Jonnyv
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Admin Notes: This is taken from my cider post from last year, but I'll be reformatting it to be more of a 'how to' and resizing the photos.
Jan 20th: Bit more text, resized photos, reorganised and added photo of finished product. :drink:
Introduction
Making cider from apples is an easy enough process but does require some special equipment including a fruit press and a pulping device (more on that later).
The type of apples you have will determine the quality of your cider. Ideally you want a mixture of sweet, bitter sweet and sharp apples. Even without the right apples you can still make a rewarding cider.
The actual process is very simple:
1. Pick the apples (hopefully off the floor, otherwise with a large stick to 'persuade' them from the tree - you don't want under-ripe apples however). Rinse in water to remove dirt/grass/beetles etc.
2. Pulp the apples
3. Press the apple pulp
4. Ferment
5. Blend then bottle or keg
Equipment & Ingredients
Some small scale cider-makers have gone to the effort of making their own press from a two-tonne jack and an old drum - and making an apple milling device (called a scratter) which saves the purchase of a pulpmaster and using a knife to pulp the apples. The specifics of these are beyond the scope of this guide, but these links should get you started should you not wish to use the methods below (which are more labour intensive):
The following is basic equipment that can be picked up easily without having to make your own.
Pulping Equipment
A Pulpmaster bucket is a 1 gallon backet with a lid. The lid has a hole in the centre where a metal tube is poked through. On the end of the tube inside the bucket is a horizontal blade. A drill attaches to the top of the tube making the contraption a large basic food processor.
The flat blade isn't the most efficient use of the blade - using pliers you can twist one end of the blade upwards slightly and the other downwards to create a more efficient pulping blade. For the Pulpmaster to work, the apples need to be chopped into at least quarters. This can be done via hand using a knife or using a potato chipper. £15 from your local cook shop.
Fruit Press
Once the apples are suffciently pulped a fruit press is needed to extract the juice. These range in size and can be rather expensive. Check your local freecycle or ask around to see if anyone has one gathering dust. The size of the press will determine how much work is involved - get the biggest you can afford.
Fermenting vessels
Something to ferment the apple juice in. Standard beer or wine fermenters are ideal.
Other Equipment
A hydrometer is optional but is useful to record the specific gravity and final gravity (allowing you to calculate the alcohol content). It also allows you to monitor how the fermentation is going and how dry or sweet your cider will be.
Ingredients
Besides the apple juice you'll need some campden tablets to kill off an wild yeasts and some cider yeast to ferment the juice.
Picking the Apples
Windfall apples will be nicely ripened but need to be gathered before rot sets in. Otherwise you can gently coax ripe apples off the tree with a large enough stick & a ladder
Chopping & Pulping
Using a potato chipper device the apples are chopped into smaller pieces, ready for pulping.
Connect your drill to the pulpmaster. Put the chopped apples in the bucket and give the drill a whizz for a minute, stir, whizz some more then stirr again a few more times to get a good juicy pulp.
Pressing
The apples are now sufficiently broken down to allow pressing. The press used here is over 30 years old, it can be hard work if your press is small so buy the biggest you can afford if you plan on making a lot of cider. One press here will yield about half a gallon.
The remains that come out of the press are great for the compost heap or garden as mulch:
After a few hours work you'll end up with lots of lovely brown juice:
Fermenting
Add one campden table per gallon to kill off any wild yeast and bacteria lurking on the dirty apples.
After two days add one packet of cider yeast per 5 gallons and leave to ferment for a couple of weeks. Check the gravity regularly with a hydrometer to make sure the cider doesn't ferment too dry.
Regarding sanitation, we sanitise everything with iodophor at the beginning of the session but when you consider where the apples have been, what they've been in contact with etc it's any wonder we don't end up with apple vinegar, but the process works!
Blending, Bottling and Kegging
To create a more uniform cider for the season you can blend the batches together.
Once blended you can either bottle/keg it still or carbonated. Prime as you would with beer (80g sugar per 5 gallons) and leave to mature for a few months. The cider will improve with age if kept in a cool place.
Drinking!
