Cider

[lockwood1956]

Hi Bob/Kmoorman/All,

Thanks for the advice so far.

Bob - when would you actually bottle the cider though? Do you do so when still 'milky' with the yeast and fermenting a little, per kmoorman's suggestion, even though you have also racked the cider once unlike his suggestion, or do you bottle once the fermentation has finished or has seemingly finished primary fermentation or additionally; only once the racked cider has also cleared?? Do you use a hydrometer at any stage, if so, what readings are you looking for and when; also 1.000 or something different?

To anyone! .... What temperatures (in celsius ideally) am I looking for during the primary fermentation, secondary fermentation &/or clearing stages. From everything to do with brewing I've read so far it seems most brews are recommended for 18 - 25 C for primary, but I've got no info on at what temperatures secondary/clearing take place, save that on my Geordie bitter, which seems to suggest a lower temperature than that for primary is better for secondary/clearing/conditioning.

An update: the cinnamon & ginger turbo cider smells devine! First fermentation has started in the 4.5 gallon of turbo, though not quite up to speed yet, it will be in no more than hours from now! A 1g turbo I racked has almost cleared (I'm making that one dry & still) ... And my first carbonation experiment continues with 3 x 1 Litre bottles bottled a couple of days ago .... which I'm keeping at 20 - 22 C for now, knowing no better! The vodka kit has cleared almost completely first time through .... need to rack that tomorrow for the first time.

My plum wine is supposed to be ready for sweetnening, preserving and bottling tomorrow, though it doesn't look clear ...

TIA,

Brewnut

I like to fement it to below 1.000 if possible, then rack so it is clear, then add sugar for priming if I want to, otherwise just drink as is.

As to fermentation temperatures:
Don't get too caught up in trying to control temps, I think It's more important that the temperature is stable, but the temp ranges you have quoted are just fine, inside those ranges should be fine. We dont get the really high temps here, but if we get a cold snap then a brew belt will help.

Give the plum wine more time, plum is notoriously slow to clear, make sure it is properly de-gassed, top it up properly and let it sit....I have some that has been clearing very slowly for weeks and weeks now, I would much rather let it clear on its own than add chemicals. My next batch of Plum will have much more pectolase (pectic enzyme) added.

regards
Bob

[hong]

Bob, i like the idea of priming into a secondry vessel, but how much sugar would you put in and would you simply add neat sugar to a bucket, then syphon cider into it, then stir it all up until the sugar dissloves or would you not dissolve the sugar? Also, i like to prime with honey, how would you do it with honey?
cheers for any help

[Grymhammer]

Just because I am new, want to confirm.

This 4.5g turbo cider batch, takes the same time (generally) as the 1g batch? I am making the 1g batch this evening, but I'd love to go larger with a second batch.

I will use Lalvin 71B-1122 yeast, but don't want 14% cider. Once it runs out of my 1 cup sugar, will it die off, or do I need to kill it to be safe? I have chemicals to do so if needed.

[lockwood1956]

Once all the sugar in it has fermented out (fermented dry) it will stop, it wont start again unless more sugar is available (i.e. you add more sugar) although you can inhibit yeast activity by stabilising with Potassium Sorbate/campden if you wish to sweeten it. If you sweeten without stabilising then ferment will start again, and at each addition of sugar it will start again, until the yeast reaches its alcohol tolerance.

14% is the alcohol tolerance of the yeast, that doesnt mean your brew will reach that level, unless the starting gravity was 1.100 or so, or you kept feeding it sugar to reach that level

hope this helps
regards
Bob

[brewnut]

Thanks to Bob

.... I'm learning more and more each day .....!

.... So now I know how to sweeten a turbo cider; add a campden tablet, then sweeten!

I posted somewhere Pat's a star .... it seems so are you too, Bob!

Brewnut!

[brewnut]

To Grymhammer

Grymhammer

Just to let you know, adding one gup of sugar to a 1 gallon batch increases ABV from about 5.5 to about 7.2. From which you can work out you can take it to 8.8 with two cups; 10.5 with three cups.

I am using a general purpose [wine?] yeast; it can obviously handle higher ABV's .... Using a bread or beer yeast might result in lower ABV's; who knows!! All I know, is that all that taste it like it, and want more!!

