2018 Apple Harvest Cider Thread

[MattH1973]

Brews are safely in the cellar, in an even temperature and, obviously, dark.....

The "au naturel" just starting frothing at the top this weekend so perhaps that is starting....I am a bit worried about having it in plastic..... do people think I should siphon to glass or leave alone....?

I also sampled the infamous "dregs" bottles from the first batch this weekend [those filled by tipping out the dregs from the secondary vessels, clearing to leave a full cm of sediment]. Absolutley delicious - just like last year.... really appley. My cider seems better when its young. I am hoping the glass bottles will make a difference.

I guess over the next couple of weeks I'd better transfer the 40 litres where I used yeast to secondary.....

 

[Dutto]

I've never had a problem with my plastic beer FV's so my advice is "leave alone" if it's a "Food Grade" plastic.

 

[freester]

Just leave alone it will be fine

 

[MattH1973]

sampled one of the strong bottles from my first batch this weekend..... delicious..... but strong (about 8% I think)

I therefore diluted the 25 litre fermenting bucket when transferring to secondary this weekend, whilst adding about 2 litres of frozen juice. So I now have

- 5 litre demijohn; 3 litre cider, 1 litre juice, litre water; I think this will come out a 6%
- 25 litre fermenter; 21 litre cider, 1 litre juice, 3.5 litres water; I think this will come out at about 6.9%
- 3 x 5 litre demijohns still in primary; last year I bottled some done this way straight from primary - I will do this in the next couple of weeks.
- 1 x 5 litre demijohn "au naturel" gently foaming away.

 

[MattH1973]

in two weeks gravity had gone down to a tad over 1.000 - so nearly done....

drinking the hydrometer sample as I type - OK - this batch was mainly eaters from a newer tree - not as good as the first but we will see how it matures....

of course the yeast could also have an effect - first batch was EC 1118 Lalvin, later batch was Youngs cider yeast.....

 

[MattH1973]

the au naturel starting to show bubbling in the airlock this weekend, about 3 weeks in. It had been frothing for a couple of weeks. We will see how long the fermentation takes

 

[freester]

the au naturel starting to show bubbling in the airlock this weekend, about 3 weeks in. It had been frothing for a couple of weeks. We will see how long the fermentation takes

Sounds about right. Mine are steadily bubbling away now. Don't rush it. Slow ferment is better :). When it slows down throw a bit more defrosted juice in if you've got any and have room.

Look to rack off in spring.

 

[MattH1973]

the au naturel has now suddenly gone cloudy, started hissing, and is producing a bubble every few seconds. The fermentation appears as fast now as the batches with yeast, but it took 3 weeks longer to start. I struggle to believe it will go on at this rate for more than another few days but will continue to monitor. When airlock activity stops and it starts to clear I will take a hydrometer reading and see where we are, but I will bottle as soon as it gets around 1.000 .......

 

[freester]

the au naturel has now suddenly gone cloudy, started hissing, and is producing a bubble every few seconds. The fermentation appears as fast now as the batches with yeast, but it took 3 weeks longer to start. I struggle to believe it will go on at this rate for more than another few days but will continue to monitor. When airlock activity stops and it starts to clear I will take a hydrometer reading and see where we are, but I will bottle as soon as it gets around 1.000 .......

Interesting. Mine is bubbling gently, a gently bubble through the airlock every couple of seconds. Been going like that for weeks. Is yours indoors? In the warm. I guess that's the difference mine is fermenting nice and slow in the garage.

 

[MattH1973]

Mine is in a cellar which i guess is around a stead 15 degrees. I'd imagine a garage gets much colder at night and this slows things down.

But great fun to be trying something new - and remarkable that apple juice can do this all by itself.......

 

[MattH1973]

Bit of action this weekend......
- Bottled another 20 litres. 15 litres that just sat in primary demijohns for 4 weeks, and 5 that was diluted a bit with a combination of water and defrosted juice 2 weeks ago. the former had got just below 1.000, the latter just over.
- The left overs in the demijohns gave me 2 x 500 ml "dregs" bottles. Which I decided to use for an experiment - I didnt rinse after sterilising with milton tablets. We will see if this affects the flavour.

So to sum up:
- 49 litres now bottled. And some drunk already - delicious.....
- 25 litres (dilued a bit) still in secondary. Ready to bottle when I get the chance....
- 5 litres au naturel. still cloudy but fizzing less and bubbline maybe once every 10 seconds. When that starts to clear I will take a hydrometer reading.....

 

[Peter Walker]

Intrigued by your “au naturel”. Fascinated to see how it turns out - please keep us updated!

 

[freester]

Interesting about your experiment with the Milton tablets and not rinsing. I've bought some no-rinse Steriliser. Not starsan but another make. I'm going to give it a go next time I do some bottling.

