Turbo Cider or Runny Apple Water??

Hi everyone, I'm very new to the brewing world and a little confused. I've tried to make some turbo cider from a recipe i found on youtube (while im waiting for apple season)

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKBBOwm5UjE]YouTube - How To Make Cider.[/ame].

I found alot of the answers I was looking for in other posts on this forum, but I would like to get confirmation on some points and help on others. Sorry if this is a long one.

Turbo Cider
The recipe called for 5l Apple Juice, some yeast nutrient and some yeast. Simple as. I put it together, and took a hydrometer reading. It was my first time using a hydrometer, but I think i read it right. The SG was something in the region of 1.05 to start? As I mentioned, I have looked around and 1.05 for apple juice seems like average. After a day or two it was bubbling away like mad, I waited two weeks or so like the recipe said, it had started to stop bubbling out of the airlock. I hesitated at this point and waited probably another 4 to 5 days before today i finally siphoned it off into another demijohn. I took another SG reading and it was 1.005 or nearabouts (i am not entirely sure i read it right, but I think so.).

I tasted it, it just tasted like cider that had been mixed with water. I used a brewing calculator and it sais i should be getting around 5.6% strength? Surely i would taste that..Have I tasted it too soon and its actually ok? Or have I left it in the Demijohn too long after fermentation stopped?

A few other questions;

-When I siphoned it out of the demijohn (called racking?), I didnt bring the tube too close to the bottom so I wouldnt get any of the sediment. I left a good centimetre or two of juice, is that the right thing to do? It has left a slightly larger gap at the top now, am i in danger of making apple vinegar?

-I have read on the forum that the longer you leave cider in the demijohn, it gets clearer and eventually will get fizzy? Is that correct? The store bought ciders i have always bought are fizzy, is that the end product you all try and reach? or do you go for alcoholic apple juice consistency?

-When do I bottle it? When it stops bubbling in the airlock? It isnt doing much in there at the minute in its second container. Nothing in fact...

Hi, sounds like you haven't done anything wrong. To make the cider "fizzy" you add sugar when bottling. I add 1 level teaspoon per 750ml bottle. The yeast left in the cider will work on this sugar and make co2, but you need it to be fairly warm (20C) and don't leave too long in secondary or the yeast will all drop out. I bottle about a month after starting primary, it doesn't really matter if it hasn't cleared properly, you will get a bit of sediment from the sugar you add anyway. The fizz takes a couple of weeks to develop, when fizzy it will taste much better.
Cider made from apples will taste much better, the juice in shops is diluted, pasteurised etc. My cider gets about 7% alcohol.
The air space shouldn't matter so long as you don't open the container until ready to bottle. If you want to open it for tasting etc top it up with a bit of water, it shouldn't dilute it very much.

Thanks for the quick reply, Glad to hear that it seems to have gone ok. I'll bottle them tomorrow. I have a load of the metal and rubber bung bottles (Grolsch mainly) I presume their ok? Even if theyre not, was no hardship collecting them..

Theyre 500ml bottles only, so ill adjust the amount of sugar. Is is plain white sugar? I have white, brown and muscovado.

What do i watch for when i bottle them to know theyre ready? Once the sugar has worked can i then put them in the fridge?

Thanks again.

Plain white sugar is fine. Leave the bottles a fortnight then try one, if its fizzy its ready, if not leave another fortnight. Once fizzy you can certainly fridge them, though they will age better at room temp so only fridge a few. If you'r still not happy with the flavour you can add a bit of apple juice as you drink it to sweeten it.

The apple flavor goes away, and comes back. After two full months you'll start to have the flavor return. Just give it some more time.

Thanks guys, i added some sugar and bottled it.

Do I really wait two months more with apple juice? The recipe seemed to think it was ready to drink after the fortnight and didnt mention sugar at all..

As is the case for many fermented beverages, you could start drinking it as soon as it carbonates. It will get better with time.

Ok, now I play the waiting game. Cheers everyone, cant wait until apple season to try it for real.

