Home brew cider with own apples
Discussion
for some reason i found myself on the CAMRA website reading about what they consider real cider or not.
many of my faves are not real, rattler, thatchers haze, cornish orchards etc. not that it will stop me imbibing, but based on CAMRA's guide i suppose still cloudy ditchwater is real cider, like the chideock cider circle make, which is nice enough if a bit rough.
this got me thinking about how possible homebrew cider would be. my folks have a fair few apple trees, both dessert and culinary, and a glut in autumn of what to do with them.
has anyone tried to make there own cider? i suppose a press would be needed to extract the juice, and go through the whole building 'cheeses' process?
many of my faves are not real, rattler, thatchers haze, cornish orchards etc. not that it will stop me imbibing, but based on CAMRA's guide i suppose still cloudy ditchwater is real cider, like the chideock cider circle make, which is nice enough if a bit rough.
this got me thinking about how possible homebrew cider would be. my folks have a fair few apple trees, both dessert and culinary, and a glut in autumn of what to do with them.
has anyone tried to make there own cider? i suppose a press would be needed to extract the juice, and go through the whole building 'cheeses' process?
We make a couple of Barrels a year of cider, Family have been doing this for 20+ years. its a dead easy process but if you are going to do it you need to source a whiskey barrel and proper cider apples ( we buy from same place Hogans and Thatchers buy apples from). don't mess around with reg apples it just wont be that successful.
if you do plan on using plastic containers to brew the cider in make sure you add wood chippings to create the proper flavour.
A whiskey barrel and pre pressed apple juice costs around £120 all in, its about 40p a pint and an estimate of about 8-10% alcohol content.
if you do plan on using plastic containers to brew the cider in make sure you add wood chippings to create the proper flavour.
A whiskey barrel and pre pressed apple juice costs around £120 all in, its about 40p a pint and an estimate of about 8-10% alcohol content.
Fella at work has an apple tree and brought me in enough to get about a gallon of juice. I added a kilo of granulated sugar and put it to work in a demi-john, then forgot about it. Not as in leave it for a long time, I actually forgot about it. Stuck in my garage for 5 months over the Winter and the unintentional cold crash has left a very light clear brew. Only issue I might have is I may have let all the yeast fall down. I bottled it last week and added a teaspoon of sugar to get the secondary moving but yet to see any bubbles. Put one in the fridge to open tonight. While bottling I managed to have a good two thirds of a pint left over so drank that still. Forgot to take measurements but I reckon it's up about 8-10% and it tasted bloody lovely !!!
So impressed I thought I would read up more and there seems to be a general opinion that store juice is as good as real apples, not convinced myself.
So impressed I thought I would read up more and there seems to be a general opinion that store juice is as good as real apples, not convinced myself.
wrap all the apples up in a cloth and then press them, no need to break them up prior to pressing as you'll loose too much juice. we add sultanas to the apple juice to kick start the process.
all you need is apples and a natural sugar i wouldn't mess around with yeast personally as its not necessary.
all you need is apples and a natural sugar i wouldn't mess around with yeast personally as its not necessary.
tribalsurfer said:
Fella at work has an apple tree and brought me in enough to get about a gallon of juice. I added a kilo of granulated sugar and put it to work in a demi-john, then forgot about it. Not as in leave it for a long time, I actually forgot about it. Stuck in my garage for 5 months over the Winter and the unintentional cold crash has left a very light clear brew. Only issue I might have is I may have let all the yeast fall down. I bottled it last week and added a teaspoon of sugar to get the secondary moving but yet to see any bubbles. Put one in the fridge to open tonight. While bottling I managed to have a good two thirds of a pint left over so drank that still. Forgot to take measurements but I reckon it's up about 8-10% and it tasted bloody lovely !!!
So impressed I thought I would read up more and there seems to be a general opinion that store juice is as good as real apples, not convinced myself.
how did you juice them? were they proper cider apples?So impressed I thought I would read up more and there seems to be a general opinion that store juice is as good as real apples, not convinced myself.
Daxxie said:
wrap all the apples up in a cloth and then press them, no need to break them up prior to pressing as you'll loose too much juice. we add sultanas to the apple juice to kick start the process.
all you need is apples and a natural sugar i wouldn't mess around with yeast personally as its not necessary.
ah ok, but why it not worth it with non cider apples?all you need is apples and a natural sugar i wouldn't mess around with yeast personally as its not necessary.
toastyhamster said:
Interesting, I have an allotment with assorted apple trees, absolutely massive glut last year, ended up giving so many away. Did think about cider but thought I needed a press, store bought juice is interesting though? Which ones?
id assume 'proper' farm shop apple juice (cloudy with bits in) would be best?Cider apples? Wrong. Press? Wrong. No yeast? Wrong.
Wrong forum? Yes.
Research Turbocider and start with that first, when you've perfected it then try apples.
For homebrew a powerful (1000w+) centrifugal juicer will do.
Will you make lovely simple drinkable cider? Nope, it'll be like battery acid.
Wrong forum? Yes.
Research Turbocider and start with that first, when you've perfected it then try apples.
For homebrew a powerful (1000w+) centrifugal juicer will do.
Will you make lovely simple drinkable cider? Nope, it'll be like battery acid.
227bhp said:
Cider apples? Wrong. Press? Wrong. No yeast? Wrong.
Wrong forum? Yes.
Research Turbocider and start with that first, when you've perfected it then try apples.
For homebrew a powerful (1000w+) centrifugal juicer will do.
Will you make lovely simple drinkable cider? Nope, it'll be like battery acid.
helpful. so that's a no then...!Wrong forum? Yes.
Research Turbocider and start with that first, when you've perfected it then try apples.
For homebrew a powerful (1000w+) centrifugal juicer will do.
Will you make lovely simple drinkable cider? Nope, it'll be like battery acid.
OP,
This is a cracking wee book which will set you off in the right direction:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Real-Cider-Making-Small-S...
Equipment:
A garden shredder followed by a press is pretty efficient. I made a press out of a wooden frame and a car jack a la Jamie & Jimmy: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/jamie-and-jimmy...
There was a PDF floating around for a while with the dimensions and stuff but I haven't been able to find it for you.
Ikea net curtains make good muslin.
You can chop them and put them through a juicer, I did 40L this way once, never again.
Apples
All apples will work, but they won't all make a drinkable cider. Ideally you want a mix - some sharp acidity for flavour, some tannin for body, sweet ones for plenty of fermentable sugar, some aromatic varieties for aroma. Cider varieties tick most of these boxes, unsurprisingly. You can approximate using cookers for the acidity; eaters for the high sugar; crab apples for tannin and something like Cox's Orange Pippin for aromatics. But it would take a lot of trial and error or luck to get it right. You can apply some science if you spend a lot of time buggering about doing pH measurements - this will only help you get the acidity right but that probably is the main thing that makes a cider drinkable or not.
Beware people offering you a large pile of surplus cooking apples - a percentage is useful but you CANNOT make a drinkable cider with 100% cookers. They contain plenty of sugar but the acidity is vile. Yes I have been there
Yeast
Cider tends to be OK made using naturally occurring yeast. But if you want to be sure, you can kill them off with a campden tablet or two and then pitch a known yeast.
This is a cracking wee book which will set you off in the right direction:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Real-Cider-Making-Small-S...
Equipment:
A garden shredder followed by a press is pretty efficient. I made a press out of a wooden frame and a car jack a la Jamie & Jimmy: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/jamie-and-jimmy...
There was a PDF floating around for a while with the dimensions and stuff but I haven't been able to find it for you.
Ikea net curtains make good muslin.
You can chop them and put them through a juicer, I did 40L this way once, never again.
Apples
All apples will work, but they won't all make a drinkable cider. Ideally you want a mix - some sharp acidity for flavour, some tannin for body, sweet ones for plenty of fermentable sugar, some aromatic varieties for aroma. Cider varieties tick most of these boxes, unsurprisingly. You can approximate using cookers for the acidity; eaters for the high sugar; crab apples for tannin and something like Cox's Orange Pippin for aromatics. But it would take a lot of trial and error or luck to get it right. You can apply some science if you spend a lot of time buggering about doing pH measurements - this will only help you get the acidity right but that probably is the main thing that makes a cider drinkable or not.
Beware people offering you a large pile of surplus cooking apples - a percentage is useful but you CANNOT make a drinkable cider with 100% cookers. They contain plenty of sugar but the acidity is vile. Yes I have been there
Yeast
Cider tends to be OK made using naturally occurring yeast. But if you want to be sure, you can kill them off with a campden tablet or two and then pitch a known yeast.
theplayingmantis said:
227bhp said:
Cider apples? Wrong. Press? Wrong. No yeast? Wrong.