In fact, it can make me positively poetic! <g>

Brewnut! .....

[lockwood1956]

.... So now I know how to sweeten a turbo cider; add a campden tablet, then sweeten!

Brewnut!

Add the pottasium sorbate (as per directions on the tub) too, its the sorbate thats the ferment inhibitor, but always add a campden tablet (per gallon) at the same time as the sorbate otherwise it will start to smell of geraniums (honestly)

I only know this stuff coz I was asking the same questions not long ago!
It was Pat and Hippie that were giving me the answers then.

[brewnut]

Turbo Cider Variation - Hard Cider - Honey Brown

I posted the turbo cider recipe through to the home_brew@yahoogroups.com email list (with full attribution & links to this thread), and a couple of people have picked up on it. Here's one person's variation.

------------------------
Taking a page from brewnut's turbo cider, I started a variation
today, that I think is unique. When I say unique I simply mean, I
did not look it up in advance, but rather made it on the fly with
ingrediants I had on hand.

I'm calling it Honey Brown Cider.

Hard Cider - Honey Brown

1 Gallon of 100% pure Apple Cider
1 tsp Lalvin 71B-1122 Yeast
1 tsp nutrient & energizer
3/4 cup Honey (.5 lbs)
1/4 cup Brown Sugar (packed)
.67g Potassium Metabisulphite

Expected Color: Med Amber
Expected Flavor: Semi-Sweet
SG Alcohol Content: 9%
Planned Alcohol Content: 5-6%
Batch Size: 1 US Gallons
Brew to Bottle: 20-30 days

I heated my Cider at 120F to mix in Brown Sugar and Honey, then
cooled to 70F for an SG (with adjustment) of 1.069

I combined my Cider wth my energizer and nutrient into my brew
bucket and pitched yeast shortly after.

I am assuming a ferment to aprox 1.026 then addition of PM will be
just about the right spot to produce a 5.5% ABV with a bit of
sweetness. I do not plan to carbonate.

Of course, this is all a guess, only time will tell on how it turns
out.
---------------------
If he posts his results through, but not here, I'll try update the board on how this variation turned out.

Brewnut

[lockwood1956]

And just by way of clarification, when someone from the U.S. says cider they mean pressed apple juice.

regards
Bob

[lockwood1956]

Bob, i like the idea of priming into a secondry vessel, but how much sugar would you put in and would you simply add neat sugar to a bucket, then syphon cider into it, then stir it all up until the sugar dissloves or would you not dissolve the sugar? Also, i like to prime with honey, how would you do it with honey?
cheers for any help

Sorry Hong missed this one....

I would just add the same ammount I would if i were priming in bottle, and I would dissolve it in a bit of hot water first....then add

I think it works out about 2 1/2 ounces for 40 pints

[hong]

cheers for that Bob,

[Grymhammer]

Finally finished my first turbo cider batch, 1 gallon, started 4-12-06. Not really sure it if took long, or I was just too impatient. OG was 1.062, and FG is now 1.004, so roughly 7.8% ABV.

I need to rack it off and into a jug for consumption. I made the mistake of putting my nose into the brew barrel without thinking and took a deep breath, and I think I cried for a moment!

So, although it was a tad drier that I desire and I will be able to post sweeten it, is that it for turbo cider, is it really ready to go in about 1 week?

[brewnut]

Grymhammer,

Yes. That's about it from my brews so far, if not a little quicker; you can see now why everyone seems to think Turbo Cider is a great name for it, eh!?!

I tended to drink my first couple of batches a little too early. If you want your cider clear, then simply leave it alone for another few days; 7 - 10 max and it will clear too, all on its own!

FYI I have left my turbo in it's original DJ, tried racking it to a new DJ to clear, and bottled it to clear: what ever I do, it does clear - it seems you can't go wrong with this brew, no matter what you do! If you want a hassle free brew though, just leave it all alone, and bottle once clear!

Brewnut

[heeby]

has anyone tried the coppella apple juice with elderflower from the refrigerator section in supermarkets to make this.

[lockwood1956]

No.....but as Long as it doesn't contain preservatives it should work

regards

bob