc
I did one with 4 cloves in a gallon, was good, the cloves weren't in your face but definitely rounded the flavour out
I've got one nearly ready to taste which had a half litre of Welch's grape/apple/pear juice mix in the gallon, thinking that should be pretty good.
I never add extra sugar - the 4.5 to 6 %ABV you get from straight juice is what I'm after, I like to be able to neck a few before falling over. ISTR the Lidl nectar yields pretty close to 5%.
I've been using Morrison's juice lately, bit cheaper and works well. In fact, accidentally bought their "juice drink" (cheaper) and it's fermenting OK - hope it tastes OK! It has a bit of citric in it and added sugar, so I guess there's less actual apple. Won't know about that one for a few weeks - am trying an ale yeast in it, as I had a half packet left over.

bigdave

Re: Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by bigdave » Fri Mar 30, 2012 7:49 am

Cheers lads. If I use cider yeast will I get something dry but drinkable? I'm hoping to encourage SWMBO to drink it and she hates the really dry stuff.

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Re: Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by oldbloke » Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:03 am

bigdave wrote:Cheers lads. If I use cider yeast will I get something dry but drinkable? I'm hoping to encourage SWMBO to drink it and she hates the really dry stuff.
It's generally easiest to ferment it to dry, coz it's hard to stop the ferment and still get carbonation: risk of bottle bombs etc
So then you add a bit of non-fermentable sweetener, eg Splenda
Or, some people serve it mixed with a bit of juice.

Mine have always been dry, but not /bone/ dry.

bigdave

Re: Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by bigdave » Fri Mar 30, 2012 11:43 am

So if I ferment it out with a cider or champagne yeast and add splenda along with the fermentable sugars required for conditioning, it'll sweeten it up a bit?..hmm... sounds quite easy!! Is there any guide as to how much sweetener to add per gallon or is it trial and error??

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Re: Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by oldbloke » Fri Mar 30, 2012 12:40 pm

I've seen people mention 1tsp/pint and 2Tbsp/gallon
ISTR 2Tbsp is 6 tsp, so looks like _up_to a tsp/pint

bigdave

Re: Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by bigdave » Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:10 pm

Cheers.

Do the same rules apply regarding oxidisation as they do with beer or can I slosh cider about a bit when bottling?

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Re: Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by trucker5774 » Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:20 pm

John

Drinking/Already drunk........ Trucker's Anti-Freeze (Turbo Cider), Truckers Delight, Night Trucker, Rose wine, Truckers Hitch, Truckers Revenge, Trucker's Lay-by, Trucker's Trailer, Flower Truck, Trucker's Gearshift, Trucker's Horn, Truck Crash, Fixby Gold!

Conditioning... Doing what? Get it down your neck! ........

FV 1............
FV 2............
FV 3............
Next Brews..... Trucker's Jack Knife

bigdave

Re: Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by bigdave » Fri Mar 30, 2012 3:26 pm

Looks like a good way of working! Think I may have a go at that! Cheers :D

With regard to sloshing cider about, I don't currently own a bottling stick so theres going to be a fair amount of sloshing going on when bottling. will that f*** things up or is cider more forgiving?

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Re: Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by oldbloke » Fri Mar 30, 2012 7:08 pm

You want to minimise the sloshing, really.

shazza

Re: Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by shazza » Sat Mar 31, 2012 2:03 am

Greetings ,Brothers in booze. One major omission from the TC recipe is Honey:some non-fermentable carbs contained therein give a superior mouthfeel (body) and a slight sweetness.I use one to two 454g jars per twenty-something brew.
Also,but not quite as crucial,is the addition of pulped Bramleys to closer replicate the taste of true cider apples as the store bought juice is sourced from eating(as opposed to cooking) apples.I use 3 average size Bramleys per brew.Wash 'em,finely chop in food processor and stick in a muslin bag and add to brew.On racking day squeeze bag to maximize extraction.
This stuff is called Turbo for a reason:Drink it cloudy,drink it still (or cut with red lemonade),but drink it quickly.The stuff I'm quaffing tonight (Friday) was AJ last Sunday.

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Re: Can I just throw yeast at apple juice?

Post by super_simian » Sat Mar 31, 2012 5:14 am

Just a note on the artificial sweeteners; most of the diet sugars leave an unpleasant mouth coating sweetness behind, which is really un-natural. Also, they don't "feel" right because the liquid is thin and "dry-feeling" but sweet. Stevia is a natural non-sugar (and hence non-fermentable) sweetener which I've used in the past. It overcomes the first issue, but not the second. Cutting with apple juice at serving is probably the best option.

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