Cider......

[shepp 2,285]

I would use sugar.

[mattyg 1,862]

Okey dokey, a teaspoon of regular sugar out of the cupboard?

[antg 1,777]

a level teaspoon of sugar will be enough to carb a pint bottle. please make sure your cider has finished fermenting before you think of bottling it. you will get bottle bombs if its not finished its fermentation. messy i can tell you.

[mattyg 1,862]

It won't be seeing a bottle until it's as dead as a dodo!

I'm very new to cider making but not cider drinking.... I'd like to be able to make and drink many more pints in the future!

Matt

[FLATTOP 4,468]

What I usually do is let it ferment out till it's dead about 1005 or lower on the hydrometer leave it for a few days, then I either syphon into demijohns or into a plastic barrels making sure the juice comes right close to the neck so minimum air ( avoids turning to vinegar ) I then make it airtight, then leaving about a month I then rack off the lees ( The posh name for all the sediment ), I do this about three times once a month till it's really clear, then about March I bottle into dark bottles and cap and stick in my garage in a cool dark place.

 

Then the old saying when you hear the first cuckoo it's ready to drink April time I've been home brewing for about twenty five years I've only had about two brews I wasn't happy with, when people ask for advice I always say sterilise all your kit and be patient I've known mates to start drinking it while it's still fermenting lunatics,then they moan it gave them a gut ache.

 

A pint of last years batch it was a good bit of gear.

[shepp 2,285]

FLATTOP do you just use a random mixture of apples?

[FLATTOP 4,468]

FLATTOP do you just use a random mixture of apples?

Hi Shepp I try to use a minimum of 4 different types of apples at least one type crab apples and I've used big cookers as well Granny Smith type big old things.

 

I've got a thing going with my colleagues on the Railway through the Autumn they collect the apples whilst line side and I make it and supply all the gear and we go fifty fifty a bit like a cooperative

 

A few of the apples I used this year.

[shepp 2,285]

I guess that's like the road side apple trees you see. I guess a seed from an apple core thrown out a window occasionally manages to take root.

 

I have some cookers and have offer of several trees over my allotments, will see on Sunday what they are. Only thing I could do with is crab apples.

[mole trapper 1,693]

Well I was going to give it a miss altogether this year, but made that last 24 gallons just because things came along unexpectedly.

And now I've just been offered a shed load from some orchards, from what I'm looking at at present this lot will probably make another forty to fifty gallons! This is getting serious.

[dytkos 17,800]

Well I was going to give it a miss altogether this year, but made that last 24 gallons just because things came along unexpectedly.

And now I've just been offered a shed load from some orchards, from what I'm looking at at present this lot will probably make another forty to fifty gallons! This is getting serious.

Ive always got room for a few bottles mate.

 

Cheers, D.

[shepp 2,285]

I managed to get together 4 flexi tubs of apples from the allotment and another piece of council land which has an old orchard on it.

 

I will do my pressing this week.

 

Would you guys add the yeast and give it a week indoors then move it to an outside shed to slow the fermentation down?

Under my stairs is probably about 18 deg.

[mole trapper 1,693]

I managed to get together 4 flexi tubs of apples from the allotment and another piece of council land which has an old orchard on it.

 

I will do my pressing this week.

 

Would you guys add the yeast and give it a week indoors then move it to an outside shed to slow the fermentation down?

Under my stairs is probably about 18 deg.

At 18 it will probably be done within a week, my ten gallon vessel stopped this morning, it's been roaring even at a constant 15.

 

Dytkos, you don't drink gut rot, it's bad for you.

[mattyg 1,862]

One of mine has stopped today,strange thing is, it was the last to get going, how long should I leave before racking off?

Started at 1.050,finished at 1.000 .

Matt

P.s. If this stuff even turns out "drinkable", I'm going for it in a bigger way next year!

[jok 3,260]

You can rack off anytime you want pal. Just don't let her catch you. They get a complex you know. LOL?jok.

[FLATTOP 4,468]

One of mine has stopped today,strange thing is, it was the last to get going, how long should I leave before racking off?

Started at 1.050,finished at 1.000 .

Matt

P.s. If this stuff even turns out "drinkable", I'm going for it in a bigger way next year!

Sounds like you've nailed the fermentation stage Matt I would rack it off into a clean Demi Jon put a solid bung on it, I usually rack it off about three times before I bottle it to get it nice and clear.

 

One of my five gallon fermentation bins is fermenting really slow I know why the temperature isn't very high where it's stored but I'm gonna stick with it as a slow fermentation is good.

 

It's like baby sitting cider every day I look it and give it some good words of encouragement, people talk to plants lol....