Making Cider?

[Sheffield Catapults 71]

Has anyone here ever made their own cider? I have been offered an abundance of apples and fancy having a go at making my own. I've seen a few video's on youtube with people using juicers, has anyone got any tips or recipes they would be willing to share?

 

Thanks for any help.

[D DAVE 35]

In theory great, I've tried it three times and in reality you can't beat a can of strongbow

[kenj 131]

 

I've been making cider for years and it's not difficult and doesn't need any special equipment. This is my rig, a home made press using a car jack and a garden shredder. Demijons with air locks, or a barrel with a tap are a must.

 

Check out my blog post: http://www.urbanfieldsportsman.com/index.php/cider-bottled/

I make about pints a year. Once through the processes, don't attempt to drink any until the summer, if possible. Look on it as an investment. I'm drinking two year old cider at the moment. Better than shop cider and most pubs any day.

Good luck, it's worth the effort.

Edited October 22, 2013 by kenj

[North Country Boy 0]

Ive tried making cider for the first time this year. Had an abundance of apples so I thought Id give it a go, got a load of wild crab apples to press as well as apparently they contain the most wild yeast and I wanted a cider that was just pure apple juice with no chemicals added. It was a bit time consuming even doing it as a group with one washing and cutting, one smashing the apples to a pulp and one pressing and putting in the fermenting bin but we had a good day and it was very social. I left it on the fermenting bin till it started to bubble then decanted it into demijohns were I left it to do its thing. Within days the airlock was bubbling like mad which lasted for about 5-6 weeks. When the bubbling got down to less than 1 plop per minute I racked it into 2 ltr plastic bottles and left it. I read you can get a second fermentation at this stage so every now and them just slightly opened the bottles to release some pressure. Tried it the other week an thoroughly enjoyed it so if you have the opportunity to make some go for it. Main thing is to make sure everything is spotlessly clean and sterilised. I will be definitely doing it again next year and even contemplating making my own press.

[TOPPER 1,809]

dave -- strongbow isnt cider it just a chemical drink given to valley comandos bit like red bull without a kick

[kenj 131]

Sounds like you've done it right NC Boy. I got another load of apples from one of my permissions recently, the lady was almost pleading for me to take them, so decided to do another batch of five gallons, a mix of bramleys, cox's and green crab apples. November is a bit late for cider making, but did my first racking last week and it already tastes good. I put in 4 oz of sugar each gallon to up the strength and make it a bit sweeter. The cider I made in October is clear and golden and I'll bottle it next week. Once you've made your own, you'll never waste money on Strongbow again!

My press is just a screwed and glued frame, with an old car jack, pressing the juice between a cut down pine shelf. You can see the yeast forming in the collecting tray, when you press the juice, but I still add a sprinkle of cider yeast, a sachet good for five gallons.

Edited December 3, 2013 by kenj

[North Country Boy 0]

Its mad, there is so much free fruit out there just falling and rotting. I went to do some coppicing in a womans garden the other day she asked me if I wanted any apples off her tree when I jumped at it she took me round to her mums who had loads of apple trees and told me to take however much I wanted and I can go back every year and take what I want. This is on top of the dozen or so trees that are on waste ground near me that were positively groaning with fruit this year. Definitely making more next year.

[kenj 131]

I've just bottled my second batch of cider, three dozen pints. A new shooting permission had so many apples in a small orchard, cox's and brambleys, plus another unknown sweet rough skinned variety, that the lady was almost pleading for me to take them. Even giving loads away, I still had enough for another five gallons, when mixed with a couple of bags of crab apples from her hedge. It seemed a pity to waste them. When bottling, the taste test gave a sweet cider, which already has a nice dry bite at the back of the throat. Should be great after a few months maturing.

[antg 1,783]

great to see them apples not going to waste.

kenj adding sugar won't wake it any sweeter. sugar is fully fermentable and turns into alcohol. if you need to add a sweetness to it use an artificial sweetener like splenda or similar. its not fermentable and will do the job fine.

how much to add is a trial and error sort of thing as each batch you make will be slightly different.

[moxy 617]

dave -- strongbow isnt cider it just a chemical drink given to valley comandos bit like red bull without a kick

[kenj 131]

I've just started drinking the cider I bottled in 2012. I tried it last summer, it was good, but not up to the 2011 brew, that I still had supplies of. The 2011 is now drunk (pun) and the 2012 is even better. It's well worth making plenty, to allow a good time for it to mature.

[.WARREN. 288]

dave -- strongbow isnt cider it just a chemical drink given to valley comandos bit like red bull without a kick