Having a go at cider making....

[JohnC]

We’ve a fair number of apples in the garden so we’re having a go at making some cider.. reading plenty and making notes as we go...



Chopping up the washed apples in a stainless steel bucket, with janes cleaned up spade..





Mashing the chopped apples with a (clean)bit of wood....





Press and bottle ready...


Jane filling up the bag with pulp, apple juice pouring out already...




Letting the press do its work...


We’re got about 4.5litres of juice, it’s hydrated meter reading is 1045000, which i think means itll be (if all goes well) 6%ABV... or I’ll be able to polish brass with it...

Everything was washed or soaked in a cleaning soln and rinsed, so fingers crossed. Ive never been one for brewing or distilling, so its about time to give it a go... I’ll post how it goes..

 

[Janne]

Are you meant to wash them?

Will not that not remove the natural yeast?

I hope you realize you will never be able to drink commercial cider again once you tried your real cider?

 

[baggins]

i hope it turns out well. Been making gallons of cider and perry for years, the home brew can be an acquired taste, and it depends on the type of apples you use. We quite often use a blend depending of the dryness/sweetness you want. Its really just a case of trial and error.
Janne, Washing the apples (or at least rinsing them) is fine, as long as you don't scrub them. it just gets rid of the unwanted dirt and bugs.
hope it all turns out well

 

[JohnC]

Are you meant to wash them?

Will not that not remove the natural yeast?

I hope you realize you will never be able to drink commercial cider again once you tried your real cider?

I'd read of using the yeasts on the apple, but that it could be hit or miss, so decided to use a cider yeast from the brew store for this first go.. If things go well, Id like to try with the unwashed apples

 

[Robson Valley]

Like wine making, you are always far better off to use a named yeast variety which will have a predictable outcome.
Just one HUGE variable that you don't have to mess with.
I'm surprised that the method doesn't say to ferment on the mashed apple then press.

 

[JohnC]

i hope it turns out well. Been making gallons of cider and perry for years, the home brew can be an acquired taste, and it depends on the type of apples you use. We quite often use a blend depending of the dryness/sweetness you want. Its really just a case of trial and error.
Janne, Washing the apples (or at least rinsing them) is fine, as long as you don't scrub them. it just gets rid of the unwanted dirt and bugs.
hope it all turns out well

Thanks! I've a friend who has a tree with very sweet apples, she gave most to the thistly cross cider company south of here (some scheme where you exchange a large lot of unwanted apples for a bottle of cider) so we're hoping to get some of hers next year, if this works out.

 

[JohnC]

Like wine making, you are always far better off to use a named yeast variety which will have a predictable outcome.
Just one HUGE variable that you don't have to mess with.
I'm surprised that the method doesn't say to ferment on the mashed apple then press.

the articles I've read (so far) all go for pressing then fermenting. would it free up more juice?

 

[Robson Valley]

I can't say for sure. We froze rhubarb to enhance juice yield and fermented on the pulp. Frightening skull-buster wine.
I was up to 450 liter batches of grape wine and always fermented on the skins (25 x 36lb cases of grapes.)
It never failed to amaze me that single puncture hole in a grape would leave you with a gas-bubble skin in a few days.

Follow the book. Several times. Then consider changing one thing at a time.
Looks downright delicious already. Sulfite cleaning?

 

[Janne]

When I made alcoholic beverages with own fruit blends, I let the pulped fruit self ferment. Being own, it was usually delicious.
You know, ‘my children and the others brats’ situation.

For the other ferments I used to do, type forest fruits mixed with flowers, I usually sterilized by a quick boil, then used wine yeast I bought.

Always added sugar.

I never achieved a consistent result to be truthful. Maybe 50% was not nice, that brew I put through a still.

It was all illegal in Sweden.

 

[Janne]

I used to buy Cider made by various people, from a PYO apple orchard east of Crowborough in East Sussex, forgot the name of the place. Excellent stuff, so many flavours!

I hope you are happy with your result and expand to larger batches!

 

[JohnC]

I used campden tablets which i believe have sulphate in them..
follow the recipe for now, (and the team at the brew store have been very helpful when th advice..)

 

[slowworm]

I'm surprised that the method doesn't say to ferment on the mashed apple then press.

I don't think I've ever read of cider being fermented on pulp, seen plenty of people doing it over here and you just press the juice otherwise you'd end up with huge volumes of pulp. I also wouldn't be adding any sugar.

Fruit wines yes.

 

[Robson Valley]

Right! Camden tables = potassium metabisulfite. I bought a kg at a time and forgot what the tablets are called.
You might need to add sugar if your hyrdometer reads too low for a predictable wine product.
Red grape wines usually start at SG = 1.095 for a finish of 12% alcohol.

This is cider, never made any, no idea of recommended starting SG.
Goodness only knows I have enough crappy apples each fall to pay attention to this thread.

 

[Janne]

Cider should be weak. It is a drink you imbibe by the bucket!

Maybe 2-5%?

Where I originate, we start drinking the fermenting grape juice only a couple of days after the fermentation starts.
Google ‘sturm’ and ‘heuriger’

 

[baggins]

Certainly in Herefordshire cider making, its the juice that ferments, not the pulp. we've never added anything to the juice, just pulped, pressed then put the juice in large barrels and left to ferment. Camden tabs are used to sterilise the barrels, but never added to the juice.

 

[Toddy]

Edit...reply to Janne.

Eh ?
Cider here can be as strong as wine. 8.5% upwards, and that's with no sugar added. Perry likewise.

 

[Laurentius]

Cider should be weak. It is a drink you imbibe by the bucket!

Maybe 2-5%?

Where I originate, we start drinking the fermenting grape juice only a couple of days after the fermentation starts.
Google ‘sturm’ and ‘heuriger’

Not in my experience, stronger than beer and as strong as some wines used to be back in the day. Still a drink to be imbibed by the bucket full, if you last that long before keeling over dead drunk.

 

[Toddy]

I think good cider or perry beats wine

 

[JohnC]

My experience of someones home made cider in Dorset was certainly not a bucketful drink!

 

[Robson Valley]

It is considered good enology practice to sulfite the must when wine making.
Then you add the yeast of your choice to give some reliability to your technique.
Whether you ferment on/off/partial the skins is just one more variable.
Pressing some would lighten the color extracted from skins, just a nuance that you can control.