cider

[jay]

hi all i am picking up 64lb of apples tommorow and would like to turn most of it into cider but i donot have any recipes can any one help .

[Cellar_Rat]

If you have a big enough freezer - wack up in there. Tried it last year BBBBRRRRIILIANT. Thaw after a couple of days, just - lovely clear juice.

Else crush, scrat, grate, blitz, mash or grind them up. Yes you can put then through a garden shredder - I have. I can recommend the mountfield Honda powered 12 hp flail shredder in particular.

This should leave you with a Apple porridge. Press it! (I have plans for a EZ home build press)

After pressing....

For an apple wine - use Tate and Lyle sugar (not Silver spoon) make up to 11% with hydrometer (or Refractometer) Ferment as wine. Alternatively use a bit of white grape base form a cheap kit.


For just pure cider - ferment the juice straight out of the press, use a proprietary yeast will finish at about 4-6% (if you crushed them, as against freezing - they probably already started fermenting - don;t need to add yeast). Cider will be dry - if you want it sweeter easiest to back sweeten with canderel (not fermentable)

Rack as appropriate (or drink immed after chilling)

[jay]

thanks for that i just picked the apples up from a frend their is 81 lb of apples she says their are called discovery apples . i made a press to day with some wood and a car jack seen it on you tube dose the job. i hope

[fatbloke]

Don't forget, discovery apples are "eaters" so to make a Kentish style cider, you might also need to look out some cooking apples or at least a little extra acid and some tannin.

You can also bottle carbonate - half tsp of brewing sugar in coolers plastic beer bottles...

The bottles work fine for cider and you don't get bottle bombs.....

[jay]

ok cheers how many cooking apples woulde i need.

[fatbloke]

Last time I tried it, I used half the weight of the eaters. Mainly because the coolers have an acidic freshness that you don't get with eaters (i just used bramleys).

To keep the cost down, you could just get 1 large cookery and test the ability - well the pH, of the juice. Then split the juice from the whole lot into 3 and use malic acid to bring the level up.

I'd also add some tannin (from apples if you an find it). I'd have thought 1 tsp per gallon. Which should give enough "bite" to it.

Don't forget, you'll probably have to sweeten it some as well.

[jay]

ok thanks for that my neighbour has a cooking apple tree i will see if i can get some of them . can i make wine from discovery apples

[David]

Don't forget, discovery apples are "eaters" so to make a Kentish style cider, you might also need to look out some cooking apples or at least a little extra acid and some tannin.

Do you have an acid or pH testing kit as Discovery apples are supposedly acidic and adding even more acid may not achieve the result you desire.

[jay]

no i do not .
i do not know to much about macking cider. or wine from fresh fruits .

[jay]

If you have a big enough freezer - wack up in there. Tried it last year BBBBRRRRIILIANT. Thaw after a couple of days, just - lovely clear juice.

Else crush, scrat, grate, blitz, mash or grind them up. Yes you can put then through a garden shredder - I have. I can recommend the mountfield Honda powered 12 hp flail shredder in particular.

This should leave you with a Apple porridge. Press it! (I have plans for a EZ home build press)

After pressing....

For an apple wine - use Tate and Lyle sugar (not Silver spoon) make up to 11% with hydrometer (or Refractometer) Ferment as wine. Alternatively use a bit of white grape base form a cheap kit.


For just pure cider - ferment the juice straight out of the press, use a proprietary yeast will finish at about 4-6% (if you crushed them, as against freezing - they probably already started fermenting - don;t need to add yeast). Cider will be dry - if you want it sweeter easiest to back sweeten with canderel (not fermentable)

Rack as appropriate (or drink immed after chilling)

if i freez them will the juice come out on its own as i do have a halfe empty chest freezer at the moment . and that woulde be a lot easyer than chopping and pressing.

[lockwood1956]

Freeze---Thaw---then press

the juice will not come out on its own

regards
bob

[jay]

dam good idear if it worked lol.

[lockwood1956]

I process apples this way every year.....

works a treat


regards
Bob

[Cellar_Rat]

dam good idear if it worked lol.

It does save the chopping, cutting & crushing jobby. And the juice (and of course cider) is MUCH better for it.

The only disclamer is this method is NOT advised for cloudy lumpy scrumpy recipes of course.

[jay]

well i put about halfe in the frezzer (its all i could fit ) about 48 hours a go so will get them out saturday morning to thaw and press in the afternoon .