Cider-making

[StephenH]

Thanks for the tip, but fermentation seems to have got started now anyway, though very slowly at the moment.

[StephenH]

Actually, it hadn't, so I've added some wine yeast. Next year, I'll use special cider yeast, as recommended by Hilary B above, and sold by 'Wineworks', I've just discovered, who also sold me my press and crusher.
I'm re-using most of the pulp to make apple wine, beefed up with sultanas to add vinosity. I poured nearly-boiling water onto it, in two fermenting bins, and will add yeast, and enough sugar to bring the gravity up to about 1070, when it cools, then ferment on the pulp for a few days.

[janeyo]

we have made our own cider for several years and there is a knack to it - you need to wait until it has gone through a secondary frementation which ours usually does after xmas. I leave it in the demijohn til about March. The next thing is to blend ater as it makes for a smoother flavour.
There is never any need to add sugar, just plain old wine making yeast from Wilkos will do.

Our cider gets better each year - the first year was rubbish as we didn't kow about the malolactic thing, but after speaking to a local chap who makes the 'pickled pig' cider - think it won a few awards too, we follow his method and I am proud to say that I have had worse cider than ours at beer festivals! Ours usually comes out at about 6-7%

You have to be patient - as we normally finish drinking ours as the apples are ready for pressing ther next year. We use mostly discovery (our own tree) but then I also beg and borrow and scrump from anyone who will let me.

This year we have 16 demijohns of cider on the go.

Hope this helps

[StephenH]

Thanks for the advice about "the malolactic thing". Re. adding sugar: I've not added any to the cider, only to the apple wine.

[Maciek Stefanski]

Hello, does anyone know where I can hire or borrow an apple press in Surrey? I have agarden full of apples and would love to have a go at cider making.

Thank you.

Maciek

[janeyo]

easy enough to make )

[StephenH]

It's now stopped fermenting and is clearing. It's in four demijohns, filled to the neck, therefore about four and a half gallons, since demijohns hold about 9 pints if filled right up to the neck. I'll leave it until it clears, more or less, then rack it, and probably rack it once more after that.
The apple wine, made with the same pulp beefed up with sultanas and with sugar added, is fermenting like Billy-oh. I'm going to add more sugar, because the O.G. was only 1070, which is on the low side.

[brewer]

Hi ! bobleponge,
I have been brewing for 45 years and the only time I have been dissapointed has been my own fault for not racking the wine often enough. You cannot leave it sitting on the dead yeast.
I have had Blackberry wines that tasted as good as a merlot and elderflower that was as good as a german white.
You have to keep it clean.

[StephenH]

Racked the cider off the lees into three demijohns and two half-gallon flagons the other day. d.j.s have airlocks, the flagons screw-tops are on loosely in case of secondary fermentation - I don't want exploding bottles. I've already drunk one of the flagons: it was toe-curlingly dry, cloudy, and still, but that's all fine by me: real cider can be all those things. Only Strongbow drinkers think it has to be clear, sweet and fizzy.
Actually, I've just had a pint of Thatcher's 'Cheddar Valley' cider in my local Wetherspoons, and it's quite similar: 6%abv, which is what mine is approximately, also bone-dry, still, and cloudy, like mine. The differences are that it's a richer orange-amber colour (mine's a paleish amber); and that it's a bit less astringent. Also, mine's a lot cheaper than £2.40 a pint!

[Vince G]

Evening all from silly Suffolk! I've made cider for a number of years using everything from fruit off trees I've noticed in laybys to sharp Bramleys, in fact this year's 30 litre batch is entirely bramleys as I didn't have time to go out scrumping round the lanes of Suffolk this year. Ive planted a Dabinett and a Hereford Red Streak on my allotment, so hoping for big things from them in a few years. In Suffolk, cider is generally produced a lot smoother than the proper stuff from the West Country as the soil allegedly doesn't suit cider varieties but we'll see what mine do.

I never add yeast, but I do add brewing sugar. Usually a kilo to my 30L vat, just to bring the ABV up slightly. This year's batch has come out at 6.1% (which is nice) and is now sitting quietly under airlock in the porch ready for it's second fermentation when the spring arrives.

As I have used all bramleys this year, the cider would turn out very acidic. I therefore add a couple of teaspoons of precipitated chalk to bring the acid level down a touch and add a teaspoon of wine tannin to up the mouthfeel a bit. I am a keen home brewer so usually have this sort of stuff in the house, but it only costs a couple of quid for each.

There's quite a bit of talk on here about juicing your apples. Simple answer is find a local fruit farm, you would be surprised how accommodating they can be. I go to one down in Essex which takes approx 45 mins to reach, but they do a far better and faster job of pressing my apples than I ever could with my small press. You have to take along a minimum quantity of apples in order to fill the press otherwise you will not get all the juice out, but I take along 6 crates as a rule and they charge me £2 a crate, so for £12 plus the cost of the sugar and other bits and pieces I get nigh on 60 pints of pretty decent cider.

Anyway, I am off to finish my pint from the 2010 vintage. I love discussing brewing and am always happy to hear ideas or try and help so get in touch. I'd highly recommend this site, which I've been a member of for a few years now. Home Brewing and Beer Making at Jim's Beer Kit!

Happy brewing!

[merlin]

Cheapest apple crusher or scratter in the world

I use this, it works great, it's fast and costs about a quid. The cider is great, comes out clear, more money to spend on a good press, watch the film you will wish you had thought of it sooner How to make Cider in Bulgaria, preserve your left over fruit from the Bulgarian summer.

[Feral007]

Well I'm enjoying sitting here by the fire reading all these alcoholic persuits! I asked the kids for a cider kit for my birthday. One of the beggars was trying to make apple cider in his bedroom last year - amazing what you can find on the internet these days! Now that he's of drinking age he's no longer interested in either drinking or making alcohol - kids these days! I'm going to need a whole lot more apple trees I'd say, and I'm hoping that I won't be throwing it all out at the end, but it sounds like fun. Ali Oh and I remember some 'Scrumpy Cider' that my cousin got me when I was in England...smelt like cat's pee, tasted ok, and packed a real punch!