Turbo Cider,drinkable this time i hope.

I am going to try a have another go at making cider 1 gallon only at the moment.
Last summer i made 3 x 1 gallon DJ`s but when i came to drink it say 1 month later i ended up pouring it all down the drain because of the following.
4 ltrs AJ,no added sugar.
1,Opened bottle & it erupted like a volcano leaving me with about a mouthfull.
2,If i managed to get it into the glass it was just a mass of bubbles & a huge head.
3,No taste at all and very diluted/thinned out.

Putting that behind me i am going to try again but need guidance.
Add 4 ltrs Apple Juice to Demi John then pitch yeast.
Fit air lock and wait.
Ok now 2 options.
Leave it for at least a week so it has finished fermenting and is clear then bottle ready for drinking if it is to be consumed with no sparkle.
OR
After the bubbles have stopped and the cider is now starting to clear transfer to bottling bucket with 1oz priming sugar and then bottle and cap.

Now do i carry out the same procedure as beer in that i need to leave it in a warm room for 2 weeks to carbinate then put in shed etc for one week then drink.

Not sure what went wrong last summer but have some time on my hands and going to give it ago tomorrow but getting started with your advice is helpful.
If you can advise what went wrong before please say.
Thanks.

I think You might be rushing this a little bit. You should let it sit minimum 4

weeks before you even think about bottling (still or carbed).

By leaving it that long if i decide to drink it with a little fizz will there be any yeast left to carbinate as wont it be all clear ?
Thanks for the help and just asking.

ipbr21054 said:

By leaving it that long if i decide to drink it with a little fizz will there be any yeast left to carbinate as wont it be all clear ?
Thanks for the help and just asking.

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short answer: yes, there will be plenty of yeast, even if you wait 6 months to bottle it.

ok i plan to leave it a month and transfer the cider from the demi john to the bottling bucket "leaving behind the yeast that has settled on the bottom" add a little priming sugar,cap it & let it carbonate.

Bottle and let it sit 3 weeks minimum. Put one bottle away for 6 months. Drink the rest and in 6 months when you open the one bottle you can kick yourself for not waiting longer with all of it.

First, your old batch: It was clearly over carbonated. Assuming, since you appear to know the rule of thumb, that you used the proper amount of priming sugar, then you bottled early. You bottled it when there was still some sugar left for the yeast to eat up, you then added your priming sugar and now it was carbonated with 1 oz of priming sugar plus X amt of sugar that was still in it.

This time, as already said, 1 week is no where near enough time. With a well treated fermentation, yes a fermentation can be complete in a week, but it appears that didn't happen the last time. If you don't want to let it age to mellow the flavors at all, then at the very least confirm that fermentation is complete. Do this with specific gravity readings. Also, I would never bottle a brew that wasn't crystal clear, but I suppose that is up to you.

OK, son... as a fellow noob,

I'm going to tell you how to make a kickass cider/apfelwien that'll taste great and is easy as pie to make - just follow this and you cannot go wrong, I've made several batches of this and it's always the same and always good.
but it take a little time... all good ciders need time to really come into thier own. on bottling day you CAN go ahead and start drinking but, as others mentioned -do yourself a favor and put away a 6 pack and forget it exists for at least 6 months.

get a 5-6 gallon carboy - don't have one? a sanitized 5 gallon water bottle (free!!! if you steal it from your work's breakroom like I do) and (IIRC correctly -#10 drilled stopper) will do fine. some say using the used 5 gal. waterbottles will lead to oxidation and "soggy cardboard box" flavors... I've yet to encounter this - maybe if used for extended seconday bulk aging??.
and for bottling you'll need a 5 gallon pail, a racking cane or siphon.

buy 5 gallons of "good" quality applejuice -don't need topshelf (but if you have the $$ then go for it) Treetop will suffice.
also buy 5 16 ounce cans of frozen applejuice concentrate -Thaw four, leave one in the freezer (you'll need it in about 2 months)
1 packet Redstar Montrachet yeast. .85 a packet at many online brew shops
2 table spoons yeast nutrient (keeps the rhino fartz at bay)