I tried a bottle last night after waiting a fortnight since adding the sugar....

I got a nice 'pop' when I opened the bottle and was very impressed when I saw how fizzy it was. I had been peering through the bottles daily to see if there was any sign of movement and had not noticed any.

Poured some out and tasted it, not bad...but kind of tasteless. Am I to gather from the advice I have received already that by leaving it a month the taste will improve? Im sure when i make it with apples it will be much nicer.

What sort of shelf life do they have?

Thanks in advance.

Shelf life... well, how long can you wait? Some say that it gets even better with long aging, a year or more. Mine was great after two months total, and is still good now at 3 months.

A year or more? With turbo cider? Im getting kind of confused...

I thought this stuff was (nicely) drinkable after two weeks!

It all depends what you want. My view is, if you're happy with it then drink it. All cider will improve with time but you have to balance immediate pleasure against a future benefit. I usually go with the immediate pleasure.

Still have a few of this original batch left, but decided to try it with fresh apple juice, not concentrate.

Started it two days ago, it was bubbline like mad already by the first evening and when I came home the second day the foam had made its way up through the airlock, coloured the water in it and soaked the cotton woll at the top!! So I cleaned it out, replaced the cotton wool and have it back on again.

Came home today and found its alot calmer, wouldnt be surprised to see it almosts stopped tomorrow. Why the change? Proper juice? Higher temperature? It is a bit warmer but i wouldnt say by more than 5 degrees tops.

How long do I leave it now? I left it about a fortnight before, but that was following the recipe.

I was right, it's nearly stopped bubblin at the airlock.. What now? Its been totally different to the concentrate, im lost.

Will I open it and check the SG? Its only been three days...too soon surely.

con20or said:

A year or more? With turbo cider? Im getting kind of confused...

I thought this stuff was (nicely) drinkable after two weeks!

Click to expand...

con20or said:

I was right, it's nearly stopped bubblin at the airlock.. What now? Its been totally different to the concentrate, im lost.

Will I open it and check the SG? Its only been three days...too soon surely.

Click to expand...

Just because a video on u-tube says it's done in two weeks doesn't mean that it will be good in two weeks!

It went faster this time because it's warmer outside. Still let it sit a couple of weeks before considering bottling. It'll clear up a bit, and you'll be sure it's done.

Trust your hydrometer! Take frequent readings once you feel that fermentation has stopped to verify your thoughts. If you plan on going further with brewing, cider making, or wine making, you NEED to use your hydrometer. This tool is a staple for all brewers and not only allows you to see when your fermentation is complete, but also lets you calculate the ABV of your brew.

Just because they call this stuff "Turbo Cider" doesn't mean it's going to ferment out any quicker than other ciders. Personally, I would recommend reading one of the many apfelwein threads out there. That's basically what you're making, less the additional sugar added before fermenting the apfelwein.

Thanks guys.

Im hoping that this stuff, being just pressed apple juic wont exactly be turbo cider. I just used the same thread to save on forum clutter.

The readin when I started was 1.053, what should I be looking for to know when its done?

You'll want something around where your last batch finished up. More than an exact number, you're going to want it make sure it doesn't change for a week. If it's stable on two readings a week apart, and it's down around where your last batch ended, you can trust that it's finished fermenting.

OK thanks.

One last thing, how best to take a hydrometer reading without exposing the cider to air? Do I just try and do it quickly?

The cider is protected by a layer of CO2. Take a wine thief or sanitized turkey baster and pull out as much as you need for the hydrometer sample. Don't worry about exposing it to air -- CO2 is heavier than air and won't escape.

I have one of the old fashioned floating hydrometers, so Ill need quite a bit for a sample. Maybe I should just put it in the demijohn?

If you put it in your carboy it is hard to read, impossible to get out, and could break in there and ruin your whole batch. You only need a 4 ounce sample to get a hydrometer reading.

Yeh, I learned that the last time the hard way, rooting around with a tweesers to get it out,and trying to read the hydrometer by peering through the foam.