:
:drink: :drink: :drink: :drunk:
Jan 20th: Bit more text, resized photos, reorganised and added photo of finished product. :drink:
Introduction
Making cider from apples is an easy enough process but does require some special equipment including a fruit press and a pulping device (more on that later).
The type of apples you have will determine the quality of your cider. Ideally you want a mixture of sweet, bitter sweet and sharp apples. Even without the right apples you can still make a rewarding cider.
The actual process is very simple:
1. Pick the apples (hopefully off the floor, otherwise with a large stick to 'persuade' them from the tree - you don't want under-ripe apples however). Rinse in water to remove dirt/grass/beetles etc.
2. Pulp the apples
3. Press the apple pulp
4. Ferment
5. Blend then bottle or keg
Equipment & Ingredients
Some small scale cider-makers have gone to the effort of making their own press from a two-tonne jack and an old drum - and making an apple milling device (called a scratter) which saves the purchase of a pulpmaster and using a knife to pulp the apples. The specifics of these are beyond the scope of this guide, but these links should get you started should you not wish to use the methods below (which are more labour intensive):
- YouTube Apple Scratter, Making an Apple Scratter[/*:m:1nojcg5o]
- Making Your Own Cider Press, Another guide for cider-press making[/*:m:1nojcg5o]
The following is basic equipment that can be picked up easily without having to make your own.
Pulping Equipment
A Pulpmaster bucket is a 1 gallon backet with a lid. The lid has a hole in the centre where a metal tube is poked through. On the end of the tube inside the bucket is a horizontal blade. A drill attaches to the top of the tube making the contraption a large basic food processor.
The flat blade isn't the most efficient use of the blade - using pliers you can twist one end of the blade upwards slightly and the other downwards to create a more efficient pulping blade. For the Pulpmaster to work, the apples need to be chopped into at least quarters. This can be done via hand using a knife or using a potato chipper. £15 from your local cook shop.
Fruit Press
Once the apples are suffciently pulped a fruit press is needed to extract the juice. These range in size and can be rather expensive. Check your local freecycle or ask around to see if anyone has one gathering dust. The size of the press will determine how much work is involved - get the biggest you can afford.
Fermenting vessels
Something to ferment the apple juice in. Standard beer or wine fermenters are ideal.
Other Equipment
A hydrometer is optional but is useful to record the specific gravity and final gravity (allowing you to calculate the alcohol content). It also allows you to monitor how the fermentation is going and how dry or sweet your cider will be.
Ingredients
Besides the apple juice you'll need some campden tablets to kill off an wild yeasts and some cider yeast to ferment the juice.
Picking the Apples
Windfall apples will be nicely ripened but need to be gathered before rot sets in. Otherwise you can gently coax ripe apples off the tree with a large enough stick & a ladder
Chopping & Pulping
Using a potato chipper device the apples are chopped into smaller pieces, ready for pulping.
Connect your drill to the pulpmaster. Put the chopped apples in the bucket and give the drill a whizz for a minute, stir, whizz some more then stirr again a few more times to get a good juicy pulp.
Pressing
The apples are now sufficiently broken down to allow pressing. The press used here is over 30 years old, it can be hard work if your press is small so buy the biggest you can afford if you plan on making a lot of cider. One press here will yield about half a gallon.
The remains that come out of the press are great for the compost heap or garden as mulch:
After a few hours work you'll end up with lots of lovely brown juice:
Fermenting
Add one campden table per gallon to kill off any wild yeast and bacteria lurking on the dirty apples.
After two days add one packet of cider yeast per 5 gallons and leave to ferment for a couple of weeks. Check the gravity regularly with a hydrometer to make sure the cider doesn't ferment too dry.
Regarding sanitation, we sanitise everything with iodophor at the beginning of the session but when you consider where the apples have been, what they've been in contact with etc it's any wonder we don't end up with apple vinegar, but the process works!
Blending, Bottling and Kegging
To create a more uniform cider for the season you can blend the batches together.
Once blended you can either bottle/keg it still or carbonated. Prime as you would with beer (80g sugar per 5 gallons) and leave to mature for a few months. The cider will improve with age if kept in a cool place.
Drinking!
:
:drink: :drink: :drink: :drunk:
