Search results

If I make a batch of VWP steriliser, can I keep any unused solution and use it some weeks later? Or does it lose its effectiveness quickly - do I need to make up a new batch each time?

I currently have a 20 litre press and a manual scratter - but I'm thinking of upgrading to an electric scratter to cope with a huge number of apples this year. Any advice, please, about what sort to buy? Also, would an electric press be a good idea as well? Would it be more efficient than a...

This is my third year of making cider from apples in my orchard. So I should know what I'm doing by now, but right from the start, I've had trouble with building up a good "sparkle" in the bottles. I do not use Camden tablets at any stage but I do add Pectolase immediately after pressing. It is...

When I first planted my orchard, I wasn't thinking about cider - so unfortunately, I have no genuine cider apples - just about twenty different varieties of eaters plus a very old large Bramley tree which still produces hundreds of apples every year. I have a large surplus of apples this year...

Lots of discussions in this forum talk about "TC". What does it mean, please?

My first ever attempt to make cider from my own apples went fine through to the end of fermentation in demijohns - down to a gravity of about zero. I racked it once. It was still cloudy but I decided to bottle it anyway hoping that it would clear in the bottle - and not minding about a bit of...

I'm wanting to add some tannin to my cider brew and am wondering whether medlars are a good way to do it. There was a previous discussion of this on the forum - but rather inconclusive. If you are going to eat Medlars raw or make them into jelly, you have to blett them first - that is let them...

I'm thinking of using Discovery and Bramley apples for a cider brew - but have suddenly realised that the seasons do not overlap. Discovery is over by mid-October whereas Bramleys are not in season until November. But I've seen several cider recipes that say Discoveries and Bramleys are good...

Did some beer brewing from kits for a year or so about 30 years ago - but nothing since then. Retired up to Scotland in 2007 to climb hills, and planted an orchard in our garden between 2010 and 2012. 25 trees and 20 different varieties of eating apples. Harvest has been increasing each year. In...