How does it float in a 4 Oz sample? Do you use a big test tube or something?

Ok, quick summary. The original post in this thread was for a turbo cider i saw on you tube. It was my first try, end result great looking fizzy cider when i opened the bottle, but almost zero taste.


I then bought some fresh pressed apple juice for my second try, fermented like crazy, I bottled it on the 11 August, I tried my first one about 3 weeks after bottling , very little had happened. Now today is the 20 September I still have no pop or fizz, and very bitter apple juice.

Is there anyway to save the rest of the batch? Is it too late to add more sugar to get a fizz and take the edge off the bitterness?

I'm just not sure where i went wrong.

Did you add k-meta or campden to the fresh juice? If you did, it will be bitter for several months, but will get better eventually. If you skip the k-meta, it will be drinkable nearly right away, but wont keep as long (4-8 months depending on how careful you were with prep)

What sort of yeast are you using? Many will ferment out all the sugar, leaving only the acids for residual taste. Ale yeasts are better for leaving some residual sugar, although you still may need to cold crash to stop fermentation at the level of sugar you want. Search on "cold crash" for more info

I didnt add anything other than the same stuff i added to the last batch, which was the sachets of fast action bread yeast.

That is likely the problem. Maybe the stuff will eventually taste better, but in the meantime, use ale yeast for your next batch. I'd recommend S04 or Nottingham

ok thanks. And the lack of fizz?

Not sure - did you add priming sugar to the second batch?

05/07/09 - SG 1.053 - Started the batch and it went nuts bubbling almost overnight.
14/07/09 - S.G 1.01 - Calmed down far quicker than the juice version.
01/08/09 - S.G 1.00 - Racked and moved to second container
11/08/09 added about a teaspoon sugar to each bottle (500ml),filled and left sit.

Had my first taste around 5th September, bitter, no fizz.

Where'd I mess up?

A few possibilities - either the bread yeast is not very alcohol tolerant, it all sunk to the bottom and got left behind on the racking, or else it got too warm and died.

Probably the latter, but if the former, it might be interesting to try again and use a little sugar to bump the sg up to 1.060 or 1.065 and see if the yeast leaves you with some residual sugar when it dies out. Ale yeasts will ferment down to 1.000 also - even if you bump the sg with sugar, but they will leave a good residual taste. If the bread yeast is not very alcohol tolerant, it might leave you with some residual sugar if you bump the sg. Might not taste great, but would still be sweet.

Probably it was the temps that killed it. You want to do the ferment in as cool a place as possible

Swap the bread yeast for SO4 next time and keep it cool and you will be fine. You might get some interesting results with the bread yeast by bumping the sg, but then again you might end up with the same bitter taste, just more alcohol.

Great advice thanks, didnt know I could add sugar before hand. I'll get some of that yeast you mentioned, the ale stuff.

Out of curiosity, how much sugar would be needed to raise 4l of liquid by 0.01?

Is this the stuff? Is there somewhere better to buy than ebay?

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Safale-S-04-Yeas...Brew?hash=item19b69a3fc9&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Something else occurred to me, when I was racking it, all the sediment that had gathered at the bottom I tried to get as little of that as possible. That wasn't some vital component of the process was it?

4 1/2 oz of sugar per gallon to raise sg by 0.010

I use a mix of 2/3 of organic sugar to 1/3 dextrose to match the taste of the apple sugar, but plain white sugar is pretty close. Adding sugar will bump the alcohol, which helps it keep longer, but using no sugar gives you a little more apple taste. S04 is good with no sugar, with sugar or with some honey, US05 works best with some sugar. Nottingham is good with and without sugar, not as good with honey

You can also get a lot more taste by cold crashing it, but you wont get any fiz unless you put it in a keg to force carbonate

Thats the stuff. Do you have a local home brew store? It might cost a little more at the store, but you dont get whacked with postage.

You want to leave all the sediment behind when you rack - there will be some yeast left in the juice, although I cold crash to force the yeast to drop while the cider is still fairly sweet, then use a keg to add the carbonation.