Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Eating and Drinking => Homebrew => Topic started by: Bodger on August 22, 2007, 11:42
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We made cider for the first time ever this year and so I ticked off another one of my lifetime ambitions.
We beg stole and borrowed apples from wherever we could and made about twenty gallons.
Here is a pictorial guide of what went on over two weekends. REALLY GOOD FUN :D :D :D
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/cider%20making/ffs4.jpg)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/cider%20making/daad.jpg)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/cider%20making/ffs7.jpg)
We even got Granny Bodger on the left to sort the apples.
The small cylindrical press held 12 litres of what the professionals call cheese which is really squished apples to us novices and cost £70.
This was more than adequate but the bigger one was made by my mate from plans that we got from Downsizer.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/cider%20making/ffs5.jpg)
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/cider%20making/ffs3.jpg)
Even this small press churned out plenty of juice for our size of operation
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/cider%20making/ffs1.jpg)
We put the chopped apples through a borrowed garden shredder.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/cider%20making/daad3.jpg)
The press that Bodgers Mate made worked well but there will be modifications for next season.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/cider%20making/ffs.jpg)
Not the finished article but a few months on its now perfectly clear.
The good news ! If we can do it anybody can ! The bad news is that after making 20 gallons of the stuff, I have a sneaky feeling that this stuff is responsible for giving me gout !
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/cider%20making/label5.jpg)
We even toyed with the idea of having our own label. Dillusions of grandeur or what ? :D :D :D
As a footnote, we have just finished off the last of the cider and whether it was beginners luck or not ? I don't know but it was delicious. We will be making a larger amount this year on the strength of the previous result :D
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Well done!!!! Looks like great fun!!!
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%hic% cyberdrunk with the idea already :oops:
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About thirty of the old gang are going on a cider weekend at Ross on Wye in the beginning of November.
An open cellar evening on the Friday night and then the Westons factory tour followed by a visit to the Hereford Cider Museum :D
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Bodger where did you get the water bottles from? I would love some to make cloches from.
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(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/cider%20making/ffs.jpg)
Looks perfectly ready to me ...
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What great fun Bodger. But your location is posted as "Wales". So how come all the sun shine :!:
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That was last year Sally :lol:
The water containers are the five gallon bottles that posh people and offices have in their water dispensers :D
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yep that does look good fun for the whole family to get involved in :D
just a pitty we not keen on cider :roll:
cheers
jr
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There's cider and then there's cider, so perhaps all is not lost JR :lol:
This year we intend to freeze some of the juice as its pressed so that we can have it at breakfast time. :D
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Bodger if ever you come wiltshire way look out for cider called wacky you would love it.The only problem is i have yet to find someone who can drink more than two pints of it.
I only like sweet cider i went to the cider farm down in cormal that is a good one if you are in to cider.and well worth the visit.
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I've pressed my first 2 gallons, come back from holiday with loads of 'gleaned' windfalls, and returned to loads of apples & pears.
After pressing apples, I add a campden tablet (to sterilise) and 1 teaspoon of pectalase (to drop sediment/clear).
Then I freeze/pasteurise apple juice for blending with later ripening apples/crab apples (at this time of year).
I check out new varieties of apples by producing an initial small batch of cider.
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What fantastic fun!!
I was wondering where you got your cider press from?? :lol: :lol:
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It is not quite so much fun if your OH insists on doing all the pressing in the kitchen so the floor developes a kind of stickiness with sound effects.Stil the boxes of apples will be replaced by demi johns,oh and a friend with a cider orchard is offering us windfalls..hic :roll:
Love the idea of using a shreader to chop the apples though.
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It is not quite so much fun if your OH insists on doing all the pressing in the kitchen
I seem to recall hearing something like that myself over the last few days + about the juice running down the front of kitchen units/appliances when transfering pommace (in bucket on floor) to the press (on work top).
The really messy bit is when using a pulpmaster bucket + electric drill to chop the fruit, and lifting the top before the blade has stopped spinning!
just a pitty we not keen on cider
Pressed apple juice can be used to make apple wine, not just cider.
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I
After pressing apples, I add a campden tablet (to sterilise) and 1 teaspoon of pectalase (to drop sediment/clear).
