2022 Apple Harvest Cider Thread - Drought !

[DavieC]

Hi all,I collected about 45kg of apples,some from our tree in the garden and the rest from friends.Took me all day but managed to press 23ltrs of juice. I decided I'd just go straight on with the cider yeast and skip the Camden tabs, fingers crossed.

 

[Polcho]

That will be interesting. Yesterday, I made a yeast starter from dry yeast. First time I’ve done that.
I thought I would give it a go, I haven’t been having issues with just pitching dry years, but since there seems to be so much juice to play with, I thought I would experiment.

This morning, it was bubbling away, no different from usual. However, the shed temp was we deg, so that is a lot lower.

 

[DavieC]

My batch bubbling occasionally this morning so all good so far and hopefully no nasties in the fresh juice.I haven't made any Cider for a couple of years and usually use crushed Camden tabs in the juice to be on the safe side, although I have also done small amounts au natural and they turned out fine but I thought lacking a bit of taste. SG was 1050.

 

[Polcho]

Well it turns out that the starter really has turned out well. Bubbling away really well now, and it’s quite chilly in the shed.

 

[Metman79]

Gone bigger and better this year after finally investing in a decent upgrade..... and what a difference! Think I cut 5hrs off my 1st cider making day this year and a healthy 23L at 1.054 OG. Speidel fruit mill says age 16 plus to operate....she was just dropping a few apples in....honest!

 

[Polcho]

The scratter looks awesome!

 

[MattH1973]

Progress today, everything with yeast had fermented out and cleared so I transferred a bunch to secondary, and bottled some straight from primary - to facilitate my experiment as to whether secondary is worth the hassle:

We now have:

From first press
- 26 litres in the fermenter, traditional recipe - 9% - finished, but well sealed so not bottled
- 10 litres in Carboy - au naturel - 9% - not really started yet, but previous experience suggests this takes about 3 months to ferment

From second press
- 30 litres in secondary, diluted a bit, about 8pct overall
- 5 litres experimental cider with added tannin, hydrometer sample was a bit bitier than the others, now bottled.
- 8 litres mulled cider now bottled
- 5 litres of bog standard cider bottled straight from primary
- 2 x 5l demijohns finished, still in primary

20221005_151619 by MattH3764, on Flickr

20221005_171333 by MattH3764, on Flickr

20221005_171337 by MattH3764, on Flickr

20221005_171342 by MattH3764, on Flickr

 

[MattH1973]

some updates - tried a glass of the batch with tannin added - nice enough but not a game changer.....I'd struggle to tell the difference in the pepsi challenge
20221105_173701 by MattH3764, on Flickr

did some more bottling - the 2 demijons left in primary bottled with red tops (I say this for my own records) but I also had my first botched fermentation. The first batch of au naturel never did much but I wondered if it had quietly fermented - but it was still juice - i think i must have added camdens by mistake - normally I press the Au - N first and only use camdens when that DJ is full - I must be getting old. But the juice didnt taste like vinegar so I added some yeast and nutrient and we will see what it does.....
20221111_152749 by MattH3764, on Flickr

 

[MattH1973]

i realise i post a pic like this every year but bottled the big 26 litre fermenter from the first press today. As i've been busy this is the longest i have left a batch in primary - well over 3 months - and it tasted smooth and fine. It will be interesting if the batch i am bulk maturing in secondary tastes much different. Again i used the red tops.

20221228_130039 by MattH3764, on Flickr

the game changer this time was the Easy Start siphon from bigger juggs. I cannot believe all those years i messed around with sucking and priming - this was an absolute doddle. If you are reading this, buy one now - you wont regret it.

35 litres still to go and then i will have well over 100 litres in the cellar. I might only do one press in 2023, depending on how much of this lot I give away.

 

[MattH1973]

Last of the bottling today
- completed the 30 or so litres that have matured in secondary - the first time i have seriously bothered with this step - it was very smooth and there was little sediment - but the real test of whether this stage is worth it will come when we do the pepsi challenge - comparing this batch with the batch from the same press that was bottled straight from primary.
- i also did the 10 litres from the botched fermentation - it wasnt as nice as the rest but it was good enough to bottle so we shall see what it tastes like after its cleared. If its no good then it can go down the sink at that point, as I am not short of cider this year.

Blossom just budding on the trees..... the cycle continues.....

20230410_140353 by MattH3764, on Flickr

20230410_161221 by MattH3764, on Flickr

 

[DavieC]

Hi all, after fully fermenting my 23ltrs and letting it go reasonably clear in the FV( October/22) I decided to go straight to bottling.When I've made cider before I usually rack and let it clear in deminohns but this time I primed bottles for sparkling cider and carried on. The cider did start to become cloudy as the Syphon got lower into the FV.
The bottles were put in the garage under cover and forgotten about until the other evening when I thought I'd try a bottle. I poured very carefully but did cloud a little in the glass but nothing major .It wasn't bad at all,plenty of apple taste, dry, which is how I prefer it and I think this is the best batch I've ever made. I didn't use Camden tab and skipped the DJ clearing. I'll sample another in a couple weeks time and then drink the rest over the (hopefully warm) summer.

 

[MattH1973]

A friend did a blind tasting on my batch that was bulk aged in secondary, compared to the stuff that was bottled straight from primary. The aim was to confirm whether the faff (sterilising, sihponing and the need for extra vessels) is worth it. They were very similar, but the secondary batch seemed ever so slightly crisper and smoother. Now i have a much better siphon, I concluded that secondary is worth it.

Hope this helps.

Apple blossom just coming out, so I am hoping we avoid any frosts from here and get another good harvest.