The Great TURBO CIDER

[chrisbooth0070]

Well thats a relief. Blueberry TC that I bottled last night is looking great in the daylight.

[PieOPah]

Currently, I use a better bottle (plastic carboy) which I can easily cap which makes it great for aerating. I sprinkle the yeast and shake till I'm sore. Open up seal and repeat.

Prior to this I just had a normal plastic bucket fermenter and after getting a nice foamy head I would sprinkle my yeast onto this.

Both methods have worked okay for me.

[chrisbooth0070]

I'm using an old 5l water barrel from the supermarket. i filled it with hot water and it turned from a block shape into a nice rounded one

[layangman]

This was what I did yesterday:

Steeped 250gm of crystal malt and strain, discard spent grist.
Bring to boil and added 450gm of honey. Added "gula melaka" which is Malay for "Malacca Sugar", a brown sugar with a coconut flavor, about 100gm of it to the boil. Chill and dump into secondary ferm.
Siphoned from primary and now its bubbling. No cinnamon as I was not able to find it at my local supermarket.

The addition of honey and gula melaka should give the brew some complexity.

Volume: 12 litres.

[chrisbooth0070]

Sounds a lot more interesting than mine. My TC is bubblibg away now. Neither this batch or the last one has had any foam on it as people have warned overflowing. Maybe the cider yeast has an anti-foaming agent.

Chris

PS. What OG did you get?

[layangman]

OG was 1045.
Crytsal Malt added to aid in head retention as well as a tad darker shade.
For vigorous foaming during fermentation, got to use real crushed apples, store bought pasteurised apple juice won't foam.
The very first cider I brewed used Brigalow's Apple Cider extract kit, that one foamed but no overflowing.

[PieOPah]

You want a head on your cider? That's weired....

[layangman]

Yes...gives it that "beer" look... without the head it looked like apple juice

[chrisbooth0070]

Heres my TC bubbling away



You can also see my corney set up behind it

[Vossy1]

Have we got another midnight brewer amongst us

[chrisbooth0070]

Cracked open one of my Blueberry TC's last night and found that it was completely still. I added half a teaspoon of brewing sugar to each bottle, or at least I think I did. This is the first time that I have left a brew in a secondary until clear before bottling. Would it take ages to carbonate because of this or has all of the yeast fallen out? It was bottled approx 4 days ago. Or did I forget the priming sugar ? It has been left in my bedroom which is at 25C so I know it is not too cold. Strange, or is this a silly question with an obvious answer.

Chris

[chrisbooth0070]

It must be a mystery! Also, I am going away tomorrow evening for 10 days fishing in Ireland. My current TC is still bubbling away albeit slowly. Should I rack to 2nd now or just leave in primary for another 10 days? Will this affect the flavour? P.S. with me luck for the ferry crossing with the remnants of hurricane gordon hitting the irish sea tomorrow night

[layangman]

In my opinion, 10 more days in primary is way too long. I would rack into secondary and go fishing:)

[PieOPah]

My first (and currently only) TC was left in primary for well over a month. In Fact, I actually drank the entire batch from primary. Just opened the tap and let it pour.

My fermenter is well sealed so the drink was never effected. Tasted great all the way down....

I personally think another 10 days will be fine

[chrisbooth0070]

Think it should be sealed pretty well. Might have overdone it with the Cinnamon stick by then though. Are there any problems with racking to secondary early (plus this gives me a chance, or excuse , to try it) and decide whether to leave the Cinnamon in.