Why sterilize the juice? Have you tried not sterilizing it? Doesn't the yeast/alcohol produced & acidity take care of undesireable micro-organisms, or are you sterilizing to halt fermentation?
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We simply used the yeast from the apples to get great results.
Some of the big producers kill off the natural yeasts by sterilising the juice and then after this they add champagne yeast. They do this to obtain both uniformity of taste and to be able to better predict when the the cider is ready. They just remove some of the guess work out of the process.
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well bodger if you want a independent verdict on the cider when its ready give us a shout and i will be on the next bus :wink:
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Why sterilize the juice? Have you tried not sterilizing it? Doesn't the yeast/alcohol produced & acidity take care of undesireable micro-organisms, or are you sterilizing to halt fermentation?
I sterilise because:
1) The apples are crawling with hundreds of fruit flies, etc.
2) I mainly use the juice for apple wine (+ some cider) and don't want the natural yeasts that produce a lesser amount of alcohol.
3) As I pasteurise juice for later use, and it takes me 1 hr/gall to press, I sterilise the juice so I can press enough for either a 6 gall batch to ferment right away, or have sufficient juice to warrant heating up the pasteuriser and bottling the juice.
4) I produce both cider & wine in 6 gall batches and don't want to risk losing the lot, bearing in mind that it takes me approx 1hr to press each gallon of juice + all the time spent pasteurising, freezing, then blending to get the flavour right, then all the effort in fermenting, racking, clearing, re-fermenting/disgorging (for sparkling wine/cider), etc.
4) As I also use the juice for apple wine, which will be around much, much longer than cider, I want the minimum of bugs in it. I remember buying farmhouse cider years ago that would come out the barrels clear & golden, then turn brown, then turn to vinegar.
I don't add any campden tablets to juice that I pasteurise & bottle to drink later just as an apple juice drink (although I still have the option to convert to cider/wine).
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hi, thanks for replying. As a fellow brewer, I'm always interested in different approaches to solving similar problems. I brew beer from scratch (i.e hops, water, yeast, malted barley). I use heat to sterilize the wort and I sterilize equipment with milton (sodium hypochlorite solution). My process differs from yours in that I require the mash to be steeped at 62-65C for a time, then rinsed at 70C to 85C depending on what i want the brew to be like, then decanted out, then it has to be boiled with hops for anything between 1 and 2 hrs. Also, the heated batch won't be sitting around.
Analogous to your process would be if I extracted the malt then stored it - I don't do this.
The people who i knew who made cider did it the old farmhouse way - letting the apples sit in a bucket until soft then pressing what remains, then adding yeast, so it wasn't just up to the wild yeasts to do the fermenting. It was a strong brew all right. They didn't have a fruit fly problem though. I think they rinsed their fruit and gave each fruit a cursory glance to make sure nothing was alive inside, but that's it. they would boil their extract for a short time before cooling it.
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Quote David;I seem to recall hearing something like that myself over the last few days + about the juice running down the front of kitchen units/appliances when transfering pommace (in bucket on floor) to the press (on work top).
The really messy bit is when using a pulpmaster bucket + electric drill to chop the fruit, and lifting the top before the blade has stopped spinning!
Both of the above apply,except for mysterious reasons press is in middle of kitchen floor,don`t talk to me about the pulpmaster.You also forgot to mention the fruit flies!I sympathise with whoever mentioned this to you :cry: :roll:
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well bodger if you want a independent verdict on the cider when its ready give us a shout and i will be on the next bus :wink:
You're too late mate :lol: :lol: :lol: Last years went down a treat but we will be making it again in the next month or two. :D
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You also forgot to mention the fruit flies!
Thanks for reminding me! Came back from a few days away last year to nearly 1,000 in the house (I counted them as I would swat up to 100 at a time). The waste goes into 5 gall buckets (with lids) off to the allotment composters. I place wine traps around the house made of jam jars with yellow carboard cone tops with a small hole and baited with cider vinegar or orange wine. Those plastic non-spill kids paint pots make ready made traps.
Using an electric fan blows them away from the cider/wine you are working on.
