Priming rate for a sparkling Turbo Cider

[Mattb]

How much priming sugar would be right for a TC being racked into old (cleaned and sterilised, obv) 2l plastic lemonade bottles if I want it to be quite sparkling?

I was thinking about 3 teaspoons worth in a 2l bottle, boiled into a syrup with a little water, then 3-5 days in the warm kitchen, followed by some weeks in the cellar at 11degC, then finally chilling in the fridge for serving.

Too much sugar?

[Mattb]

Also, I was planning to bottle tonight, but now I come to look closely at the fermenter, I see it's still quite busy in there.

I took this short film on my phone: http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i70/l ... 9e2a31.mp4

You can see the little chunks of apple moving both up and down. What you can't see because the camera is so rubbish, is a lot of tiny little bubbles travelling upwards. Does this all mean that it us still fermenting? Only the bubbler in the cap stopped bubbling on Monday. I started this TC off on Friday (the first of probably many).

So, bottling tonight a good idea or not?

[GrandMalt]

The tiny bubbles and movement of sediment shows that your cider is still fermenting. There's also a lot of foaming on the top, which I would normally expect to subside quite considerably if it was finished. The airlock isn't really a good indicator that it's done fermenting - a lot of fermentation vessels and lids aren't completely airtight and so even though the airlock has stopped bubbling there is still CO2 being given off by the rest of the fermentation you can see (although at a slower rate than before). Anyway, what I'm trying to say is don't bottle it tonight - because it doesn't look like it's finished.

I'm guessing you don't have a hydrometer? If you do have one, put it in and bottle when the reading has been stable for 2-3 days. Most TCs get down to 1.000 or less - I've had one go as far as 0.996 - and any higher risks your bottles exploding. Without one, you're going to need to keep a very close eye on the movement of sediment and those tiny bubbles. When everything completely stops it should be ready for bottling. I made one TC that took 2 weeks to finish, even though it was fermenting in a nice and warm 23 degrees C.

When I bottle, I use the same priming amounts for TC as I do for beer and it produces a tingling fizz. I use 1 teaspoon per litre. Therefore I'd suggest 2 teaspoons per 2 Litre bottle, and I personally would be cautious going more than that but that's because I bottle in glass which is a lot more dangerous and messy if it bombs. I know others regularly prime with more than I do and don't have any problems, but I'd be very careful.

[Mattb]

Cheers, nice one.

I do have a hydrometer - I took a sample last thing last night (after deciding not to bottle). It was 1.004, so we're nearly there.