1 week cider/wine/spunding valve hybrid project

[Kindogg]

OK, I've been brewing ciders and beers for several years and wanted to do an experiment on the "hobo wine" side of things.

The general idea is to make a simple to make, low effort, semi-sweet somewhat carbonated beverage ending between 4% and 8% alc/vol. for approx. $10 (or less) from store bought juice. The main idea is that when I know I'm having guests 1 week from now and want to brew something drinkable for them I can whip this up.

Here is my plan so far, but I'm looking for suggestions:

1 Gal jug apple juice (use jug as fermentor)
1 can juice concentrate (to raise gravity and add nutrients [Grape?])
average cheap wine yeast (possibly Montrachet?)

now for the mildly interesting part:
attach a adjustable pressure valve to the plastic 1 gallon bottle (I see ones on Amazon for around $10 that can get down to 10PSI) Then let it ferment at room temp for 4 days, cold crash, pour off into another container and drink away! (cloudyness is expected, and I would finish it within a few days)

if i don't get the spunding valve i could still get a bit of carbonation just using a blow-off tube.

comments?

 

[JimmyJ]

I find This interesting... When you do this could you take a picture of the valve, and how it is connected? I wonder about the amount of carbonation you will get out of this

 

[Kindogg]

sure, was planning on pictures anyway. I just transferred a batch of Cranberry wine that i made after 2 weeks and i noticed it had a decent amount of carbonation just from the airlock, so we shall see.

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

good idea in theory. Hope it works.

Ferment it as cool as you can and you will retain more CO2 in solution also.

 

[Kindogg]

good thought, I'll ferment in my basement where it stays around 60 degrees or so.

Any yeast suggestions? cheap dry yeast like Montrachet is most likely what I'll use since i'll be drinking mid fermentation anyway.

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

Montrachet should be fine down to the low 60s. And it would be cheaper than an ale yeast like Nottingham. I have fermented nottingham down into the upper 50s with no problems.

 

[Kindogg]

What about the sugar level? Will 1 gal juice and 1 can concentrate be mostly fermented in 4 days without a starter? I know this is all "theory" at this point, just curious. I'm going to order the pressure valve soon, in the mean time i'm going to give it a shot with a long (in over 8" of water) blow off tube to see where that gets me. I'll post a pic when I can.

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

With montrachet? It's possible you could ferment all of the sugar in 4 days. Maybe not if you keep it at 60...but it will be a rolling train in 4 days. It won't be so easy to stop once it gets going.

I've never been able to get much lower than 1.015 in two weeks with ale yeast and an OG of around 1.050.

 

[Kindogg]

Ok, here we go. Used montrachet.

Hobo style!

 

[Kindogg]

does anyone know why i can only see that picture if I'm logged in? I posted it via the Iphone app.

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

It's showing up for me. Maybe it won't view properly on the iphone app.

 

[Kindogg]

I can see it fine if i'm logged in (via Iphone app or PC) just not if I'm not logged in.

Anyways, I gave this a try last night and was pleasantly surprised by the results. Not too sweet but a definite grapey flavor and the cranberry has died down a bit. But the best part was the carbonation. It was probably at least as carbonated as the average beer and actually reminded me a lot of "Cold Duck" chamagne (which you really should try if you haven't, it makes great Mamosas)

The bad news is that I was in a hurry on "brew" day and didn't get a hydrometer reading. Oh well, I would guess it's between 4-5%. Any guesses?

 

[silverbacklog]

Here is my go go gadget hobo cider brew. I'd suggest to get a hydrometer reading of some fresh juice that you used ass I think the store bought stuff should all be much the same and at least you can get a rough idea.

 

[Kindogg]

No need for name calling! sheesh! (see "ass" typo above)

Airlocks?!
Way to fancy for this hobo. I carved a hole in the cap with a knife and then melted the edges smooth with a lighter...

 

[silverbacklog]

Lol I'm an ass

 

[Kindogg]

Sampled it again last night (around 3 full days total). That Montrachet yeast is a beast! It's still bubbling but a bit slower. Even less sweetness now, I would guess that it will be too dry for my tastes tomorrow but I'm gonna keep sampling for at least another day before cold-crashing. The carbonation level is still great, like champagne but less mouth-burn. Hopefully this carb level stays in there when the temp drops and more CO2 gets dissolved in.

 

[Kindogg]

Well, At least I proved the concept...

After 4 days it was too dry for my tastes (just barely) so I dissolved 1 cup of sugar in 1 cup of water, boiled, cooled until warm, threw it in and recapped with blow off tube and put back in the fridge.
The next day I poured it (as gently as possible) into another gallon jug leaving a thin layer of yeast behind.

This beverage is totally cloudy but pretty tasty and has good fizz. I plan to try this again using the pressure valve posted below and taking gravity measurments.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007GDY3CU/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[silverbacklog]

My first batch has been in bottles for just over a week now with some interesting results. The apple and black current is amazing but I think I over did the priming as it is really gassy sweet and dry subtle flavours. The pear juice is really dry and is flat as a tack so I'm not sure what the go is there I'll come back in a few weeks and try another bottle.

I've got another batch on now but this time I've added two different amounts of dextrose to the two bottles of black current and Apple bottles and tried a fresh apple and mint juice...... I'll keep you posted