cider

[alwaysdrunk]

does anyone have a recipe for brewing cider with the bare decennials ie, just putting apples with water and a bit of sugar and letting the natural yeasts do there job?

[guest5234]

you need to scrat apples press them and let wild yeast ferment the apple juice....ipressed 320 gallons this year, all in 66 gallon x whisky barrels

[alwaysdrunk]

hmmm.. no press... can i just chop the apples up and add a little water and sugar?

[Easydrinker]

guest seems to do this large scale, on a regular basis, and so I bow to his knowledge.
However, between his method, and what I am about to post, there must be many methods, with varying degrees of success.

So at 10 years old I chopped some apples from the garden,added water and a little stolen yeast from mother's kitchen.
Hid the bucket in my wardrobe.
Two weeks later I was drinking what I called cider.
I think that I ate all the fermented pulp too.
At the time I thought it was good.

I am still here to shout out that there are always more ways than one.
Settling upon the best may involve discussion.

Robert.

[RumJohn]

I have never tried it, but supposedly, in the absence of a press, freezing the apples causes them to break down so they only need a slight mash.

[alwaysdrunk]

well my story starts when i wanted to make some apple cider vinegar and i followed the recipe i got off the net. all i did was chop some apples that i got off a local tree along with some very sweet apples i got from morrisons. then i just gave them a tiny wash and threw them into a 5 liter pot along with some brown sugar!.

i then left it in the kitchen and it bubbled quite a bit until it stopped. after tasting it, i decided to bottle half and left the rest (thats still on the go) to turn into ACV.

i did put a small amount of sugar in each bottle hoping to get a bit of co2 but i wont hold my breath lol.

and thats why i asked if anyone had done it on here.

[Mash]

I think RJ had a point here. This has made me think. Particularly as I have 200l ish of frozen apples.

I freeze and press apples to get the pure juice. This typically will make 5%. So logically if we filled a 25l bin with frozen, thawed, chopped apples, added 3 kilo of sugar and topped up with water you should get a wash/wine about 10 - 12%.

A sachet of champagne yeast or k1v-1116 will make a better wine. Bakers would be just fine for a wash.

Freezing well help the yeast eat into the apple flesh and you should find just the skins remain.

Expect the apples to rise up in the FV for the first few days.. They will need punching down. Do not airlock. Just cover.

[guest5234]

try and get a picture up

[Leatherman]

Does anyone use simple juicer? I think to buy any not very expensive one. I think ibsaw onr in argos for about 30 pounds. to make juice for wash or cider or what ever comes to my mind. But is it worth overall?

[Easydrinker]

I just feel the Argos juicer may be slow?
But some of the small apple presses that I have seen are also slow.

Robert.

[Mash]

Cider has 3 stages..
1.Scratting (pulping or chopping) this can be replaced by freezing, thawing and pressing.

2. Fermenting. Either the juice or the pulp.

3. Racking if you started with juice or pressing if you have pulp.

I would say you need a press, but can choose either a freezer or scratter.

A juicer will be very slow.

A garden shredder makes a very good scratter

[Flump]

Small juicers are not up to the job, you need something larger like this http://www.hartsofstur.com/acatalog/Sag ... 0wodRNMNtA other models are available of course.

That might seem expensive but have a look at the cost of a small press and scratter and it begins to look like a bargain. If I didn't already have a press and scratter I would go for a decent juicer now.

Here is what some people are doing with kit like that http://twothirstygardeners.co.uk/2014/0 ... innovator/

[Mash]

IMO juicers are for juice. Cider is made much more easily.