easy cider

[red]

I must admit i was wondering this one too - as my homebrew beer gives off huge belches every couple of minutes!

I'm sure the co2 levels are teeny compared to other activities we do.. such as composting.. keeping warm.. and if you drink wine and beer made by other people.. there is still co2 involved.. plus travel etc...

[DrSlippers]

I had a go at making cider-ish from the recipe on this site.
Not having use of a press my brother and I resorted to violence, placing each apple on a sturdy board and thwacking it with a hefty piece of wood. The mess of apples was soaked for a month in a 5 gallon plastic fermenting bucket and I crushed the lumps manually by hand every day.
When the pulp was broken down sufficiently we added the lemon squeezings, ginger and sugar, wrapped the bucket in an old quilt and left it to do it's stuff.
I couldn't keep it at a warm temperature throughout winter without using a heater and paying for the energy used, which kind of defeats the object, so I resolved to be patient.
As soon as the weather improved I moved the fermenter to a shed outside.
I painted the shed roof black which had the effect of absorbing the sunlight and increasing the temperature inside to a satisfactory level.
It took 12 months from start to finish but the resultant drink is amazingly smooth and as clear as water.

I drank 3 pints the first time I tried it and woke up the next day still wasted with my boots still on!
(I now use a wine glass and sip instead of quaffing.)
It has an excellent taste and I haven't had a hangover from it, quite the reverse in fact.
Thanks for the recipe. I'm starting the next batch next week.

[ilan]

I have got some cider also on the go but used just 4 cartons of apple juce some cold strong tea to give it some bit and a jar of basic honey and wine yeast , still going strong ilan

[the.fee.fairy]

I like the sound of Smashed Apple Cider!!

I got a couple of sacks of apples at the weekend, so i think i might be giving it a go!

[Jandra]

Just in case anyone is seriously wondering about the CO2 effects of, well, living... (brewing included)... There really is no need to worry about anything that doesn't burn fossil fuels. The problem with global warming is in the release of extra CO2 which has been 'trapped' for the past millions of years.

But we eat (or imbibe ) stuff that has been growing very recently and which is part of the current CO2 cycle. Renewable, and all that.

So as long as we don't start eating coal or drinking diesel we're in the clear.
Lets raise the glass to that!

Cheers Jandra

[DrSlippers]

That's it excactly Fee; 'Smashed Apple Cider'.
If you don't mind my plagiarism I’ll put that on the labels of the bottles I use for gifts / barter .

[the.fee.fairy]

No problem. I'll be putting it on my bottles too.

[Feygan]

Just wondering if for the cartoned method anyone can offer a rough ratio thats needed? litres of apple juice:yeast:sugar?

[SueSteve]

I am trying some pear wine, whats the difference between perry and wine?
I boiled 7lb pears(x3 as I needed 3 pans!), simmer for half an hour, poured the juice over 2Kg of sugar, 3tsp citric, 3 tsp nutrient add a packet of yeast, topped up water (total 13.5l water) and 750ml wh. grape conc.

It is bubbling away like mad, and there is a lot of convection in the bin!!

[red]

i think its the same as the difference between cider and apple wine.

strictly speaking cider uses 100% apple juice, no added sugar - wine uses part apple juice water and added sugar

so strictly speaking perry would be 100% pear juice no sugar

to complicate matters.. often sugar is added in the cider making process, to make it stronger or sweeter or both,,, making us all confused...

[Thurston Garden]

It's getting very close to our cider time.....

A gardener from a local Estate brings feed bags of apples in his car for us (in addition to the 4 apple trees in our garden). I don't think our method could b simpler. It's as easy as putting on a hat:

We set up an old piece of worktop in the garage to quarter th apples on. I carefully wash the insides of our garden shredder and a couple of buckets. Then it's time to go. One of us chops the apples into quarters and the other feeds them into the shredder. The pulp ours out of the shredder into a bucket.

When the bucket is full the pulp is pressed (we splashed out on a proper press 4 years ago). The pressed pulp is then put in another bucket and fed to the pigs/hens. (Mildly amusing when it's a couple of days old - I swear they get drunk on it).

The juice is fermented in a 5 gallon bucket with some bread yeast pitched on the top. Once it's fermented out (approx 3 weeks) I decant it into my homebrew barrel and it clears quite quickly.

I also have a 15 litre bag in box thingy which I am going to give a go this year - we always have more apples than cider storage vessels!

[Cheezy]

i think its the same as the difference between cider and apple wine.

strictly speaking cider uses 100% apple juice, no added sugar - wine uses part apple juice water and added sugar

so strictly speaking perry would be 100% pear juice no sugar

to complicate matters.. often sugar is added in the cider making process, to make it stronger or sweeter or both,,, making us all confused...

Real cider is just juice, no sugar (you pick a mix of apples to ensure the right sugar content, right amount of tannin and pH) and no added yeast, unless you know what your doing and everything is spotless, then the wild yeast can cause cloudiness and off flavours. strength should be 6 to 8.5% (ie in pure apple juice there is usually between 10 -15% natural sugar)

The term cider can mean all or some of the following: pure juice which may have been adjusted in pH,been treated with sulphur dioxide to kill some if not all wild yeast, had water/sugar added to get the desired alcohol level, had pectinase added to make sure of a clear product , then pitched with a wine yeast. Again strength should be between 6 to 8.5% since you should only add enough sugar to get this level of alcohol. Lower levels of alcohol in cider making make storage a problem.

Industrial commercial cider tends to increase the sugar content of the pure juice, use high tolerence yeasts then they end up with a high alcohol cider around 12 to 15% which they then add water to dilute down to 4 to 5% its called capitalistion, since one batch of cider makes 3 times as many lower alcohol bottles. But the product does not taste as fulsome or appley since it's only 1/3 juice (thinks of Magners at this point )

Apple wine is effectively apple flavoured water plus sugar and yeast brewed to 12%+

Same as perry to pear wine. Though perry is really more fiddley than cider and appeals to the chemist in me.

Hope this helps

C