TC Without Secondary Fermentation? (Turbo Turbo Cider)

[bighoppapump]

Hi there,
I put together 2 turbo ciders after reading through most of the cider articles on this forum and some other sites.

1st one (basic) - 5L tesco value AJ from concentrate, 1tsp yeast nutrient, 0.5 packet of a 9g Craft Range Cider and Yeast Nutrient Pack

2nd one ("posher" one) - same as 1st one with 3/4 pack of sunmaid raisins and 1/2 cup of strong tea added

OG of the 1st one was 1.046 and I forgot to measure the 2nd one.They are both 5 litres in 30L plastic fermenters and have been in there just over a week and I got a gravity reading on both after 4 days in of 1.000.

These are the only 2 vessels I own at the moment and I am going to need one of them for the group  buy next week.

SO my questions are:
(1) can I bottle directly from the primary fermenter as I don't have anywhere to perform secondary fermentation? is it absolutely necessary?
(2) Given that I'll need one of my vessels for next week can I bottle them after only 1.5 weeks in primary and leave them to condition in the bottles (Coopers PET) ? Given the gravity is at 1.000 or below I presume I won't need to worry about bottle bombs and I'm planning to add some Stevia and a small amount of dextrose so they will be both sweet and carbonated.
(3) If I do bottle them after 1.5 weeks, what is the minimum amount of time I should wait before they are drinkable?

Any advice is appreciated
bighoppapump

[johnrm]

30l vessels to ferment 5l means a lot of oxygen.
Be careful of any agitation otherwise you may end up with cardboard.

You could get yourself some 5l bottles  of water. Drink this, sanitise and you should be OK for secondary for a bit.

Glass is better than plastic for longer term storage as it is not oxygen permeable, but in a bind and for short term, the above will do.

Next, you really want to be taking gravity samples a few days apart to see if fermentation has finished.

It might be best trying to get your current batches bottles as soon as gravity stabilises.

[bighoppapump]

Thanks for the advice johnrm.

I'd like to invest in some glass equipment in the future but I just don't have the funds right now.

I might give the water bottles a go but if I were to bottle them directly from primary would they condition/mature in the bottles in the same way that they would in a secondary fermenter? Or does racking to secondary serve another purpose I'm overlooking with my newbie-tinted glasses?   

[johnrm]

Hi there,
I put together 2 turbo ciders after reading through most of the cider articles on this forum and some other sites.

1st one (basic) - 5L tesco value AJ from concentrate, 1tsp yeast nutrient, 0.5 packet of a 9g Craft Range Cider and Yeast Nutrient Pack

2nd one ("posher" one) - same as 1st one with 3/4 pack of sunmaid raisins and 1/2 cup of strong tea added

OG of the 1st one was 1.046 and I forgot to measure the 2nd one.They are both 5 litres in 30L plastic fermenters and have been in there just over a week and I got a gravity reading on both after 4 days in of 1.000.

These are the only 2 vessels I own at the moment and I am going to need one of them for the group  buy next week.

SO my questions are:
(1) can I bottle directly from the primary fermenter as I don't have anywhere to perform secondary fermentation? is it absolutely necessary?
(2) Given that I'll need one of my vessels for next week can I bottle them after only 1.5 weeks in primary and leave them to condition in the bottles (Coopers PET) ? Given the gravity is at 1.000 or below I presume I won't need to worry about bottle bombs and I'm planning to add some Stevia and a small amount of dextrose so they will be both sweet and carbonated.
(3) If I do bottle them after 1.5 weeks, what is the minimum amount of time I should wait before they are drinkable?

Any advice is appreciated
bighoppapump

I should have read your questions, sorry.
1. Yes
2. If fermentation had finished, sounds like it has, yes. Coopers PET perfect. Sweetener to taste.
3. League it 2 weeks min, then try 1 a week. See where the sweet spot is.

Secondary in your case frees up fermenters.
Consider 5l water bottles for primary for test batches.