My cider making endeavours

[BrewBoy]

This year I got given a load of apples from colleagues and also got given access to a farmers apple and pear trees. The farmer told me that the apples were pretty horrible to eat so thought they might be cider apples, they are about the size of a Cox but are pretty sour. So far I have 10 litres of Perry (can it be called Perry if not made with Perry pears) and 5 litres of blackberry cider and still got loads of apples left with some more arriving on Friday. I estimate that I should have enough apple and pears to make another 20 litres.

To get the juice I whizzed them up in a Pulpmaster then pressed them in a Clarks 4.5 litre press. Unlike others I'm not adding anything to them except some extra yeast, not even one spoon of sugar. Last year I made some cider without adding yeast and that still came out being very good. The hydrometer readings came out at 1052 for the Perry and 1060 for the cider.

I want some pointers with what to do with some of my produce. I'm thinking about bottling some of my Perry before fermentation has finished to make a sparkling Perry, would this work ok? I've also got some medium oak chips so thinking about putting these in one of my ciders after the primary fermentation. What quantity should I use for a gallon? Also thinking about mixing the left over pears and apples together to make a pear cider, I guess this would work ok and be better than the Magners equivalent.

I hope that my efforts will produce something drinkable and that my conservatory wasn’t covered in pear and apple pulp for nothing. :

 

[jonny 5]

Cider time again! what i did this year is made 4 gallon of juice from eaters,cookers and crab to a nice blend then fermented out untill dry.Then racked into 4 demijons made one sweet,one meduim dry,one dry, one still meduim dry all at 5.5%. Hard work but worth it.

 

[tazuk]

lol think how i got on i got about 160 ltrs on then go at the moment 2 long evenings work it was :thumb:

 

[BrewBoy]

I have now got 7 gallons bubbling away and going to press the last of my apples tonight. I will siphon the a few of demis off the sediment tomorrow and will then leave to clear before bottling, I might have a cheeky taste too :drink:.

Things that I have learnt are:
The Vigor Pulpmaster is a great tool but the blade is about 1.5" too short so leaves massive chunks of fruit in the bottom of the bucket. Next year I will put a block of wood in the bottom.
A 6 litre press is too small for anything more than a gallon and the design means its operation is rather tricky.

Next year, depending on this years results, I will hopefully get round to building my own press using a bottle jack and a stack of cheeses. This will get rid of the risk of upending the press while straining to turn a handle.

 

[BrewBoy]

So I have finished cider making for the year. Last night I made 2 gallons with some apples left over. I tried to make some different recipes so I hope to get a variety of different flavour and if I find one I like I can do it again next year.

So this is what I’ve made:
3 gallons of mixed variety ( each with different quantities of eaters and cookers)
2 gallons of Pear
2 gallons of pear and apple
1 gallon of single variety (maybe using a cider apple)
1 gallon of apple and blackberry

When fermentation has finished I will add some oak chips to some of them to see what difference that will make.

 

[BrewBoy]

A couple of my ciders are looking very clear and I’m very pleased with them as I didn't put any Pectolase in the juice. They taste pretty good too.

Does anyone know if perry takes longer to clear? Mine still looks very murky and was made at the same time as the cider. I don’t want to use any finings if I can get away with it.

 

[espo]

wow that's quite a list you got there brewboy- I just wish I had the time!! I really would like to make some mead but I need to make friends with a beekeeper!

I went full out on cider production this year. I couldn't get any 'real' cider apples because I'm from the 'wrong' part of the country but I rather like the eastern counties style cider. This year I made friends with an old farmer near to where I grew up in kent and scrumped his orchard for everything I could get my hands on. Lots of Bramley and some weird and wonderful desert apples I have no idea what they are but all good for cider. I bought a whiskey barrel and spent a weekend working hard to fill it! The juice was about 1050 and mouth-puckeringly low pH 3.1! I pitched a yeast that is alleged to metabolise malic acid and it does seem to be raising slowly, thank goodness!

Have a look at the short video I made:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evuu5eLw5RU

Ed :

 

[graysalchemy]

You won't have a yeast that carries out malolactic fermentation that is a bacteria that does that. Malolactic fermentation occours after the main fermentation and will convert the malic acid to lactic which is smoother. Traditionally cider is left to ferment all winter so the best advice is to leave well alone.

By the sounds of it you all should have some good cider.

 

[espo]

I know it sounds a bit suspect but it's true! The yeast is Gervin Varietal D - 'This yeast has two particular characteristics. Firstly it produces an exceptionally fine bouquet. Secondly it can metabolise up to 35% of any malic acid present in the must. Which makes this a superb yeast for all fruit wines'.

I'm aware that the MLF is due to different micro-organisms but I also know that at a low pH it is much slower to get going. To be honest with you I had this yeast kicking around and after a long, hard weekend's juicing I was too scared to let the wild yeasts loose on it. The thought of losing the whole barrel was too awful to contemplate!

I hope it comes out OK! I'll post a reply in due course....

E :

 

[muddy90]

Your brew sounds lovely, it's great to taste the fruits of labour :
I'm waiting to bottle my natural cider now. It's taken an eternity to ferment, it was pressed on the 12th Aug & stopped bubbling this week. :shock: I relyed purely on the wild yeasts which is probably why. Cant wait for a little taste :pray:

 

[espo]

How's it taste muddy? Good on you for going wild!

Mine's still chugging along, dropping about one degree in SG everyday- still a three weeks to go unless it gets a lot colder. It's at 10 deg C at the moment but seems happy...

E :whistle:

 

[muddy90]

I haven't had a taste yet :shock: I'm waiting for more bottles to arrive before I get a taste but I'll let you know.
I've got 10L already bottled of another brew of 'wild' cider but that was a single variety & lacks body, I'm hoping it will age well. :pray:

 

[muddy90]

Well Espo (& anyone else that might be remotely interested) I can now say........... Not bad :thumb:
The 'wild' brew was always going to be a bit of a risk but it seems fine. Not that strong 5% but very cider tasting, We'll have to see how it ages with no preservatives etc.
We had to watse a couple of bottles as there was a film on the top which had to be left undisterbed when we siphoned it off. :drink:

 

[espo]

that sounds great! Kind of jealous I didn't try it! Did you use sulphites? You must be harvesting your apples quite early. Every advice I've read suggests october is the month for it, but I can barely wait for then!

Happy drinking!

E

 

[graysalchemy]

Now leave it well alone for 6 months especially if you want that malolactic fermentation to take place.

 

[muddy90]

Will do : I've got quite a stash already with our last press 40L still to bottle. I've got about 40+ bottles (75cl) now. :drunk: But only 22 'wild' & 6 of those being single variety.
Espo, no nothing, didn't even wash the apples :shock: :shock: I was very keep to do a natural one & this was the first homebrew I'd made.
Yes we harvested early but mums next door neighbours tree was dropping them like mad & they were ripe.
& appologies Brewboy for hijacking you topic. :thumb: