2019 Apple Harvest Cider Thread

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MattH1973

MattH1973

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You know the drill by now, but a slightly disappointing harvest this year. 28 litres today and maybe another 15 litres still on the trees if I am lucky. I think we were too late harvesting one of them, the apples fell off and were had by the rabbits - but never mind - I have over 25 litres left from last year, so I should survive.

And I may choose to dilute the batch with yeast, as whilst the scrumpy from 2018 is pretty smooth, the yest batches are really strong.

Here's the stats, for those of you who like that sort of thing:
- pH 3.2
- hydrometer reading suggests the end product will be c8.5 %.

- 20 litres au naturel, nothing added, will ferment at its own pace. Based on last year this will take 2-3 months.

- 5 litres with a bit of camden, pectolase and precipitated chalk. These were particularly manky apples (but the juice tasted OK) so I decided to go down the yeast route in case of infection.

- 3 litres for the kids - i was feeling generous !

The new stainless steel press was a real highlight (I think freester has one - and I expect he will be along with a better thread in due course). Happy autumn all!

20190915_121500 by MattH3764, on Flickr

20190915_122123 by MattH3764, on Flickr

20190915_122233 by MattH3764, on Flickr

20190915_135355 by MattH3764, on Flickr

20190915_135432 by MattH3764, on Flickr
 
Oooh nice press. ;)

Good work Matt. I'm struggling to find the enthusiasm this year. I've still got 50L I haven't bottled from last year and working my way through the rest. That said it's the best I've made in my short cider making career.

I'm going to do one or two presses this year but leave it until later for the cider apples.
 
I really would like one of those scratters! I'm still smashing them up in a bucket with a heavy post. Next year I think I'll get a hand mill type scratter.

So far I've made ~23 litres and have some apples left over. There's a common nearby which has loads of apple trees I think grew naturally, each apple tree is completely different to the one next to it. I'm going tomorrow morning to get more apples from there if there are any. I got my first lot from a neighbour with an apple orchard which he doesn't use.
 
Smashing the apples with a post sounds like hard work! I got my hands on a second hand garden shredder. Does the job though maybe not quite as good as a proper scratter. Worth keeping an eye out on Gumtree / Freecycle etc?
 
freester said:
Smashing the apples with a post sounds like hard work! I got my hands on a second hand garden shredder. Does the job though maybe not quite as good as a proper scratter. Worth keeping an eye out on Gumtree / Freecycle etc?
Click to expand...
Lol yes it is hard work. I get some help because I make cider on my wife's farm where there's usually people around who enjoy this sort of thing. Today I'm making my last cider of the season (probably) but there is a group of people staying, this is a fun activity for them to get involved in...
 
- to those who mash apples with a fencepost, the other benefit of the Selections scratter is that the pomace seems moister and less coarse, which seems to have improved juice yields - well worth the investment if you make 40 litres plus per year.....

- did the last of the applies today, just short of 15 litres as follows:

- 5 litres au naturel

- two demijons just short of the 5l mark that will have yeast added tomorrow, you can see the lightening effect that the camden tablet had on these batches:
20190929_134145 by MattH3764, on Flickr

pH3.3, hydrometer suggests strength around the 8pct mark

plan now is to leave the 25 litres i have of au naturel undiluted, and to dilute the yeast batches down to about 6 pct. Should give me over 40 litres in total. Not bad for a down year.....

I also sampled last years Lalvin and Youngs batches side by side. The Lalvin is darker, stronger and harsher. I will go with Youngs from now on - it's lighter and more refreshing.....
20190928_170821 by MattH3764, on Flickr
 
PS - forgot the fermentation update
- the 5 litre batch from two weeks ago bubbled for a bit and has now stopped and started to clear. Based on previous experience this is done. I will give it a week and then bottle it.
- one of the au naturel batches just started fizzing and bubbling, nothing from the others as yet.
 
bottled the first 5 litres with yeast today, diluted it down to about 6.5 litres at 6.5%. hydrometer sample tasted OK......
 