Add the thawed room temprature concentrate to the carboy, add the nutrient to the carboy, add 4.5 gallons of juice to the carboy - pitch the yeast - install your airlock and basically forget about it. for the first 48 -56 hours makes sure you have a fermentation going - Montrachet usually dosen't freak out and blow off so you shouldn't have to worry about that. come back in 1.75 months - if you can read a newspaper though the carboy - you are ready to bottle. on bottling day, thaw the remaining 16 ounce can of concentrate to room temp (this is going to be your priming sugar - and flavor booster) dump it into your 5 gallon bottling bucket, then rack off your Apfelwien into the bucket. bottle into pressure rated bottles (good beer bottles, champange bottles, etc.) now let then sit for two weeks - the'll be carbonated by then - no problem.

enjoy an Apfelwien that is a bit better young then Edwort's recipe - due to the extra apple flavors put in with all the concentrate -it doesn't seem to have the same tendancy to lose the apple flavor for the first few months only to get it back after extended aging like Edwort's
ABV will be respectible - it will be dry and crisp. add an apropreate non fermentable sugar to the bottling bucket should you want to back sweeten... I don't.
enjoy!

Not that I am saying this is my opinion, but I will point out one thing about water bottles. The argument isn't so much about oxygen permeability, that is one side of it, but certain plastics can not stand up to the presence of alcohol. Alcohol can leach chemicals out of the plastic. That is why so many say, if you are going to use plastic, at least make sure it is a safe one, judged by the recycling code.

*Also I bet your office loves losing their deposits haha just giving you a lil crap

@Snuffalupagus
That sounds like an absolutely fabulous cider recipe.
Will definitely be giving it a go next time I brew. What would be your thoughts on adding a cinnamon stick? Also, how would you say it compares to strong-bow?

Thanks,
Epimortum

@Tusch
That would be my main concern as well. Not being a CE I wouldn't know what properties to look for and what to avoid in certain plastics. So, I'd recommend going to yard sales/flea markets and looking for glass jugs you can sometimes find them for really cheap 5-10 $US.

epimortum said:

@Snuffalupagus
That sounds like an absolutely fabulous cider recipe.
Will definitely be giving it a go next time I brew. What would be your thoughts on adding a cinnamon stick? Also, how would you say it compares to strong-bow?

Thanks,
Epimortum

@Tusch
That would be my main concern as well. Not being a CE I wouldn't know what properties to look for and what to avoid in certain plastics. So, I'd recommend going to yard sales/flea markets and looking for glass jugs you can sometimes find them for really cheap 5-10 $US.

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@Epimortem
I've never had strongbow - it's not sold in maui...
the closest commercial brew I can compare it to is Blackthorne.
I do know it's just plain good
as for adding a cinnamon stick - It might be pretty good, could make a pretty good "christmas cider"

@Tusch
hey! I'm the guy that buys the water, carries the 10-12 bottles into the office (alone) and brings the empties back (on my own time I might add, management won't allow me to leave the worksite to run errands ) if I want to steal one now and then I think they can live without the deposit...

It's all good with me, was just pulling your chain. Oh and you buy water for your office? Pretty generous guy, bet the management would be more appeasing if you brought em back in filled with 5 gals of your all apple brew haha.

Tusch said:

It's all good with me, was just pulling your chain. Oh and you buy water for your office? Pretty generous guy, bet the management would be more appeasing if you brought em back in filled with 5 gals of your all apple brew haha.

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management is not my favorite group of people right now - the have been using the current economic crisis as an excuse to take advantage of thier employees - we are all salleried but they are working us WAY over the 50 hour contracted workweek and not giving comp time or monetary compensation for the 15+ hours per week that we are all putting in.
furthermore they told us bonuses and raises would be canceled this year
so management can go poo in it's shoe - commie bastards get no brew!

Tusch said:

It's all good with me, was just pulling your chain. Oh and you buy water for your office? Pretty generous guy, bet the management would be more appeasing if you brought em back in filled with 5 gals of your all apple brew haha.

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This is tempting to do if I ever want to get fired.

I'd say you'd make a lot of friends on your way out the door, nothing like rehydrating with a bit of high strength cider.