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I had a thought...

I have a 15L reactor, and was going to make a 10L batch of alcoholic juice using the 2L-2.4L Berri pasturised juices that you find in the supermarket.

They are preservative free, so the fermentation shouldnt be a problem.

I was going to add champagne yeast, but one query i had was,

Because champagne yeast ferments to a high %, how would you stop/reduce the fermentation to maintain a little of the sweetness from the juice, and stop all the sugars being fermented out?

could you just rack half way through the fermentation to get it off hte majority of the yeast?

I dont like the idea of atificial sweetners, so what do you think are my options?

James

Your best option is to add lactose, as it's unfermentable. To be honest, I haven't seen any other option that really works, especially if you want to carbonate it once it's in the bottle.

i kind of do this same thing but in 2 ltr bottles using oztops, the way i stop fermentation is pretty much just putting it in the fridge... altho you may not have the room for 10-15L of cider/alcoholic fruit juice in the fridge.

i'll give you the hot tip to try and stay away from citrus juices as they ferment out pretty horrible (lemon, lime, orange, pinapple ect.)

-Phill

Maybe this is what you are after. I am looking for a 5L demi john for sale in Adelaide so i can try this on a smaller scale.

Cheers
DrSmurto

James L wrote:I had a thought...

I have a 15L reactor, and was going to make a 10L batch of alcoholic juice using the 2L-2.4L Berri pasturised juices that you find in the supermarket.

They are preservative free, so the fermentation shouldnt be a problem.

I was going to add champagne yeast, but one query i had was,

Because champagne yeast ferments to a high %, how would you stop/reduce the fermentation to maintain a little of the sweetness from the juice, and stop all the sugars being fermented out?

could you just rack half way through the fermentation to get it off hte majority of the yeast?

I dont like the idea of atificial sweetners, so what do you think are my options?

James

how did it go??? what yest did you use >>>>

was the taste any good??

Sorry chief havent done it yet....

The list of beers to brew is growing, and because its not real beer, its still at the bottom.

I have done oztops with berri juice, and thats turned out fine, but it was about 3 years out of date when i went to use it the other day...

I have bought the champagne yeast, but thats about it...

The usual recommendation for slowing or stopping the yeast is to refrigerate your brew when you are happy with the balance of sweetness/dryness and alcohol.

However something I've thought about but haven't tried is pasteurization. I think these juices are actually pasteurized when you get them, because they are out on the shelf in the shop and need to be pretty sterile to stop infections happening. So perhaps one more time wouldn't hurt as long as you control the temps and don't just boil the buggery out of it.

Actually it does not need to be boiled at all, something in the range of 65C for 10 minutes followed by a crash chill should do the trick

but wouldnt those sort of temps lead to off flavours from any yeast being killed and lysed at those temps?

I guess i could always add a couple of SPLENDAs to sweeten it up a little instead.. I'm gonna smash it tonight... (along with the powdered milk experiment)..

Use a low attenuating ale yeast such as windsor or wyeast 1187.

I have 5L of apple juice in my newest glass 'fermenter' with Wyeast 4766. When it hits 1.015 i will be crash chilling it and then kegging it. Last time i left it and it got to 1.010. I loved it but am experimenting to see if i can make a slightly sweeter cider.

ok... i brewed an apple and blackcurrant BERRI juice with champagne yeast... left if fir 3 weeks before bottling, used carb drops... quite a dry finish... but still retained alot of the original flavour...

I was looking at the artifical sweetners in the shops the other day, and i think that the sweetners with phenylalanine would be best... i remmeber EQUAL being the one that i woud use...

I think the next thing to do would be to conduct and experiment to see how much of teh sweetner you would need to used to get a "normal" sweetness in the cider..

I think adding the sweetner with the priming sugar would be the way to go, but that is something else that could be experimented...

I am going to test these theorys, and if they turn out well and i win a nobel prize, i'll aknowledge you all...

Been brewing 5L batches and then racking them to the cider keg. Completely forgot to stop them at 1.015 and they got down to 1.005. Very dry but the 4766 yeast allows the apple flavour and aroma to shine thru. A very tasty drop! I just rack the cider and dump more juice in onto the yeast cake. So easy. Would do larger batches but all 4 fermenters have been in beer production!

Might give the apple and pear juice and go next time.....

Also, went to a grafting info session to work out how i could swap my 3 apple trees over to cider production. They are approx 100 years old and are cooking type apples. To my surprise the mob running it have more than 200 apple varieties for sale including several french cider apples!

I just did a very strange brew of the following:

2.5L berri orange juice
1.5L water
200g LDME
5g cascade flowers - 5 mins
2 sticks cinnamon

windsor yeast starter from fridge that I had to use up - smelled and tasted ok, though a month old.

My reasoning was I wanted the bottle for splitting a wyeast pack, and I figured I could turf it now, or turf it fermented after a few weeks... at least I will have satisfied my curiosity.
I remember a story about convicts on Norfolk brewing rough lemons into a lemonade... I am not expecting anything too drinkable.

no offence intended, but i expect that to taste horrible

you are fermenting orange juice?

Everyone i have ever spoken to who has done this and given a one word answer when asked how it turned out....



WRONG!

I heard that the orange juice (and pineapple juice) is too acidic... they tend to sour during fermentation...

but if you use them in 50% or less of the total juice mix, you can get some pretty good results....

I am expecting a sour, horrid beast, and also to probably tip it after a sip... but I kind of wanted to experience it first hand. Call me a masochist.

experimentation is what its all about...

I am still tempted to try the tomato juice.... bit of celery, tobasco and worchestershire sauce, and you'd have a bloody mary...

I will admit that while I was choosing containers, the tomato juice did cross my mind...

"Bloody Hairy" or something

your legacy may yet be giving the world fizzy tomato drink...

Bizier wrote:I am expecting a sour, horrid beast, and also to probably tip it after a sip... but I kind of wanted to experience it first hand. Call me a masochist.

Excellent stuff, gotta try new things (but expect the worst)