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Hi Bodger,
In your photos when you were making your cider, you had a little circular press which you said was about £70.00 to buy, could you tell me where you got if from please, and was it easy to use.
thanks
Chris & Fiona
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Hi Soaplady :D
For starters just put 'cider press' into E Bay and I think you'll be astonished at just how much there is out there and how reasonably priced it is.
The little one that we purchased is more than adequate for the job and its amazing just how much it wil produce in a short space of time.
Cider making really is a simple straigtforward process. Tomorrow is the actual day that we are going to make ours this year. :D
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and the cider tour starts when bodger :wink:
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I keep inviting myself to the party Munty, but Bodger's not accepted yer :wink:
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:lol: :lol: me 2 lol im gonna have a busmans holiday 2 weeks werking on someones farm smallholding etc and have me bed n board in return fer my labour lol.. offers in pm please :wink: no selling on the site lmao
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and the cider tour starts when bodger :wink:
The forum that I'm connected with has a cider tour starting on Friday the 3rd of November at Peterstow near Ross on Wye and everyone is welcome :D
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We made ten gallons of cider today using mainly eating apples with a few cookers thrown in for good measure. I think the cider will be considerably sweeter than last years and possibly a little stronger.
We also made two gallons of perry using conference pears. :D
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/zid2.jpg)
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mmmmmmmyum :wink: mines the biggun :lol:
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looks good enough to paint the shed with :wink:
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I'll take the same picture over the ensuing days and you'll be able to see how things progress.
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I've just ordered a cider press - thanks for the photos; it's putting it all into perspective!
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From this to this.
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20July%202007/zid2.jpg)
To this
(http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m180/kcooper2006/from%20Xmas%202007/cdr.jpg)
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Hows the cider bodger??? We made some last autumn and have been drinking it tastes absolutely amazing :lol: :lol: (hic hic zzzzzz)
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I've got about 8 gallons of cider sitting in my shed that I made last October. The alcohol content is very high, it's very dry (just how I like it!) but it is also quite acidic (really makes you wince!). Does anyone know how I can reduce the acidity?
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The cider and perry taste fine. I havent bottled it yet but just had a sippers with a straw from the top.
We are off to the cider farm next month for a weekend so I'll make enquiries there with regard to acidic cider. One obvious thing to do, would be to try blending it with a sweet shop bought one. :lol:
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Hi bodge, i've allways wanted to make some cider from apples but have always wondered what to do with the apples before putting them in the press, did you have to crush them or what did you do with them, or what does anyone else do.
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Hi bodge, i've allways wanted to make some cider from apples but have always wondered what to do with the apples before putting them in the press, did you have to crush them or what did you do with them, or what does anyone else do.
Unfortunatly I have been told Bodger has left the forum so you will not get a reply from him
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Hi bodge, i've allways wanted to make some cider from apples but have always wondered what to do with the apples before putting them in the press, did you have to crush them or what did you do with them, or what does anyone else do.
you need to grind up or crush or chop the apples before pressing them, some people use a garden shreader, or you could put then in a bucket and hit them with a bit of fence post.
I use a vigo press and apple grinder combo but it wasnt cheep (I inherited it ), google VIGO and you will find one
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Hi, i thought i'd try the old Ropster fence post treatment, sounds a good way to take out your frustrations!
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I hope I can keep this short? Firstly I have 29 gallons of cider on the go so far this year.
1st how to make the apples suitable for pressing:- DO NOT USE the bucket and 4 inch square wood bit. Use a garden shredder it will give you the perfect size of apple for pressing and I mean perfect. Cut to whatever size will go through the slot at the top with a bucket underneath to catch the shredded apples AND THE JUICE. Makes sure that you leave a bucket underneath at all times as juice will drip out for a while.
2ND The press:- A/ Get an Ebay cheapo.....don't bother they break in no time, plus they are to small.
B/ Again Ebay search and save the search for a Walker Desmond wine press. I have also seen it called a Boots wine press so maybe still available new. Weird design but very well built not huge but adequate for most people.
C/ make your own if you have the ability tons of designs available on the Internet.
D/ buy a new or used one of Ebay or even a home made one of Ebay BUT do a local search and save as postage maybe expensive.
