Making cider from apples

[Budgie]

Evening ladies and gents.

A friend of mine had 2 massive Apple trees with much more apples than they know what to do with. He says I'm welcome to as many of them as I like which is an offer too good to refuse!

Having never actually made cider from apples- just juice- I have a couple of questions.

One tree is nice sweet desert apples and the other is pretty sour cooking apples. Am I right in thinking about 70% sweet and 30% cookers works well?

Once the apples are pressed would you ferment that same as doing it with juice or are there any additional steps to take?

Sorry if this sounds like a bit of a noob post (it totally is!)
Cheers.

 

[TheRedDarren]

I'm interested to know this too.

 

[Will-o-the-wisp]

I am just making my first batch now. I picked about 40kg that I froze, pulped and pressed to get 6 gallons. I put 15 litres in 2 buckets, added 5 campden tablets to each bucket, let it sit for 36 hours then added 2 teaspoons of pectolase, 2 teaspoons of yeast nutrients and packet of Gervin 13 Cider yeast to each bucket.

It was very slow to start and was not a vigorous ferment like fermenting on pulp when making wine but I let it ferment for 2 days to allow the yeast to multiply then I racked each bucket to a 6 gallon carboy. It is steadily fermenting with a one bubble every 3-4 seconds now.

The apples were a mix of sweet and sour apples just picked from fields and parks. 4-5 kilos were small crab apples, 25 kilos were sweet apples and the rest were quite acid, sour tasting apples.

No idea what this will turn out like but that is what I did and seems to be going well so far.

 

[MartinHaworth]

Oooo! I'm pleased to see this thread as I plan to make my first ever cider in a week's time!

Our local commuinty group is having an apple pressing day, so I plan to take advantage.

As I understand it:

Press apples, add campden to juice, let it stand, then add pectolase, yeast nutrient and yeast.

My questions: How much campden, pectolase and yeast nutrient!

Thanks

Martin

 

[MartinHaworth]

Ah, google is my friend! 1 Campden tablet per gallon!

 

[Will-o-the-wisp]

I read if the juice pH is 3 or less you do not need to add campden tablet, if between 3.4 - 3.6 then add 2 and if 3.7 - 3.8 then add 3 tablets. The juice I have was about about 3 to 2.9, I only had litmus paper so it was not the most accurate but I added 5 tablets to 15 litres just in case. This was probably overkill and this might be why fermentation was slow to start but we didn't sanitise the pulp bucket or the press so I thought it be best; just encase.

When pressing the juice, we had one person pulping with a pulp master and a drill and the other person pressing. Got 6 gallons in 2 hours using a 5.5 Litre Ferrari Aluminium Cross Beam Press.

 

[user 4004]

You do not need any of the additional ingredients if you are making a traditional scrumpy just wash, pulp, press and in the barrel it goes. If you want to be sure it will start and get going well, add an agressive yeast strain like a champain yeast (I used to use lavin ec1118) as stated in previous threads I normally get 6-7 gallons of juice from a dustbin full of apples.

What ever mixture you use it will be quite a sharp cider unless you can get hold of some apples containing alot of tannin (cider/crab) but the sharpness will go with time, I have found it normally takes about 12 months to mature into a drink I like, if you just use the eating apples after about a year it will have very little body but will not be paticularly sharp, If you just use cookers (in my case red brambles) it will have more body but aslo a bit of a bite, so it is just a case of balancing the the flavors, (this is still somthing I am learning) but if you let them ferment out you can mix/blend before bottling.

When pulping you are looking for the constency of a corse apple sause to get the maxim juice

 

[Budgie]

Cheers for the info guys. I'll be going down the traditional scrumpy route due to my sulphite allergy. If needed, would it be ok the increase the tanin levels with strong tea?

 

[davemorton]

I made a cider from the apples in the garden last year. Mainly sweet eaters with some cookers added, and it was honestly the best cider I have tasted, and crystal clear to boot. I just juiced the apples using a couple of juicers, added a campden tablet and some more sugar to increase strength (1 per gallon, I only managed to make 2 gallon) then the next day added some champagne yeast. Bottled it with a spoon of sugar after 2 weeks, then about 2 weeks later drank it, was wonderful!

This year I am hoping to get my 5 gallon FV full, so have been building.

 

[user 4004]

I have never added tannin in the form of tea or any other, so I can't advise on that, all I would say is try it before you add anything and maybe learn for next or add to taste.
The year before last one tree of apples turned out to be really lacking in tannin when the cider had aged, so last year I had a play and added a load of elder berries when I pulped the apples, the juice looked like black current squash and had a weird flavour. When I bottled it, it lost a lot of the colour just a hint of red left, and the cider was a nice drink, my trouble is that this year I don't have that many elder berries, and a lot more about of those apples.

The juice always tastes different to the finished cider so I would not go on the starting taste.

I was originally advised not to add any sugar, and have not ever since, what I make normally comes out about 7-8% just from the juice, I do not see any need for more strength, and when I have just had a play with the odd gallon adding more sugar just diluted the flavour.

 

[rich_Wales]

i have a hand turning press see pic, and just spent the last 2hrs getting little more than a dribble at a time, maybe 500ml of apple juice in total from a lot of apples. i cut the apples up into small pieces,flat slices, 8ths, 10ths, but nothing gave me any more juice out.

I have kept what i crushed in a steralised bucket, any suggestions for getting more juice out of my remaining apples or the cut up stuff i have kept?

Thanks

 

[davemorton]

If you don't have a scratter, try cutting the apples into pieces, say 6 per Apple, and freeze them. Let them defrost and then try juicing them.

 

[tonyhibbett]

The press does not crush the apples. I use a whole fruit juicer to extract about half of the juice, then use the press on the ejected pulp and froth. This gives an extraction rate of about 75% in total.

 

[rich_Wales]

thanks for the tips :thumb: I froze the stuff i'd already cut up and that helped, then i used a blender with a blade attachment for the rest of the whole fruit i had. I just googled the scatter thing, think that'll help next time.

Managed about 8 liters from the tub of apples i had, this is definitely the smallest and most labor intensive brew so far lol. Hope it turns out well!

 

[davemorton]

thanks for the tips :thumb: I froze the stuff i'd already cut up and that helped, then i used a blender with a blade attachment for the rest of the whole fruit i had. I just googled the scatter thing, think that'll help next time.

Managed about 8 liters from the tub of apples i had, this is definitely the smallest and most labor intensive brew so far lol. Hope it turns out well!

Good luck, sure it will be excellent. Im hoping to get mine done at the weekend.

 

[MartinHaworth]

OK, got 25 kg of apples ready and washed. Got campden, pectolase, yeast nutrient, cider yeast and potassium sorbate, I think that's everything!

9am tomorrow I'll be off to the apple pressing. Will try to remember to take some piccies!

Cheers

Martin

 

[Cwrw666]

I usually freeze any apples I get given & then defrost, scrat them into the press & press them down into a solid hard block. The freezing really helps as it breaks the cell walls in the apples. If you use campden tablets you have to leave it for a few days at least or it'll kill any yeast you put in. Also, when you've made your cider it was traditional to leave it until the trees were in flower next spring before drinking. You can really taste the difference.

 

[MartinHaworth]

OK, 25 kg pressed into 18 litres of juice. The guys doing the pressing day (Transition Worcester) reckoned this was pretty good - rule of thumb is a 75% yield from apple weight to juice volume.

SWMBO and boy wonder have knabbed 3 litres to drink - fair enough, its really lovely!

3 campden tablets added - will add pectolase last thing tonight, yeast and nutrient tomorrow.

SG 1045.

I called into a farm shop yesterday, where they make single variety cider (their Bramley is lovely). They said that when they make cider, they will pasteurise a small portion of the original juice, and use that to back sweeten. That way they can say that the only ingredient is the single variety apple...

Cheers

Martin

 

[davemorton]

Well managed to get 5 gallon last night, put 4 campton tablets in. Will add yeast later today. I dont like leaving it more than 24 hours before adding the yeast, and have not had any problems yet. Still loads of apples left, so might see if I can get the time to do another batch next weekend.

 

[Wraeccan]

I'm up to 22 gallons so far this year with the hope of getting to the magic 50.
Currently I ache like a wotsit but hey ho. The kids help for a 5% share of the juice.

2 bits of advice for y'all if it's ok to offer it.

First, cookers and eaters are not as high in malic acid as cider apples. Either add 10% of the volume in crab apples or get some malic from you HBS.

Second, once the ferment is complete, it really is best kept at least until spring. This is also best done in bulk in a garage or shed or the coldest part of the house. The reason for this is that cider goes through a secondary fermentation called a malo-lactic fermentation. During this process the malic acid in the apples (or that you've added) turns to lactic acid which gives cider that lovely musty-sweet taste.

Enjoy

Wraeccan