Today's turbos

[oldbloke]

Demijohn K:
3 l Morrison's Savers AJ
1/2 l tea (4 PGTips bags)
1/2 l Rubicon Mango juice
1 tsp nutrient
1 tsp pectolase
1/2 sachet Young's cider yeast
More AJ held back for topping up
Approx 427g sugar in a gallon -> Around 4.5%ABV

Demijohn L:
2 360ml bottles Meridian Pear concentrate
1/2 l tea (4 PGTips bags)
1 tsp nutrient
1 tsp pectolase
1/2 sachet Young's cider yeast
Made up to about 4 l with water
Will top up with water
Approx 484g sugar in a gallon -> Around 5%ABV

Of the mango juices available in Morrison's, the Rubicon was the only one that was (a) only mango and (b) didn't have stabilisers I didn't fancy putting in. It does however have guar gum and xanthan gum, which will hopefully settle out during the ferment.

[Woodchip]

K and a L? How many demijohns do you own?

[oldbloke]

About 14. I'd have to go down to the garage to count them to be sure.
But the K means it's the (thinks...) 12th gallon of TC I've made this year.
The perry shouldn't really be called L, it's the only perry I've done this year.
I have 2 demis basically dedicated to TC, as soon as I bottle a batch I start the next lot.
I'm making it fractionally faster than we drink it, so we're slowly building up stock, _and_ trying recipe variations every month.
It's the most fun I've had in years, apart from sex.

[Woodchip]

Ah that makes sense. Thanks.

The mango one sounds interesting.

[oldbloke]

It's got an inch of pulp on the bottom already...

[Paddy Bubbles]

I'm making it fractionally faster than we drink it, so we're slowly building up stock, _and_ trying recipe variations every month.
It's the most fun I've had in years, apart from sex.

Nice one.

You're fast becoming the "go to" man on the subject of turbo cider around here mate. Im planning on doing my first 5 litre of TC this evening. Any last-minute tips for a good first TC. I was thinking.

- 4.5l Lidl AJ (cloudy)
- 2 cooking apples (juiced)
- 100g raisins (boiled in a little water/sugar first)
- Youngs cider yeast

Does this look ok?

[oldbloke]

You're fast becoming the "go to" man on the subject of turbo cider around here

No, you're thinking of Pinto.
I don't do: real fruit, malic acid
Items regarded as indispensable in some quarters!

[boingy]

It's got an inch of pulp on the bottom already...

Are you talking about the turbo cider or sex?

[oldbloke]

- 4.5l Lidl AJ (cloudy)
- 2 cooking apples (juiced)
- 100g raisins (boiled in a little water/sugar first)
- Youngs cider yeast

Does this look ok?

Nutrient? The raisins will help but I'd put some in anyway.
Does cloudy juice give cloudy cider? Never tried it. I know the cloud in the juice is produced industrially by a heat treatment, it's nowt to do with the quality/type of apples themselves. Do you want cloudy cider? If not I wouldn't use cloudy juice unless it's cheaper.
The raisins should be good, for tannin and flavour-rounding.

[Paddy Bubbles]

No, you're thinking of Pinto.
I don't do: real fruit, malic acid
Items regarded as indispensable in some quarters!

Well you sound like you know what you're talking about, and that's good enough for me!

[Paddy Bubbles]

- 4.5l Lidl AJ (cloudy)
- 2 cooking apples (juiced)
- 100g raisins (boiled in a little water/sugar first)
- Youngs cider yeast

Does this look ok?

Nutrient? The raisins will help but I'd put some in anyway.
Does cloudy juice give cloudy cider? Never tried it. I know the cloud in the juice is produced industrially by a heat treatment, it's nowt to do with the quality/type of apples themselves. Do you want cloudy cider? If not I wouldn't use cloudy juice unless it's cheaper.
The raisins should be good, for tannin and flavour-rounding.

Thanks for the suggestions lad.

I don't have any nutrient, so I'll have to do without on this occasion.

I'd read on another forum that the cloudy Lidl AJ was the one to go for. It's a few cents more expensive, but I think the important thing is it hasn't been made with concentrate. I actually want it to be cloudy! Proper cider!

[oldbloke]

I'd read on another forum that the cloudy Lidl AJ was the one to go for

I've not tried it yet - maybe next time. The other Lidl AJs work pretty well, I thought the nectar slightly better than the juice. I've been sticking to Morrison's Saver AJ for a while, so as to judge the effect of other changes. Had a fairly-recently-made bottle at the bowls match (lost 18-21) last night which I really enjoyed:
2012-04-20: 1/2l cranberry; 1/2l strong Earl Grey; 1/2l Welch's white grape apple and pear; 3l Morrison's Saver AJ; 1tsp nutrient; 1/2pkt Young's cider yeast
2012-05-04: Bottled

[Pinto]

No, you're thinking of Pinto.
I don't do: real fruit, malic acid
Items regarded as indispensable in some quarters!

Im just a learner like you I just like turbo cider and talking about it - a lot of the finer points of TC i've learned have come from OldBloke and others

Maelic Acid is one of those - when I started, it came up again and again as a must have for decent cider, until I found an OB post against it, so I decided to research what it was and what it does. After that, I'd NEVER put it in anything I brew - the stuff is actually quite toxic in larger doses just not worth considering IMO

Not into whole fruits turbo's either - pulp is a pain in the ass ! just an unneccessary complication. Not to say certain things haven't found there way into my brew - was looking at the FV containing my Chilli & Ginger Cider not 10 minutes ago and that contains 250g of grated ginger, purely for flavouring puroses, mind Keep the fruit ciders to the real stuff in autumn..

Noticed some people seem to think that "not from concentrate" juices are better for purpose. Not something I can personally understand - where do they think that the "concentrate" came from in the first place ? Is just dehydrated "pure" juice thats reduced and has water put back into it at a later stage. When we consider that one of the beautiful things about TC is the low cost....

[oldbloke]

I don't worry about malic being toxic, I just reckon it's an unnecessary complication, and as it apparently takes months to age out of being a bit sharp it takes the Turbo out of it. And I'm happy enough with what I've been making. The Welch's grape/apple/pear has enough malic for it to be listed on the pack, so chucking a bit of that in will do for me.

Agree entirely about the RealFruit - pulp is a pain. And the fruit prep is a bit non-Turbo.

I've simmered sliced ginger in either AJ or tea before it goes in, nice extra dimension. Vanilla pod didn't do much, possibly a bit of essence (or pod) when bottling would be more effective. Cloves were interesting but not "ooo I must do that again".

I spoze more than just water might be lost when the concentrates are made, and the water added to reconstitute may not be ideal, and there could be natural chemistry going on that wouldn't in a pure juice, but I doubt anybody could tell the difference. I might research it a bit at some point.

[shazza]

And what ye keep from mentioning is the reusing of the yeast.I am on generation 15 of my original Youngs Cider Yeast and it's still doing the business.It may have mutated but the cider is fine and the fermentation is extremely vigourous.From pitch to tankard(romantic imagery) in a week.