3 The apples. There are 2 types of cider apples one is called a multi purpose (very fashionable now a days) Thatchers (the company) ciders are an obvious example. Or vintage varieties. these are single purpose and taste manure and are unsuitable for cooking they are only suitable for for making cider. Gwatkins a small cider maker on the Herefordshire border are the best example of this (very very cheap if you buy bag in a box will deliver 20 liters for £47 about £1.20 a pint for prize winning cider IE best in Britain)
Odds are you are not going to have either available to you and your cider will NOT taste great. This is what experienced amateur suggest to do.
A/ Blend the apples before you make the cider this assume you have more than 1 variety of apple.
B/ blend the juice before turning into cider. Both the latter need more than 1 variety and the variety have to be available at the same time.
C/ Blend the finished single variety ciders before bottling. The latter is supposed to be the hardest and is used by professionals. As I never have all my apples available at the same time I am going to give this a go but doubt I am skilled enough.
THE LATTER ALL SUGGEST THAT YOU CAN ACHIEVE A GOOD cider NO MATTER WHAT APPLES YOU USE as long as you blend them right. I say that 2 lots of manure apples or ciders will not make a good cider. Therefore the following is what I have done up to now. I have taken my iffy ciders (to say the least) and mixed them with bog standard cheapo apple juice (pasteurised) just before I drink them. Its is not necessary to have more than 25% juice to 75% cider to get very nice cider.
This is what I am trying this year Mix the shop bought pasteurized juice with the pressed apple juice at the start. Also trying mixing it after the first the first and second racking. Also trying adding it just before bottling at what ever proportions I think is right after tasting it. I am doing all the latter this year or put another way experimenting. You can also add sugar but yeast turns all sugar to alcohol (pasteurised apple juice is only water and sugar) so you need to stop the fermentation after you bottle so the sugar does not turn into alcohol. Also it is said that the bottles may exploded if there is to much fermentation going on the bottle. So bottle leave in the house for 2 days then put in the garage (somewhere cold in other words). Take it out when you want to drink it leave at room temperature for 2 days then refrigerate. This will result in a nice fizzy cider and minimal loss of added sugar.
4/ Where to get apples from. This relates only to people living in rural areas, in fact only to people living on the Lincolnshire Wolds. There is a huge amount of apples trees that have been planted in hedge rows quite a lot in road side hedges. I found 3 on 1 road almost immediately I started looking. You need to walk to find them and like mushrooming picking you need to get your eye in. You will soon spot some. Ask people with apple trees in there garden nearly all have loads spare. Back roads are best as they will not be able to sell them outside there house. Now it is important to remember it cost nothing to ask. A farmer drove me up to his field the other day as I had spotted some on his permissive path. Left me to collect them while he did a little bit of ploughing and then drove me home. Result 5 gallons of cider all I did was ask. Also got 60 concrete post for terracing and fencing my garden for free. He is even going to deliver them (I only have bicycles and bicycle trailers) ASK! IT IS FREE AND YOU MAKE NEW FRIENDS. All though they expect a few bottles of your cider.....*.
This has taken me ages to wright so I am going for a rest.....Well I may have some Gwatkins cider first as I have run out of my last years cider and for that matter my Sloe gin and furthermore my mates Elderberry wine, although most of that exploded in my daughters car redecorating the roof and mine and both daughters clothes. JB
PS REAL CIDER MAKING ON A SMALL SCALE by Michael Pooley & John Lomax........Excelent book maybe available in Library
PPS I made one particularly fine cider last year. It was a mix of 2 variety from someones garden. I had to mix as they did not have enough of each to make a demijohn BUT I FORGOT TO RIGHT WHICH TREES THEY WERE. They have 6 trees all are different varieties. NOTE EVERYTHING DOWN IN A BOOK AND ON YOUR COMPUTER. It will take me years to work out the right blend again.
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Up date now have 34 litres of cider first bottling was excellent just like cider should taste Bramley/Blenhem orange blend .........did it again never noted down the proportions. Never mind should be that hard to work it out next year. There are 5 brameys and 1 Blenhem but the trees are prodigious so should get about 20+ gallons next year. SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEET