Well, I havent had the chance to start the wine yet but i have recently aquired a demijon from mi mate Chris for the specific reason of making Turbo Cider. Normal ciders can take months to ferment but not turbo cider. This stuf can be ready to drink in 1 month only. Instead of using pressed apples you use pure apple juice and add sugar for some extra fermentable sugar. I also decided to add half a jar of honey which will provide more sugars and also add more taste. As usual i set about cleaning and throughly sterilising all the gear prior to mixing the cider.
Once everything was cleaned and rinced i added half a jar of honey to the demijon, followed by 3 litres of pure apple juice complete with the bits, and shook vigerously for 5 minutes to make sure everything was mixed up nicely. At this point i poured some of the mix out of the demijon into the trial jar to take the OG. I was pretty supprised to find it at 1.062. This stuff is going to be like rocket fuel.
I poured the content of the trial jar back into the demijon and placed it into the sink filled with hot water to raise the temperature so i could pitch the yeast. At this point i realised i didnt have any yeast so i added a sachet of bread yeast. I know people who have brewed beer with bread yeast and it’s come out brilliant so what the hell, in it went. once the yeast had re-hydrated for half an hour i shook up the demijon again to mix everything up and sealed it with the airlock. All that remains is to add another 1.5 litres of apple juice in the next 24 – 48 hours. I cant wait for this one to finish 
March 10, 2008 at 4:06 pm
I’ll be interested to see how this goes. Cider is not something I’ve considered really, but might make a nice alternative – Im keen to have a wide range of homebrew to select from…
March 10, 2008 at 4:21 pm
If you want to give it a bash here’s the procedure i used.
Clean and sterilise everything with your regular solutions.
Add half a jar of clear honey to the demijohn.
Add 3 litres of pure apple juice to the demijohn (you can also use pure apple concentrate if you really want to make a mind-blowing brew)
Add 3 heaped teaspoons of cane sugar or dextrose to the demijohn.
Insert bung and shake thoroughly for 5 minutes until there’s no honey left stuck to the bottom of the demijohn.
If you have a trial jar and hydrometer take a reading now to get the OG.
Make sure the temperature of the mix is between 18-30 degrees. If not place the demijohn in a sink full of hot water until it is.
Sprinkle the yeast into the demijohn and leave it to re-hydrate for half an hour
Insert bung and give it a bloody good shake again then seal with airlock.
Wait 24 – 48 Hours and top up the demijon with another 1 1/2 litres of apple juice
Place somewhere warm until fermentation is complete then wait 2 days extra to ensure it’s done before bottling. If you like you cider with a bit of sparkle add just over half a teaspoon of cane sugar to the bottle (500mm bottles) to prime it before sealing
I’m looking forward to this not only for drinking but also i’ve found some great turbo cider recepies on Jim’s Beer Kit which are begging to be tried out
Sausages braised in Turbo Cider
http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5090
Turbo Cider pork Normandy
http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5026