Real cider
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vinceg
Real cider
Next project, real cider. Went foraging round the Suffolk countryside at the weekend and got myself 2 big boxfuls of apples of varying varieties. Having had a bite of each variety, I find most of them aren't particularly sharp. I read on here that I need some crab apples to sharpen it up a bit but haven't spotted a tree anywhere yet. Is there anything I can use as a substitute? My mate's folks have a Bramley tree, will some of these be enough?
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Gurgeh
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vinceg
Right. Got enough juice out to fill one DJ so far. Added sugar to get the OG up and it's reading 1061. Stuck 1 Campden in, going to add 1tsp cider yeast in about 48 hours. Sound about right so far?
Got a sachet of sherry yeast and a sached of champagne yeast as well, so am hoping to fill 2 more DJs so I can experiment with the yeasts.
Any thoughts or advice anyone?
Got a sachet of sherry yeast and a sached of champagne yeast as well, so am hoping to fill 2 more DJs so I can experiment with the yeasts.
Any thoughts or advice anyone?
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Gurgeh
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likesbeer
I would concur with gurgeh first lot of cider I followed book and tinternet guides which said campden tablet the nutrient and yeast 36+ hours later etc etc.
First lot of cider fermented like a rocket, stank to high heaven SWMBO not pleased and tasted a bit pear drop like. Given time its settled down and tastes OK ish, bit light on flavour.
Second lot of cider I just pitched in a cider yeast that had been started up, its fermenting much more sedatly, smells good, tastes good. SWMBO much happier room doesnt smell like basement.
So I would give it a miss for the rest and just give it some healthy yeast to get it going.
Sorry for waffly answer
First lot of cider fermented like a rocket, stank to high heaven SWMBO not pleased and tasted a bit pear drop like. Given time its settled down and tastes OK ish, bit light on flavour.
Second lot of cider I just pitched in a cider yeast that had been started up, its fermenting much more sedatly, smells good, tastes good. SWMBO much happier room doesnt smell like basement.
So I would give it a miss for the rest and just give it some healthy yeast to get it going.
Sorry for waffly answer
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vinceg
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buzzrtbi
I always make about 10 gallons of scrumpy. Living n Somerset it is the done thing !!
I always reckon on 1 sack of apples (horse feed sack) presses out at just over a gallon. I use Tom Putt apples which is the small local apple grown especially for scrumpy. It is a bit of an old fashioned apple but makes great scrumpy.
My method is simple. I pick up the windfalls, put them through a wood shredder to pulp them and then put them into the press. my press can take about a bucketfull of pulp but what I find is that if I overfill the press it is less efficient as is pushes the squeezed pulp into the sides this blocking up the slits and preventing the juice in the middle flowing out. Far better to fill it up a quarter full and press it out. It is slower but like I say more efficient.
I strain the juice through wet straw (traditional way) and an old sieve over a bucket. I then pitch each bucket load into my fermenting bucket. This year I used my conical fermenter.
I have found an airlock works best and a cider yeast. I appreciate that you can rely on the yeast on the skins but a yeast is more reliable.
Once the cider has fermented out (No bubbles in airlock) and SG has dropped to required level rack it out into another barrel, traditionally oak barrels or I use 2 king kegs. My cider is typically 6.8%.
Traditional methods suggest you put in a pound of meat into the kegs - this is because the blood prevents oxidisation I believe? or a rat !!
The cider can be racked from time to time to aid clearing but I just tend to leave it for a few months (usually until February) in a cool place where it wont freeze or get too warm.
Happy supping.
I always reckon on 1 sack of apples (horse feed sack) presses out at just over a gallon. I use Tom Putt apples which is the small local apple grown especially for scrumpy. It is a bit of an old fashioned apple but makes great scrumpy.
My method is simple. I pick up the windfalls, put them through a wood shredder to pulp them and then put them into the press. my press can take about a bucketfull of pulp but what I find is that if I overfill the press it is less efficient as is pushes the squeezed pulp into the sides this blocking up the slits and preventing the juice in the middle flowing out. Far better to fill it up a quarter full and press it out. It is slower but like I say more efficient.
I strain the juice through wet straw (traditional way) and an old sieve over a bucket. I then pitch each bucket load into my fermenting bucket. This year I used my conical fermenter.
I have found an airlock works best and a cider yeast. I appreciate that you can rely on the yeast on the skins but a yeast is more reliable.
Once the cider has fermented out (No bubbles in airlock) and SG has dropped to required level rack it out into another barrel, traditionally oak barrels or I use 2 king kegs. My cider is typically 6.8%.
Traditional methods suggest you put in a pound of meat into the kegs - this is because the blood prevents oxidisation I believe? or a rat !!
The cider can be racked from time to time to aid clearing but I just tend to leave it for a few months (usually until February) in a cool place where it wont freeze or get too warm.
Happy supping.
