Apple cider anyone?

dmccarty · Oct 19, 2015

TomSeller said:
I can't sit that long and wait. The cider would be long gone by then. Yum.

Years ago, and I do mean years, I made two batches of hard cider in glass growler jugs. I used two different yeasts if I remember correctly. Need to check my notes...

I put one jug in the fridge after it finished fermentation. The other jug is sitting in a cool corner of the bathroom....

One day, I keep saying this weekend, I will try the stuff and see how it tastes. :confused3::shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing: But something always comes up.

I figure the stuff in the fridge might be good. The stuff in the bathroom could be good, indifferent or vinegar. :shocked::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Later,
Dan

WoodChuckDad · Oct 19, 2015

Make sure you comment on it after you try it. I bought a bottle of wine at a vineyard 12 years ago that was very sweet. The intentions n was to make sangria with it the next summer. It never happened. It sat in my wine fridge for 12 years until my wife walked in the room with a glass of red wine a couple months ago. She told me how smooth and full bodied it was and asked where I got it. I told her it was the first bottle of wine I had ever purchased for keeping. She poured me a glass and she was right. It was magnificent. Smooth and full and not sweet. Age does great things to wine from grapes. I imagine some apples could benefit the same way.

tcreeley · Oct 25, 2015

Used up the last of my last batch of cider from our trees a few days ago. We picked up some wild blueberries in August- frozen. I made some blueberry butter in a crockpot, throwing in some cider and 4 small apples. Two days and it was ready for canning. A month ago I made some apple butter with a quart of cider and a crockpot full of apples. I use organic cane sugar and some ceylon cinnamon. Tastes so much better than from the store. Nothing like fresh.
There are still a few apples on the trees; I'll leave those for the wintering birds, bees, deer, turkeys that pass through looking for something. The robins that get stuck here eat the frozen brown apples when there is nothing else to eat.

buickanddeere · Oct 25, 2015

tcreeley said:
We have about 21 wild apple trees growing about the place. They look like Joyce apples- a cross of Macintosh and Liveland raspberry (1923 Ontario). Being wild- there are a few trees that may be original, but the majority are volunteers. For the most part they are delicious, tart, good green or ripe.
We bought a cider press last June and a grinder of sorts to turn them into pulp. All hand labor. I'm finding that 2 1/2 five gallon pails of apples gives us about 2 gallons of cider.
We use them from the tree and drops as well. We don't spray so I'm using a knife to clean up any I don't like if I don't discard it.
Tomorrow I'm doing some more- have two pails waiting for me. While I'm at it I have 3-5 bees zipping around attracted by the sweetness. They aren't a problem. They are not bothered by what I do - just want the apples.
I've always been a cider lover and making my own is great. Tastes very good. It keeps in the refrigerator 10 days without a problem. The taste changes but gets almost deeper and tastier.
I used a quart of cider in a crockpot of cut apples (sugar, cinnamon) to make some apple butter. Two days of cooking. Only got 2 1/2 pints. Two I canned and the left over I am eating on bread.
I much prefer this over what I can buy!
I don't pasteurize the cider. I don't use preservatives. All organic and good!
Anybody else making cider?

Depending on what region or country. The definition of apple juice , cider and hard cider vary.

dmccarty · Oct 26, 2015

WoodChuckDad said:
Make sure you comment on it after you try it...

I tried the growler that is in the fridge.

It was good but not good. :confused3::laughing::laughing::laughing:

The flavor was really good and I think improved. However, there is a flavor that is not right. I am guessing it might be from the dead yeast. The flavor had smoothed out and is really good but there is this odd after taste that is not so good. I suppose I should have "decanted" the cider. At first I thought the cider had taken on flavor from the the fridge air but when I opened the growler it had a bit of pressure. Some of the yeast must have been eating the sugar and making CO2.

Twas a good first try. I have since found a couple of brands of fruit juices that do not have chemical preservatives so I will give them a try next.

I still have the growler that has been sitting in the bathroom corner to try.

Later,
Dan

MNBobcat · Oct 26, 2015

dmccarty said:
I still have the growler that has been sitting in the bathroom corner to try.

Later,
Dan

Hmmmmm So the plan is to sit on the throne and drink your brew and have it go in one end and come out the other? LOL! Well....nobody better ever say you're not efficient! LOL!

flusher · Oct 27, 2015

Jstpssng said:
Have you tried running your apples through a meat grinder before pressing? , I haven't had any yet this year, I need to go down to Conant's in Etna before they close. Enough for the freezer, and also to attempt a couple gallons of hard cider.
It's been a good year for apples, I had planned to haul a bunch down to Albian where they will press them, but it's too far.

Pasturization is to kill off the E.Coli and other bugs, you need to add a preservative (ascorbic acid) to keep it from fermenting.
Trouble is that it also affects the taste.

Last week in Placerville there were several E.coli poisoning cases from apple juice bought at one of the local roadside stands. The juice was unpasteurized. E. coli is nasty stuff. You roll the dice when you buy unpasteurized juice.

dmccarty · Oct 27, 2015

MNBobcat said:
Hmmmmm So the plan is to sit on the throne and drink your brew and have it go in one end and come out the other? LOL! Well....nobody better ever say you're not efficient! LOL!

I try to be! :laughing::laughing::laughing:

The truth is....

We have this big whirlpool tub that never gets used by a human.

We were kinda afraid the tub would not get used when we designed the house but we said what the heck. The kids used it when they were little but that is about it.

The reality is I am cheap, errr, efficient, and can't stand to fill up the tub with water even though we are on a wall. Just can't stand the thought of wasting all of that water. :confused3::laughing::laughing::laughing:

So the tub gets used to hold the fermentation buckets when I brew beer or cider.

The tub is out of the way, sorta in a cool spot in the house, and if I need to cool down the fermentation, I can fill the tub with water and add some frozen water jugs. :thumbsup:

The previously mentioned corner is between the sink cabinet and tub. I swear! :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Kinda leery of the jug in the corner to be honest. :shocked:

Later,
Dan