Does anyone make apple cider?

[Duffster]

Does anyone make there own apple cider?

I recently discovered that my wife's uncle has a press that he would loan to us to use. Problem is that I have never made it or even seen it made.

Is it very hard to do? How many apples would we need and what other kind of supplies would we need.

Do you pasterize it?

Lastly, does anyone make "hard" cider?

 

[MossRoad]

Does anyone make there own apple cider?

I recently discovered that my wife's uncle has a press that he would loan to us to use. Problem is that I have never made it or even seen it made.

Is it very hard to do? How many apples would we need and what other kind of supplies would we need.

Do you pasterize it?

Lastly, does anyone make "hard" cider?

Never made it. We buy it from a local orchard in season. His is not pasteurized. He is required by law to tell us it isn't. So maybe you'd be required by law to tell yourself if yours is or isn't pasteurized!

Out of season we buy it from the store and it is all pasteurized.

 

[Redneck in training]

Last time I did that was about 30 yers ago. We cut the apples before loading them in the press. Initially we either pasteurized the cider but later on by advice of friend of mine we experimented with about a teaspoon of freshly ground horseradish put in the throat of the bottle as a desinfectant. Don't remember how well it worked.

 

[MikeD74T]

Duffster, In the 60's I helped made cider at the farm across the street from my house. They made fairly large batches, i.e. a 5 yard dump truckload at a time. They'd back the truck under the tree branches & we'd climb up & shake the branches. Then we'd pick up all that missed the truck. Had a grinder that was powered by a belt drive pulley on the PTO. Everything that came out of the tree went thru the hot top door into the grinder. Mash was shoveled into hoops lined with cloth & stacked in the press. Was a hand lead screw press. Another mill a couple miles away had a hydraulic press to squeeze the mash. Used water in the ram to avoid contamination of the mash. They also had a rent-a-tree deal going but closed up when pasteurization was mandated.
I currently live behind a large orchard that's been in business since the 30's. They still make cider. I think New Hampshire requires all cider to be pasteurized. This is primarily because many drops are used for cider and may carry e coli bacteria. I have made 5 gallon batches & let it ferment to the sparkling cider stage, my favorite. Have let some go full hard then concentrated both by freezing & distilling. If I use drops I wash the apples in a 10% bleach/water solution then double rinse. I just use picked apples straight from the tree without washing. If you already have a press you should consider making a grinder.
There's dozens of "apple cider" links on the net, here's a few:
http://ukcider.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Homemade_Cider_Press
http://ukcider.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Homemade_Scratter
http://www.productcenter.msu.edu/documents/cider/makecider.pdf
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRZ9aVPnkzQ MikeD74T

 

[NSBound]

Does anyone make there own apple cider?
....
Lastly, does anyone make "hard" cider?

There's a lot of videos on YouTube about making apple cider. Here's one that makes it look pretty easy. YouTube - Making apple cider

There's also ones about making hard cider .

On another note, what's the difference between apple cider and apple juice? I'll have to look that one up.........

 

[NSBound]

Does anyone make there own apple cider?
....
Lastly, does anyone make "hard" cider?

There's a lot of videos on YouTube about making apple cider. Here's one that makes it look pretty easy. YouTube - Making apple cider

There's also ones aout making hard cider .

On another note, what's the difference between apple cider and apple juice? I'll have to look that one up.........

(Edit - I have looked it up, and it seems there really isn't much difference, if any, other than using early-season apples for cider!)

 

[dmccarty]

I would love to grow my own apples and make cider.

I have not seen what my uncle made but he put together an apple press and my father helped make some cider. They brought us a gallon. It is GOOD! Much better than store bought.

If the press is manually operated you get about one gallon per bushel of apples. Cider should be made from a mixture of apples. Usually crab apples are used to tart the cider up a bit.

Cider is supposed to be pasteurized to kill ecoli and other bad bugs but the process is supposed to kill some of the flavor. Supposedly the only way to get ecoli is from windfall apples in an orchard in which livestock has access. Not sure I totally believe that is the only source just repeating what I have read.

Freezing hard cider to remove water is a time honored way of making apple jack. Believe it or not it is against Federal Law and maybe state law since it is a form of distillation. Just another form of taxation. The first challenge to the new US Federal government was the Whiskey Rebellion.

Later,
Dan

 

[RobertN]

Yes. I'll look up my recipe and post this evening.

We live minutes from a big apple producing area in the Sierra foothills. I get fresh unpasteurized cider to make my hard cider.

Apple Hill Growers

Lastly, does anyone make "hard" cider?

 

[moeh1]

Finely chopped apple makes more cider per apple than coarse. You chop them, load them into the nylon bag, fold it down tight, put the wood top over the bag, use a piece of apple as lubrication for the screw and screw it down in stages to squeeze all the juice out. Leave it under tension for a bit to get all of it out. If you want hard cider, I use a 5 gallon carboy with a bubler to ferment. 4 gallons cider, 4 lb brown sugar, 1 or 2 qts grape juice to feed the yeast. If you didn't wash the apples, you may not need yeast. If you like sweeter cider, use beer yeast, if you like it dry use champagne yeast instead.

 

[RobertN]

The recipe I have used is a fortified hard cider; extra sugar is added.

5 gallons apple juice
1lb dark brown sugar
1lb light brown sugar
2lb jar honey
Champagne yeast

Heat 1/2 to 1 gallon of apple juice. Dissolve in the sugar and honey. pour in to carboy
(i use a 6.5gallon carboy for primary fermentation). Add additional apple juice to make 5 gallons.

Pitch yeast, and install airlock on carboy. I have used two different champagne yeasts. If you get an attenuative yeast, it will be less sweet, more alcohol. If you use a less attenuative yeast, it will make a sweeter cider.

I usually only do primary fermentation. Typically bottle with 1/3 to 1/2 cup corn sugar(for 5 gallons...).

Note that you can make a lighter cider by simply putting you 1 gallon jug of unpasteurized apple juice on the counter, and crack the lid. Then just let it set out for a few days. The natural yeasts in the apples will get you a 3 to 3.5% alcohol cider.

You can use a beer yeast, or even a cider yeast; there are a couple different liquid cider yeast available; I think from Wyeast?

Remember beer yeast peters out at about 8% or less alcohol. Champagne yeast is like wine yeast; it will get to the 14% range if you have enough fermentable sugars, whether from the apples or by forification.

Yes. I'll look up my recipe and post this evening.

 

[moeh1]

Like Robert, I usually do a primary fermentation also, then move to a carboy to eliminate some of the junk. Make sure you leave the second fermentation alone for at least 2-3 months before bottling, the cider undergoes a malo-lactic transformation over the scrud in the bottom of the carboy. I have also put in some oak chips or toasted oak chips for some added tannic acid flavor.
Enjoy.

 

[ragkar]

This is the season to look for hard cider at the package store.

 

[forgeblast]

I have just used pasturized juice, a local orchard runs it through a uv light to pasturize the juice and then pitch the champagne yeast. I transfered to a secondary and let it sit a year, i put cheap vodka in the airlock to make sure nothing gets in there.
Beer Making Kits and Home Brewing Supplies | MoreBeer has forums on cider making.

 

[RobertN]

Pasteurized actually gives you better control; then you are only dealing with the particular qualities of the champagne yeast. The wild yeasts add that unknown factor that will make it variable from batch to batch.

I get unpastuerized just because I get it right off the press at the local apple ranch.

It does not make a big difference in fermentation; there is plenty of sugar in the apple juice either way.

More sugar=more alcohol=

I have just used pasturized juice, a local orchard runs it through a uv light to pasturize the juice and then pitch the champagne yeast. I transfered to a secondary and let it sit a year, i put cheap vodka in the airlock to make sure nothing gets in there.
Beer Making Kits and Home Brewing Supplies | MoreBeer has forums on cider making.

 

[Chuck52]

I recently saw a site describing how to make an apple grinder from a garbage disposal...a new one preferably! It ground so fine that a lot of the juice separated directly, but did require a fairly fine mesh bag for the pressing.

I have about 15 different apple and crab apple varieties already. When I get decent production DW says I can buy a press. Until then, I sometimes buy cider to make the hard stuff with. This time of year you can find decent cider, but you do have to be sure it doesn't have benzoate added. Many cider mills add benzoate as a preservative. Pasteurized juice is fine for fermenting, but benzoate prevents fermentation.

Chuck

 

[forgeblast]

Chuck i saw that apple grinder site too. I worry about not being able to clean completely when you are done, which would then contaminate your batch, or require you to use more chemicals to pasturize then repitch.
Looking at history of a lot of the ciders, the best ones were mixes, especially of tart/sweet and bitter. a lot of the old english cider apples where not fit to eat, but let the yeast do its work and its great.
The main thing you have to control is sanatization, there are a lot of great products out there. I use one step, san star and others. also remember the more times you rack the cider the more times you are opening it up to infection. With my homebrews i ferment, and then keg, at no time do i secondary ferment.
Also the price on a plastic fermenter is only like 10.00 its a pretty easy hobby to do. I would go with Grolsch bottles with ceramic tops makes it easier to store. And when you hear about priming sugar, dont go overboard, bottlebombs can be deadly.

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

when I used to make my own wines, I'd freeze all my fruit first to make for a natuallry sweeter product. grinding everything up finely should do a similar thing, but it'd be interwsting to know if anyone has tried it both ways to see if there's a difference. (ground vs. frozen then ground)

 

[Chuck52]

Forge, I think the disposal grinder would be pretty easy to clean by just running some water through it....maybe a little detergent or bleach added. I always do at least one racking with my beer or wine, and the few times I have done cider I also racked once. I've never gotten an infected fermentation by just using good clean techniques. I, too, use the Grolsch style bottles. In addition to the standard size, I picked up a some liter sized swing tops a few years ago from a brew supply house. They are nice to have when taking homebrew to a party.

The main problem I've had with cider is in getting a semi-sweet carbonated version. Even with beer yeast, when I do bottle conditioning I have to catch the fermentation before it goes completely dry by putting the bottles in the frig. In the past I didn't have room for a whole batch, but we just bought a new refrigerator and I revived the old one by replacing the faulty defrost timer, so now I have room! I prefer a carbonated cider, and I find that if the cider goes completely dry, which it will if left to its own devices, it tastes like very dry champagne. That's not all bad, but I like a little sweetness to bring out the apple flavor. I may end up kegging to get both carbonation and a bit of sweetness, but even then I may have to do something to kill the yeast, and I really don't like the idea of using a chemical agent to do that....natural cider rules!

BTW, I now have a good selection of sweets and sharps growing, which should let me make lots of cider in a few years. However, I have no bitter-sharps for the blend. Anyone know of a good bitter-sharp that is a good producer and also disease resistant? I have really high cedar-apple rust here in the middle of Missery.

Chuck

 

[robb01]

We used to years ago, but havent recently

 

[forgeblast]

The main problem I've had with cider is in getting a semi-sweet carbonated version. Even with beer yeast, when I do bottle conditioning I have to catch the fermentation before it goes completely dry by putting the bottles in the frig.

What a buddy of mine does is wait for it to finish. He will then either crash cold it making sure they are all goners (yeast) or add some chemicals to kill them off. He then waits a day or two and back sweetens with frozen apple juice. It adds some apple flavor and juice back into the cider.