A few updates.
- The au naturel from the first press. 3 of the 4 DJs started to fizz and bubble after 2-3 weeks. Interestingly the 4th stayed clear and did nothing until a few days ago - 4 weeks after the press. Notable that the same batch of juice can produce a different result in different DJs. My guess is that these will be ready to bottle in another few weeks.
- the au naturel from the second press. This started fizzing and bubbling in the last few days also - just two weeks after the press. That's the fastest Ive ever seen an au nauurel start.
- the yeast batches from the second press fizzed and bubbled after an few days and are now done and starting yo clear. I plan to dilute and bottle this weekend.
- the yeast batch from the first press is now clearing nicely in the bottles, and the plastic one I used is firming up, confirming that carbonation has worked OK. I have never diluted at the point of bottling before, so I may try one this weekend just to check its OK before I do the others.

The 2018 vintage is keeping well in the glass and continues to be enjoyable.
 
jceg316 said:
I really would like one of those scratters! I'm still smashing them up in a bucket with a heavy post. Next year I think I'll get a hand mill type scratter.
Click to expand...
I always freeze my apples first. After thawing they're quite mushy and easy to pulp. It doesn't affect the taste.

Just finished bottling this year's cider. I cheat a bit, I squeeze the juice from my apples (a mixture of cooking apples and various types of cider apples) then add an equal volume of Tescos apple juice (which I assume is from eaters). The result is less sharp than if I just used my own apple juice. 8 gallons in all this year but the trees are still quite small and some of them don't produce many apples. Came out at about 7% ABV.
 
I got mine done on Sunday. We managed to beg, borrow and steal enough juice for 55L in the end, of which I took my 12L share back home. In the fv now with some Youngs cider yeast and should end up about 7%. I'm definitely keen on getting a decent scratter. We ended up chopping them and putting them through a grape scratter first, then the pulpmaster, and then pressing. It was a lot of work, but yields were good. Also managed to get 6.5L Cambridge-grown pinot noir (I think) juice, so should have some wine ready for Christmas (no, not that one, the one after).
 
I've got quite a small fruit press - about 1 foot across and the same high (the barrel of it I mean). Got to say after pressing out 4 gallons of juice I was totally knackered. Much harder work than brewing the same quantity of AG beer.
 
I'm gutted.

I made 5 litres of cider from home made apple juice about 4 weeks ago. When the fermentation has almost stopped in the demi I transfered it to a sterilized 5 litre kilner glass keg, put 8 teaspoons of priming sugar in and sealed it tight with rubber seal (or so I thought).

The annoying thing is, it tasted fantastic ( a bit like Bulmers) at the time but when I sampled it tonight it has turned to vinegar. Then I noticed a slight gap in the rubber seal at the back where it hadn't bedded down properly so has obviously oxidized - grrrrr.

This was my first attempt at making cider and I honestly thought it was going to be a good one. On a brighter note, at least the IPA I made at the same time has turned out superb.
 
But look on the bright side, Rich27 ... you've got 5 litres of first grade superb home-made cider vinegar. Treasure it and use it well.
 
A local farmer who lets me pick his apples still has a lot left. I'd love to go and pick more and make another 20 litres, but not sure if I have the time. I'd also like to get a better scratter than a wooden post as I wouldn't be able to get enough people to help with this method. He just grows one apple variety so would add oak chips or something to add complexity to the flavour.
 
@Rich27 . Just been thunking about this, are you sure its vinegar? What was your sg reading when you transferred, if it tasted lije bulmers must have still had unfermented sugar in it, should be saturated with co2 and help prevent oxidation.Even if your lid wasn't sealed it should be protected by co2?
 
Last edited:
DavieC said:
@Rich27 . Just been thunking about this, are you sure its vinegar? What was your sg reading when you transferred, if it tasted lije bulmers must have still had unfermented sugar in it, should be saturated with co2 and help prevent oxidation.Even if your lid wasn't sealed it should be protected by co2?
Click to expand...
Yeah I wondered about that. Real cider tastes nothing like Bulmers. Battery acid would be closer to the mark.
 

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