Making cider
- Thread starter Nixon
- Start date
Tips please
Use apples.
fogbat
The Talibum
fogbat
The Talibum
two sheds
Least noticed poster 2007
Gavin Bl
terrible awful baaad
http://www.downsizer.net/Projects/Home_brewing/Easy%2C_Cider/
Cider making from a good site for all sorts of 'Good Life' type stuff
Cider making from a good site for all sorts of 'Good Life' type stuff
Turbo cider sounds a bit dangerous
Cheers for the linky.Anyone else who's had first hand cider making attempts?
And THEN you can freeze it and drink the superalcohol that doesn't freeze, according to some country bumpkins I spoke to once.
ajdown
Posting in this thread
I made some cider last year and it wasn't that bad.
I have a fruit juicer, so having bought a load of apples I basically mushed them until the juice was all out, then stuck it with some yeast and sugar in a jar with an airlock, and left it for a few months. I strained it twice as obviously you tend to get a bit of bloom and the bits that come out of the apples, but after about 4-5 months of bubbling away it was certainly quite drinkable.
This might be of use... http://www.zider.co.uk/
I have a fruit juicer, so having bought a load of apples I basically mushed them until the juice was all out, then stuck it with some yeast and sugar in a jar with an airlock, and left it for a few months. I strained it twice as obviously you tend to get a bit of bloom and the bits that come out of the apples, but after about 4-5 months of bubbling away it was certainly quite drinkable.
This might be of use... http://www.zider.co.uk/
The main thing to remember is that fruit pressing is a heavy-duty activity.
You can't just press apples - you have to macerate (chop them up) first.
And don't make the mistake I did, which was to take half a hundredweight of apples and try to do them in the food processor - it just doesn't work. You're going to need some kind of heavy-duty chopping technology (one site I've seen suggests using a garbage disposal unit) to do this with any reasonable kind of efficiency.
Then you're going to need to press the pulp. This is a messy business, and again needs some pretty tough technology.
I must confess, I gave up after not having chopped many apples. I'd love to do it, and I know there are enough people around here with surplus apples that I'd have no problem getting enough fruit, but it's a lot of kit to put together to use once a year (I could use the press for other things, it's true...), and it's kind of on the back burner for now. I may ask for a press on Freecycle once the season's over and any cider makers in the area are going "never again", but it won't be any kind of priority, I think
You can't just press apples - you have to macerate (chop them up) first.
And don't make the mistake I did, which was to take half a hundredweight of apples and try to do them in the food processor - it just doesn't work. You're going to need some kind of heavy-duty chopping technology (one site I've seen suggests using a garbage disposal unit) to do this with any reasonable kind of efficiency.
Then you're going to need to press the pulp. This is a messy business, and again needs some pretty tough technology.
I must confess, I gave up after not having chopped many apples. I'd love to do it, and I know there are enough people around here with surplus apples that I'd have no problem getting enough fruit, but it's a lot of kit to put together to use once a year (I could use the press for other things, it's true...), and it's kind of on the back burner for now. I may ask for a press on Freecycle once the season's over and any cider makers in the area are going "never again", but it won't be any kind of priority, I think
Gavin Bl
terrible awful baaad
In Hardy's "The Woodlanders", the tragic doomed hero is a cider maker, and he's always covered in bits of apple....the mucky, tragic, doomed bugger.
Oh, I didn't know you had to be a doomed hero to be a cidermaker! That puts a slightly different complexion on things
mr steev
magic thought wizard
I'm seriously thinking of making some from apples soon.
I've got several sources of different apples and a mate who's an engineer has made something which will be suitable for pressing the mash... making the mash is going to be the problem I think. Would a garden shredder work?
I've got several sources of different apples and a mate who's an engineer has made something which will be suitable for pressing the mash... making the mash is going to be the problem I think. Would a garden shredder work?
Gavin Bl
terrible awful baaad
Oh, I didn't know you had to be a doomed hero to be a cidermaker! That puts a slightly different complexion on things
I'm not sure which comes first, being doomed or a lot of cider...but they do seem natural bedfellows.
What you have to remember is that apple juice is quite acidic, and will dissolve all kinds of metals. Quite apart from the question of tainting the fruit, some metal contaminants are quite dangerous to consume. So whatever you use to chop your fruit ideally needs to be something inert, like food grade plastics or stainless steel. You also need to make sure that lubricants, etc, cannot contaminate your juice, too. That's generally I think why it gets expensive - you're starting to look at ease of cleaning on top of the contamination issues. Personally, I think I'd probably rig something up with an electric drill and some whirling blades, but there are the, um, safety issues to consider, too. Remember that not much domestic stuff is expecting to run continuously for the considerable time it'll take you to chop ONE MEELION apples, so cutting out and overheating may well become an issue too.
Actually, thinking about it, something on strimmer principles ought to be good - and all plastic so (reasonably) contaminant-free and cleanable.
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