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Graham The Builder
Me and a friend have made 12 gallons of cider using 8 different varieties of apples. The first 6 gallons is just over three weeks old now and fermenting well - we drew a bit out of the middle of the brew and tried a bit which was quite nice. The second 6 gallons was made on Saturday and has just started fermenting. We have relied on wild yeast to do the fermenting to have a more "natural" cider but this is something which neither of us has done before. We have added no sugar or any other agent - just pure apple juice.
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts?
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Gurgeh
top advice there!
FWIW my press will take a heaped washing up bowl of shredder shredded apple and i'll get a gallon and a bit of juice out of that. by the time it drops to just a trickle i give up and go again.
I've got more apples than time and energy.
and i totally agree that whilst you can leave the juice to do it's own thing, the one time i tried it it was rucking fough!
cider yeast is quicker and nicer.
also, my 50L boiler has a hopstopper fitted. i ran all the runnings through that to filter out any bits of apple, leaf, twig, wasp, coddling moth larvae, grass, daddy longlegs, etc. worked a treat!
FWIW my press will take a heaped washing up bowl of shredder shredded apple and i'll get a gallon and a bit of juice out of that. by the time it drops to just a trickle i give up and go again.
I've got more apples than time and energy.
and i totally agree that whilst you can leave the juice to do it's own thing, the one time i tried it it was rucking fough!
cider yeast is quicker and nicer.
also, my 50L boiler has a hopstopper fitted. i ran all the runnings through that to filter out any bits of apple, leaf, twig, wasp, coddling moth larvae, grass, daddy longlegs, etc. worked a treat!
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Graham The Builder
We started to try filtering our apple juice but thought that any odd bit of pulp would add to any flavour. We did, however, wash our apples to get any soil and foreign deposits from them.Gurgeh wrote:.also, my 50L boiler has a hopstopper fitted. i ran all the runnings through that to filter out any bits of apple, leaf, twig, wasp, coddling moth larvae, grass, daddy longlegs, etc. worked a treat!
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Aleman
- It's definitely Lock In Time
- Posts: 6132
- Joined: Sun Jun 03, 2007 11:56 am
- Location: Mashing In Blackpool, Lancashire, UK
For those interested Richard Burns (Of Cheers Homebrew in Cheam) Is holding his annual Cider making weekend on the 17th and 18th of October at a farm near Lydbrook, Forest of Dean. for full details ring 0208 644 0934
or email richardburns at nospam dot xln do co dot uk (Remove the obvious canned meat product for the proper email address) Cost is 195 quid (for which you get three squares and board and 5 gallons of juice (more available) . . . I've heard great things from people who have done this weekend, and while its something I want to do, the timing has always been awkward.
Oh and they don't wash the apples or filter out the bugs pooh or anything else . . . and use natural yeast for fermentation . . . Last years tastes pretty smooth now
or email richardburns at nospam dot xln do co dot uk (Remove the obvious canned meat product for the proper email address) Cost is 195 quid (for which you get three squares and board and 5 gallons of juice (more available) . . . I've heard great things from people who have done this weekend, and while its something I want to do, the timing has always been awkward.
Oh and they don't wash the apples or filter out the bugs pooh or anything else . . . and use natural yeast for fermentation . . . Last years tastes pretty smooth now
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buzzrtbi
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BlackBag
Quick question re all this.
I aint got a press. Have got a decent blender though . . .
I know I would be left with a purified pulp but, could I not wash, core, chop roughly, then chuck the apples in the blender? It would take me bloody ages with the amount of apples I've got, but would it still work?
I was going to put all the puried muck into a 5 gallon fermenter with some honey and cider yeast, then top up with water (no idea of quantities I should be looking at. Suggestions?). When it's nigh on finished fermenting I was going to rack it into another bucket to finish off (this way leaving all the thick stuff behind).
So, would this produce something drinkable?!?
I aint got a press. Have got a decent blender though . . .
I know I would be left with a purified pulp but, could I not wash, core, chop roughly, then chuck the apples in the blender? It would take me bloody ages with the amount of apples I've got, but would it still work?
I was going to put all the puried muck into a 5 gallon fermenter with some honey and cider yeast, then top up with water (no idea of quantities I should be looking at. Suggestions?). When it's nigh on finished fermenting I was going to rack it into another bucket to finish off (this way leaving all the thick stuff behind).
So, would this produce something drinkable?!?
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Gurgeh
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BlackBag
I'm not going to hire a bloody press! That'll cost money.
Anyway, I'm not that daft.
If I'm spending all day Sunday chopping/blending apples then I'm not being roped into doing anything else. "Don't disturb dad, he's busy".
So, back to the original question. If I did all this what kind of quantities would I need to make about 4 gallons'ish of cyser? And would just pulping/blending the apples work?
Anyway, I'm not that daft.
If I'm spending all day Sunday chopping/blending apples then I'm not being roped into doing anything else. "Don't disturb dad, he's busy".
So, back to the original question. If I did all this what kind of quantities would I need to make about 4 gallons'ish of cyser? And would just pulping/blending the apples work?