Wrong forum? Yes.
Research Turbocider and start with that first, when you've perfected it then try apples.
For homebrew a powerful (1000w+) centrifugal juicer will do.
Will you make lovely simple drinkable cider? Nope, it'll be like battery acid.
helpful. so that's a no then...!Wrong forum? Yes.
Research Turbocider and start with that first, when you've perfected it then try apples.
For homebrew a powerful (1000w+) centrifugal juicer will do.
Will you make lovely simple drinkable cider? Nope, it'll be like battery acid.
They are the salient points and where people go wrong.
You make cider to your taste and pocket, so if you copy people who are saying do this that and the other you'll end up with expensive cider that suits them and not necessarily you.
Buy some apple juice and start with that until you've got it right and understand it, then go on to apples this Autumn.
You need to know how sweet, strong and fizzy you want it before starting.
Once you know what you're doing it's easy to make cider which is better than whatever is in the supermarket, partially because its made to your taste, but also because you can make it from 100% apple juice. If they did that the prices would triple so a lot of it is a bit of apple mixed with flavours, preservatives, water and sugars.
Most people find 'proper' cider in its purest form undrinkable, so then you have to consider how not to make it so.
My criteria is:
Must be cost effective. (cheaper than supermarket/pub, even the special stuff)
Tasty and easy to drink. (more than the supermarket/pub, even the special stuff)
Strong. (more than the supermarket/pub, even the special stuff)
Needing as little labour to make as possible.
Fizzy.
Edited by 227bhp on Wednesday 14th March 13:01
thanks for the help all. i think i give up, it was just a project i thought i could suggest to my old man, for their glut of autumnal apples!
having to get specific types of apples and what not doesn't scope with my intentions. i naively thought you could do it with any old ones and add sugar if too tart! maybe something to look into when i have an orchard!
having to get specific types of apples and what not doesn't scope with my intentions. i naively thought you could do it with any old ones and add sugar if too tart! maybe something to look into when i have an orchard!
I didn't mean to put you off - there's nothing to lose by just having a go. Your folks have a few different trees by the sounds of things so if you just limit the cookers to about 20% I expect you'll end up with something drinkable. Limit it to a demijohn and then you haven't wasted too much time. Also it takes 4-5 gallons of apples to get a gallon of juice so this will still use a fair pile of apples.
Making cider is easy, it’s making a NICE cider that takes practise!
If you’re after a park bench special, 25L of the cheapest apple juice you can find, a sachet of champagne yeast and a kilo or two of sugar will do it.
The next phase would be with any old apples you can find. Press/juice varying types into the same bucket/demijohn and taste it until you have a palletable apple juice drink. Then either add champagne yeast or just leave it be and natural yeast will do it. Once it’s brewed, add a few campden tablets to kill the yeast and then sweeten it to your preferred taste. It’ll get you pissed, be relatively nice, but won’t be a patch on shop bought.
For the real deal, you do need the right apples, all sorts of preservatives and a lot of practise! I have none of these, but have made a few nice-ish brews from trees off of my old chaps allotment, more luck than judgement!
Little tip - for proper tramp juice, brew a turbo cider and leave it in an air tight container once it’s brewed. Put it somewhere cold until it’s perfectly clear and it’ll be rocket fuel
If you’re after a park bench special, 25L of the cheapest apple juice you can find, a sachet of champagne yeast and a kilo or two of sugar will do it.
The next phase would be with any old apples you can find. Press/juice varying types into the same bucket/demijohn and taste it until you have a palletable apple juice drink. Then either add champagne yeast or just leave it be and natural yeast will do it. Once it’s brewed, add a few campden tablets to kill the yeast and then sweeten it to your preferred taste. It’ll get you pissed, be relatively nice, but won’t be a patch on shop bought.
For the real deal, you do need the right apples, all sorts of preservatives and a lot of practise! I have none of these, but have made a few nice-ish brews from trees off of my old chaps allotment, more luck than judgement!
Little tip - for proper tramp juice, brew a turbo cider and leave it in an air tight container once it’s brewed. Put it somewhere cold until it’s perfectly clear and it’ll be rocket fuel
Gassing Station | Food, Drink & Restaurants | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff