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Does anybody have experience brewing cider?

Post #1 made 11 years ago
by 2trout
I should have a big crop of apples this year, and I have a plan for a simple, but effective cider press.

I dont know how to make cider though. Anybody have some experience with this?

Trout
"All I know is that the beer is good and people clamor for it. OK, it's free and that has something to do with it."
Bobbrews
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Post #2 made 11 years ago
by GuingesRock
No experience 2trout, but I looked it up before because my father-in-law has an old cider press and many apple trees. It seems really simple...basically add yeast to apple juice. I like the simple things in life.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Foo ... Cider.aspx

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/ ... ng-brewers

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/edworts ... ein-33986/

In North America apple juice is called “cider” and fermented apple juice is called “hard cider”. In the UK the alcoholic version is called “cider,” and apple juice is “apple juice.”
Last edited by GuingesRock on 17 Apr 2013, 17:01, edited 3 times in total.
Guinges

Post #3 made 11 years ago
by Yeasty
2trout

Youtube is your friend. Cider (one of many)

Traditionally its just apple juice in a fermenter which is then left to ferment naturally utilising the yeast which is on the apples.

Oh and the proper stuff isn't carbonated.

:luck:

Yeasty
Last edited by Yeasty on 17 Apr 2013, 17:07, edited 2 times in total.
Why is everyone talking about "Cheese"
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Post #4 made 11 years ago
by mally
This thread has made me wonder now what would happen if I bought a couple of litres of "non-preservative" apple juice, and threw in a little yeast slurry?
Could use ale or lager yeast.
I guess it wouldn't get as dry as champagne yeast, but then again I could use a little "brett" slurry too :think:

Let us know how you get on 2trout.
G B
I spent lots of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I squandered
I've stopped drinking, but only when I'm asleep
I ONCE gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life
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Post #6 made 11 years ago
by BobBrews
mally,

I brewed a cider a few years ago. I went to a orchard and bought three gallons of fresh apple juice. I added about 5 pounds of sugar and some water(simple syrup). I used champagne yeast for flavor but I added some yeast that runs up to 22 percent alcohol (Distillers yeast). The concoction needed nutrients and oxygen.

I transferred the wort to a secondary that I left out at night (in the winter) It froze slowly and then I brought it in the house to thaw. I opened the spigot (valve) to let the concentrated (high alcohol) "Apple Jack" run into bottles to be capped. The second run which was a less potent cider (2 or 3 percent??) was put into larger containers to be consumed with meals.

The first run which is called "Apple Jack" was a kick ass drink. One bottle of this stuff and your were buzzing like a bee. It did give me a headache but it tasted great. :yum: :yum:

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/supersta ... -pack.html
Last edited by BobBrews on 17 Apr 2013, 20:31, edited 2 times in total.
tap 1 Raspberry wine
tap 2 Bourbon Barrel Porter
tap 3 Czech Pilsner
tap 4 Triple IPA 11% ABV
Pipeline: Mulled Cider 10% ABV

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Post #7 made 11 years ago
by 2trout
I spent some time last night snooping around the web and found some similar things. Lots of references to cider from England.

Yeasty, is most of the English cider "still?"
"All I know is that the beer is good and people clamor for it. OK, it's free and that has something to do with it."
Bobbrews
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Post #8 made 11 years ago
by shibolet
many homebrewers here including myself regularly make cider from apple concentrate. (100% natural, no preservatives)

I use 3 cans of concentrate (1.2 Kg each) with about 16 liters of water to reach an OG of 1.055
i add yeast nutrient and juice from 2 lemons.
i ferment with Safale S04 or Danstar Windsor yeast (dehydrated).

when gravity drops to around 1.016-1.018 i crash the cider and keg it.
Cube:
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Kegs: Bob's Black IPA, Blanc Blond, Soda...
to be brewed:

Post #9 made 11 years ago
by Yeasty
2trout wrote:I spent some time last night snooping around the web and found some similar things. Lots of references to cider from England.

Yeasty, is most of the English cider "still?"
2trout..

Most shop bought run of the mill cider and pub draft cider is carbonated as I suppose that's what people like. You can buy flat "scrumpy" cider as well, although its normally stronger and less popular than the fizzy stuff.
Its a big thing in "the west country" where there are still cider clubs where locals have rights to gather the windfall apples from orchards and make cider from them.

Cider over in the UK is taxed at a different rate than beer and is therefore cheaper. Most of Britain's youth start there alcoholic careers drinking cider.
mally wrote:This thread has made me wonder now what would happen if I bought a couple of litres of "non-preservative" apple juice, and threw in a little yeast slurry?
Could use ale or lager yeast.
I guess it wouldn't get as dry as champagne yeast, but then again I could use a little "brett" slurry too :think:

Let us know how you get on 2trout.
Mally.

look up turbo cider on the uk forums and you will find loads os threads. I've done it a couple of times when apple juice has been on offer in the likes of Lidil. It comes out at about 6% and very dry. As aces said mixed with some fresh (cloudy) apple juice its a great summer drink.
Last edited by Yeasty on 17 Apr 2013, 21:17, edited 2 times in total.
Why is everyone talking about "Cheese"
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Post #10 made 11 years ago
by brewnz
shibolet wrote:many homebrewers here including myself regularly make cider from apple concentrate. (100% natural, no preservatives)

I use 3 cans of concentrate (1.2 Kg each) with about 16 liters of water to reach an OG of 1.055
i add yeast nutrient and juice from 2 lemons.
i ferment with Safale S04 or Danstar Windsor yeast (dehydrated).

when gravity drops to around 1.016-1.018 i crash the cider and keg it.
Like shibolet I too use store bought apple juice (rather than concentrate) and just add it straight from the container to the Fermenter (20L), throw in a packet of my go to cider yeast (Danstar Nottingham - I use the yeast cake 5 times before buying another packet, I might see what 10 generations do), and let her rip for a week, cold crash for a few days and then bottle (batch prime with 200g b/sugar). Couldn't be easier and highly recommended it!
Last edited by brewnz on 18 Apr 2013, 09:35, edited 2 times in total.

Post #11 made 11 years ago
by thughes
There is a distinction between apple juice and apple cider: apple juice is pressed from the flesh of the apple only, cider is pressed from ground up whole apples (skins/seeds/core/etc.).

You can made hard cider by simply purchasing fresh pressed cider (no preservatives) and allowing it to ferment naturally (the yeast on the apple skins will do the job, just like grapes and wine).

Apple wine (made from apple juice) will require that you add yeast as it normally has no naturally occurring yeast.

When purchasing juice, make sure that there are no preservatives added. Citric acid is OK, anything else will not allow your yeast to survive.

When purchasing cider, verify that there are no preservatives added either. Fresh pressed cider is usually pasteurized or treated with UV light, both of which will inhibit yeast growth but I have found that most farms will sell you untreated cider if you ask.

Cider seems to make a more "tart", fuller flavor drink than does simple apple juice (just my opinion).

I normally add a couple of pounds of brown sugar to 3 gallons of fresh apple cider, ferment with Nottingham/S-04/RedStar champagne/whatever-I-have-on-hand yeast until it finishes up (usually < 1.000), back sweeten it with a can or two of frozen apple juice concentrate, and then keg and force carbonate. If you are going to sweeten it but not keg/carb it you will need to add something to kill the yeast (potassium or sodium metabisulfite....campden tabs) or it will eat the juice concentrate and make some pretty good bottle bombs.

---Todd
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Post #13 made 11 years ago
by GuingesRock
Great post Todd

That’s a bold statement Yeasty! When I’m at my limit with life’s commitments and work and no peace or rest from the toil, and no rest from the responsibilities of my job, I often talk about just living in a shed at the bottom of someone’s garden with a “transistor radio” (one of the old kinds, with a telescopic aerial and maybe a leather case, BBC radio one maybe) and some cans of cider. I haven’t done it yet, but it’s going to happen one of these days (I already got the transistor radio - its great!). Do you want to visit me when I do? I’ll share my cider :party:
Last edited by GuingesRock on 20 Apr 2013, 06:45, edited 2 times in total.
Guinges

Post #15 made 11 years ago
by 2trout
WHOA!

There is lots of info out there, and I'm still sorting it all out.

This much I do know.

1. I will have my own apples to squeeze. They are Golden Delicious, and if the two 18*F nights we had this week did not kill the buds, I will have lots of apples(I've got 2 standard sized trees.)

2. I will need to find some tart apples to mix with my own. This should provide a balance to the cider. Around a 50/50 mix by weight should be good. We have lots of apple trees in my neighborhood, so I should be OK there.

3. There will be two batches. 1 will be as natural as possible with no added yeast. I want to see what my neighborhood yeasts have up their sleeves. The second batch will be more technical as I will be shooting for a clear carbonated bottled cider that is medium dry without producing bottle bombs.

Ill try to keep posting more on this project as I make decisions.

trout
"All I know is that the beer is good and people clamor for it. OK, it's free and that has something to do with it."
Bobbrews
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Post #17 made 11 years ago
by Skink
You're right, 2 trout, Golden Delicious will be too bland on their own. Personally, I try to use as many different varieties as I can, and also try to include a couple of pounds of crab apples per gallon for astringency. As well as having a press, you will need some way of pulping your apples, as the press will struggle to produce juice from whole or halved apples. There are a number of ways to do this, including shop bought millers, or the 'Pulpmaster', a handy little device that can be attached to a drill (maybe someone else would provide a link, I'm rubbish at it). Another, cheap alternative is to quarter your apples - which I always do anyway to check for decay/maggots - and then freeze them. Then, when defrosted the apples are soft enough for the press to deal with them. Some don't like this method since the apples brown a bit, but it's always worked for me.
This year, I've made 7 gallons or 'OOO-AARRR'juice, freezing 20lbs. of apples at a time for a week, and then thawing and pressing them into a gallon demijohn - I try to use cider yeast when I can because it ferments nice and clear and gives a compact lees. Then 5 of those gallons went into a 6 gallon fermenter along with a gallon of fermented Turbo Cider (The Home Brew Forum is very good for TC), just for variety. I sort of plan to make 3 gallons of fizzy wine, by batch priming and adding a non-fermenting sweetener such as Splenda, plus a gallon of dry still, one of sweet still, and a gallon each of fizzy spiced and still spiced.
Phew - need a lie down after that...

Post #18 made 11 years ago
by 2trout
Ive been saving an old disposal for the pulping of the apples, but I had not heard about the freezing process. That may be the way that I proceed as it sounds simple.

Skink,

About the crab apples. Are you talking about your run of the mill tiny crab apples, or the less common eating style crab apples; the ones about the size of a golf ball?
"All I know is that the beer is good and people clamor for it. OK, it's free and that has something to do with it."
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Post #19 made 11 years ago
by Yeasty
2trout wrote:About the crab apples. Are you talking about your run of the mill tiny crab apples, or the less common eating style crab apples; the ones about the size of a golf ball?
I didn't know there was a "eating" crab apple. The ones you want are the really bitter "run of the mill" apples.
I suppose if they are in short supply you could throw in a few cooking apples.
Last edited by Yeasty on 22 Apr 2013, 04:27, edited 2 times in total.
Why is everyone talking about "Cheese"
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Post #20 made 11 years ago
by 2trout
There are a few varities that are eating crabs. "Whitney" and "Firecracker" are the two that I am aware of.

Ill be looking into proportions for the crab apples.

trout
"All I know is that the beer is good and people clamor for it. OK, it's free and that has something to do with it."
Bobbrews
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Post #21 made 11 years ago
by Skink
Sorry, I wasn't aware of eating varieties of crabs, either. My idea of crabs are the varieties we have growing wild in ditches here in the jolly old Emerald Isle, and I wouldn't eat them if you paid me! I'd be looking at about 10% of crabs if you can get them, but there's no need to be too particular - part of the fun of cider making for me is bunging it all in, and seeing how it turns out...

Post #23 made 11 years ago
by 2trout
Skink,

Here on the mountains of Colorado, we regularly get those late frosts. I haven't eaten a local apricot in two years! So far however, things look good. Here's to mild nights!

trout
"All I know is that the beer is good and people clamor for it. OK, it's free and that has something to do with it."
Bobbrews
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