TC newbie and possible idiot !

[edit1now]

I haven't primed with AJ, only with sugar in the bottles, so I can't remember how much you're supposed to add. One of the TC threads in Other Brews will tell you.

As long as the sediment in the original demijohn smells OK, you can shove more AJ on top of it and it will start fermenting. I would only put 3 litres in to start with, in case it froths up massively, then you can add a fourth when it's calmed down a bit. Using the sediment in the DJ means you shouldn't need a starter.

If you're starting from scratch, put half a litre of AJ in a sanitised DJ and add a packet of yeast. Shake it from time to time. When it gets half an inch of froth on, you know it's viable and you can make it up to three litres...

[Marts]

Right im on day 7 of my first TC experiment and Im trying to think ahead.

I am going to rack into a demijon shortly and add an extra litre of AJ, then bottle.

That sounds ok doesnt it? Do I add the extra AJ just before I bottle or does it go in there a few days before? Any advice?

It depends what the purpose of adding the Apple Juice is. To sweeten, to carbonate or to increase the amount of TC you have in the DJ. If its purely to sweeten then you need to be sure fermentation has stopped and the yeast has fully dropped out of the liquid - pretty tricky to do to be honest. There's stuff you can add to stop fermentation.
To sweeten and carbonate add it to the bottles at the same time as you bottle the TC and don't worry too much about syphoning as you'll want a bit of yeast in the brew to partially ferment and give you bubbles. half a litre to 1 litre is fine - the more you add the sweeter it will be. Experiment
For increasing the volume of your brew you need to add the Apple Juice as soon as the vigorous initial stage of fermentation is over. That's probably long since passed with this particular brew.

Presumably the sediment is going to be left in my original fv when i rack into the demi jon.

It is if you are careful

Now............ can I just plonk another 4 litres in there? Will I need to add yeast and start all over again or will the yeast kick into action again and leave me with another round of TC in a weeks time?

As Edit1now says

I read somewhere on here about making a "starter" and now I cant bloody find it, but i think the idea was that you can use the yeast from your previous brew to start your next?

Never bothered personally, but again, as Edit1now says if you want to

Have I finally lost it?

Oh very yes indeed

[RatboyOllie]

ha ha ha, cheers chaps !

Ive just taken a hydrometer reading and its around the 1012 mark so im going to leave a few days add get down below the 1010 point before i rack it off ready for bottling it afterwards.

The extra apple juice is purely as a sweetner, ive got 5 litres brew so i dont need to add any volume, im happy enough with that as an initial experiment, if i like it and its worked out i will probably go for triple that amount next time. I am also going to follow the lidl red wine recipe thats on these forums, looks interesting......

Im going to bottle into 1 litre pet bottles so i might even save the AJ for another brew and just add sugar to the bottles.

Cheers for resposnes, i will post again after xmas when im bottling.............

have a good'un

Ollie

[RatboyOllie]

Hello,

day 10 of my TC and so I decided to rack off into a seperate demi today as the hydrometer was reading 1003.

Right........ can anyone help?! First thing i did was take the lid off my fv and have a good old sniff, well it nearly burnt the insides of my nostrils off?! What on earth is that??? Really unpleasant, cant really explain what the scent is because it didnt half burn!! I siphoned off anyway and had a very quick taste, definitely didnt taste like it day 3 or 4 days ago, not entriely sure if it was pleasant or not, i was a bit confused to be honest, i cant put my finger on it...........

Im hoping that maybe racking off and leaving for another week or so is going to sort this one?

Is this normal or have i fecked it all oop?!

My suggestion earlier of using the sediment as a starter for a new TC went out of the window as I figured it was stupid to risk messing another one up if this one was doomed.

Any thoughts from any experienced TC'ers out there most welcome, please !!

Cheers

[RatboyOllie]

just thought I would update on progress in case anyone is interested or thinking of doing this themselves.......

I racked into another demijon about a week ago now, its finally slowed right down to around 1 bubble per minute and im eager to drink so I have today bottled it all up. Whoever it was that told me to buy a little bottler is a genuis and a saviour. The blood thing is amazing and really is like having an extra hand, which i have just realised, would come in bloody useful when bottling !! Brilliant, its amazing, cheers ! Anyone who hasnt got one, and bottles, go and buy one, it was a couple of quid and its f**in fantastic !

The sh1tty smell had pretty much gone away and i didnt burn my nose hairs off this time, feck knows what that was?! It seemed to be bubbling a fair bit when bottling, it was quite nosiy, maybe there is a technique I didnt grasp? Hopefully I havent aerated it too much? i added a half teaspoon of sugar to my 500mil PET bottles and a level tea spoon to my 1 litre PET's, I am now hoping they dont blow !

I plan to leave for a week in the same place, then transfer to the attic, its cold up there, and forget about them for as long as possible, which will probably be an hour or so......... hopefully it will condition into a nice tasty dry cider if i leave it a month??

I imagine thats it now, apart from the drinking?

Did i forget anything???

hmmmmmmmmm, what to do next...............

cheers everyone

[randomdave]

make another batch. simple as.

[crafty john]

Hi Ollie
I just thought I would say I havn't laughed so much in ages, I like your sence of humor. Good luck with your future brewing.

[timothio]

Apologies for dragging this old thread up from the depths, but after reading through 4 pages worth I feel the urge to quote a line from Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas - "Finish the f*cking story!!"

As a complete noob myself I've been pissing myself laffing throughout, I got a couple of TC's on the go yesterday and just want to know how it turned out? Or maybe the fact that you HAVENT finished the story tells its own tale... Are you still with us Ollie? Or did the floating teabag claim its first victim...?

[RatboyOllie]

ha ha, sorry chaps, yeah im still here !

I stored the TC for as long as I could resist, i would say it conditioned in the garage for about 2 months before drunk. The tea bag that i threw in the fv in my excitement didnt affect the brew, well, i dont think it did, i dont actually have anything to compare it too but i can say it didnt create an infection at least! What a nob end I am ! It was fairly exciting at the time though so i just chucked it in

I must say that this TC turned out drier than dry, probably due to the yeast I used i would guess? I love dry cider but man this was drier than a mouthful of sand paper. As a first effort though i was happy, 1. because it didnt get infected despite my best efforts to feck the whole thing oop from the start and 2. it all got drunk and i instantly began making another batch!!

After reading a load of stuff on here I opted to make the same bog standard TC with cheapy apple juice but I substituted the cider yeast for plain old supermarket bread yeast in an attempt to keep some sweetness and apple flavour and not ferment to too dry. This definitely works, in fact, maybe this one was a little too sweet, it tastes almost as though the apple juice hasnt fermeneted, its like pop!!! The hydrometer readings give around 6%, so its pop with a nice kick!! Personally I would like it somewhere inbetween so what a shame................. I will have to try another batch !!!!

Apologies for not reporting back, im a computer biff and keepin up with these threads hurts my small brain

im off for a rest now........... and a well earned cider !

Hopefully this has finished the fckin story, if not, shout up and i will fill in any gaps !

[timothio]

Cheers Ollie, think that just about wraps it up nicely!

I used bread yeast in my TC batches, so I'm hoping they turn out nice and sweet, to be honest I'm not a huge fan of cider in the first place, let alone dry cider, I think I just got a bit carried away (like you did!) and had to give it a go... First batch is bog standard TC, 2nd batch is TC with 2 tins of blackberries in juice added in, for a laff. I love the idea that you can make pretty much anything alcoholic just with the addition of a bit of sugar and yeast, the possibilities are endless! I like the idea of apple and peach... Maybe that'll be next on my long, long, list.

This whole home brew thing is so addictive, I havent even been doing it long enough to taste any of my brews yet, my first proper brew is still conditioning, 2nd is fermenting, plus my 2 TC's... Just hope they dont all taste of crap, its a helluva lot of time and money wasted if they do! Still, the simple fact thet they contain alcohol should be enough to make me pinch my nose and down the hatch...

Anyway, thanks again, peace, love, and bearable hangovers to all!!

Tim.

[RatboyOllie]

the apple and peach was amazing, it was just like fruit juice but with a 6% kick to it, my woman loved it, very sweet though !

I have to agree, the whole homebrew thing is incredibly addictive, since my teabag incident ive brewed a few tc's, a batch of wine, a stout, a wheat beer and couple of belgian ales, all of which i have learnt sumthin from and tried to improve on the following one but all of which have tasted great, even when ive clearly messed it up and not got the best out of it.

And after a few pints it tastes even better !

[joel_m]

Started my first attempt at a TC tonight.. Took a leaf out of your book and used two Cinnamon sticks!

The recipe in what appears to be the true "first time TC free form style" was:
1lt of pure apple juice heated on the stove with 2 cinnamon sticks,300g demerera sugar and a grated apple
2lt of tescos bog standard 100% apple juice.
1lt of apple and elderflower juice
cup of Strong tea
Aerate...
Pitched in some safale05 (as it was in the fridge and I have some 04 for my spare pack so figured I'd probably never use it as I have no idea about 05)!
The OG was 1.072@ 26degC

So fingers crossed I'll get something out around 6+% that is drinkable! Or atleast I hope!

[Ady1975]

what a thread!!
Sod it, I'm off to netto's to get me some juices and gonna put 5 gallons (i don't do things by half) of Turbo 'something' on in time for the summer.

you've inspired me...

just one question, I have a spare pack of coopers yeast from an aussie lager, will that do?

[joel_m]

i'd imagine so.. I used safale 05 and got it from 1.072 to 0.998
Its pretty... errr dry though lol
People use all sorts from bread to champagne yeast. My first try was with a spare packet of yeast.. sod it bung it all in and see what happens...

It's been bottled for 4 days now and i'm itching to give some a go! lol