I hope your 'traditional' works out. I've only added yeast to 2 FVs out of around 160L this year. High risk strategy! Hope mine works out too!

 

[brumbrew]

I've only tried natural fermentation on cider once.

Being as the apples I picked were from near a road side I can only assume that the wild yeast on the skins wasn't a good one.

Whilst it did ferment. And some friends who tried it liked it. To me it tasted like the smell you get from the back of an old musty wardrobe. If that makes sense.

Very dry with a weird earthy, woody musty taste. I gave it all away.

If it's wild yeast I guess it's luck of the draw. If it tastes good. I'd save some of the yeast and store in in a pot in the fridge until you can build it back up in a starter.

Best of luck

 

[MattH1973]

thanks for the comments Chaps.....

Freester should of course get the credit for inspiring me to try the "au naturel" [and the name]. In the past, with manual scratting, juice has been at a real premium and I have been disinclined to experiment [and very tight about who i give the cider away to]. This year, thanks to the elctric scratter, Ive been able to try a few experiments.

My trees are in paddocks with a road [not busy] about 20-30 metres away so I am hopeful the yeast will be OK. Only one way to find out....... and honestly, even if its short of delicious I cannot imagine not being able to soldier through 5 litres.....

Will update in the Milton experiment when the bottles clear - i guess 2-3 weeks....

 

[MattH1973]

Threads are useless without pics - so went down to the cellar to take a few:

- au naturel slowed right down - one bubble in the 3-4 mins I was down there:
20181104_193705 by MattH3764, on Flickr

25 + litres in a secondary fermenter..... but had some juice added 2-3 weeks ago so probably just finishing up. Depending on how clear that is when I bottle it [i may wait a few weeks until I have "emptied" some more glass beer bottles] I may add a pinch of yeast to make sure each bottle carbonates.....
20181104_193650 by MattH3764, on Flickr

the dregs bottles, almost clear - look closely for about 7mm of sediment at the bottom. I will update in the next 2 weeks on the milton tablet experiment
20181104_193740 by MattH3764, on Flickr

And most importantly, the 50 or so litres bottled already, ready for drinking. The batch that sat in primary demijohns for 4 weeks was almost clear and slow to carbonate - i was worried for a while but they are pressurising now....
20181104_193732 by MattH3764, on Flickr

20181104_193723 by MattH3764, on Flickr

 

[MattH1973]

in the interest of science, I drank the two bottles where I hadnt rinsed out the Milton solution last night. Maybe a slight whiff of chlorine as the bottle was opened, but the cider tasted fine. On balance, i will probably still rinse (or look at Starsan) but its not a disaster if you miss a bit.....

 

[freester]

Nothing really to add except good to know you don't have to be too fastidious about rinsing after sterilisation. I've got some Young's (or is it Ritchies) non rinse that I've been meaning to try.

in the interest of science, I drank the two bottles

And with some journalistic license I shall misquote you and add a smiley

 

[Chippy_Tea]

in the interest of science, I drank the two bottles where I hadnt rinsed out the Milton solution last night. Maybe a slight whiff of chlorine as the bottle was opened, but the cider tasted fine. On balance, i will probably still rinse (or look at Starsan) but its not a disaster if you miss a bit.....

One of our members once put Milton in his mouth to prove the fact it was harmless in the dilution that they recommend i must admit having read his post i did stick my finger in my diluted Milton fluid and put a little on my tongue and no harm done.

.

 

[MattH1973]

I bottled my remaining 30 or so litres today......

The 'au naturel' had fermented down to 1.000, so just like when you add yeast, when the airlock calms down and it starts to clear you can be confident it is done. But one schoolboy error was made - I primed my siphon with milton solution before transferring to the demijohn as I always do..... but then stupidly contracted the telescopic part which forced some solution into the cider...... the hydrometer sample still tasted OK so let's hope no harm done - the milton research has made me feel better..... . I bottled them with 1 tsp of sugar and a pinch of yeast, as I thought it may be too clear to carbonate. Hydrometer sample tasted pretty good but not nigh and day different to the batches with yeast....

The remaining 25l in the fermenter had been in secondary with some juice and water added for a few weeks. The airlock had stopped but it only got down to 1.004 - I decided to bottle anyway as I was confident it was done. The hydrometer sample tasted pretty smooth - might be the little bit of residual sweetness....

I'm having a glass of my first Lalvin EC1118 batch as I type....very enjoyable..... we will enjoy more this Christmas......

The au naturel demijohn:
20181125_114836 by MattH3764, on Flickr

The bottling operation:
20181125_142038 by MattH3764, on Flickr