Suggested Equipment Needed For Starting The Fermentation Wine/Fruit Press & Crusher 25 litre Bucket with lid, grommet and airlock (several are useful) 25 litre Bucket or Fermenter with Cap, Grommet, and Airlock (not essential, but very useful) pH Meter (really good investment) Siphon and ‘U’ Tube Thermometer Hydrometer SteriliserMixing SpoonYeast Apple Tannin (for Cider and Apple Wine)Malic AcidCampden TabletsPrecipitated chalkPectolasePotassium Sorbate How many apples do you need? As a general rule you will need in the region of 9 kg (20 lbs) of apples to produce 4.5 litres (1 gallon) of juice. Before you start it’s a good idea to try and secure a good mix of different apples. For the ripest apples (which will have the best flavour and the largest amount of juice) wait until they fall from the trees, then (if you are not ready to use them immediately) they should be spread out on either a plastic sheet or better still a sack cloth and then cover them either with again a sack cloth or perhaps a chunk of carpet. In this pile they will continue to ripen smelling great until you are ready to do your pressing. If you are going to leave it any length of time then I would suggest that you turn the apples regularly and removing any brown or rotten ones (or at least storing them separately). Balance of the Fruit The balance of the fruit is important especially the acidity. The best way is to purchase a pH meter. Don’t use the garden types, as they lack the accuracy required. I can’t stress how important it is to get this right and what a good investment this will be. If you don’t have one then I would suggest pressing and then tasting the juice and then balancing. Ideally we would be looking for about 70% dessert apples (this gives the sweetness) and 30% cooking apples (this gives the acidity). However the chances are we will have to work with what we have got. See below “adjusting the taste”. Preparing the Fruit Firstly discard any mouldy or badly bruised fruit. Secondly remove soil and surface slime by giving the apples a jolly good washing. Cut out any bad areas and remove any rotten or heavily browned ones. Thirdly quarter the apples, again removing any bad bits. Don’t be too fussy and don’t worry about the core and pips. Crushing the Apples Several options here, we can use a 10-12 cm square timber beam about 2 metres in length to batter the fruit in a bucket (very much like hard work but cheap). To make life slightly easier we can use a Pulpmaster which is like a cutting blade you fit on the end of a drill. When crushing, be careful not to over do it. The finished apples should have some substance to them, and liquid juice should not be present. If it is you have pulped them too much. Pressing the Apples We would recommend that you load up (about ¾ full) the crushed apples into a large coarse straining bag (a pillow case or hessian bag) and then place this in the centre of the press. (See post ‘Homemade Press’)This will mean you only get the juice and you will leave all of the pulp behind. Turn the press down onto the fruit until you feel real tension. As soon as you do, don’t keep turning but leave this in position for a few minutes. You will see the juice will start to run. When the juice stops then tighten again and leave. The juice that comes out should have one crushed campden tablet per 4.5 litres collected, placed at the bottom of the container before or as the juice starts to run. This will prevent oxidisation (browning of the juice) and bacterial spoilage. Remember you must let the press do the work - it’s a lot easier! Adjusting the taste Acidity As mentioned earlier the best way is to us a pH meter. You are looking for a pH reading in the region of 3.6 to 4.2 pH. Increasing the Acidity If the reading is above 4.2 pH then you need to add one level teaspoon per 5 litres (1 gallon) of Malic Acid (this is the natural acid that is in apples). Add to the juice mixing well, leave for at least 15 minutes for this to work into the juice and then retest with pH meter. Repeat until the desired level is reached. Decreasing the Acidity If the reading is below 3.6 pH then you need to add one level teaspoon per 5 litres (1 gallon) of Precipitated Chalk. Add to the juice mixing well, leave for at least 15 minutes for this to work into the juice and then retest with the pH meter. Repeat until the desired level is reached. If you don’t have a pH meter then you will need to do this by tasting the juice after pressing and adjusting as above. Remember it is very easy to add to much Malic Acid because of the apparent sweetness of the juice that will play on your taste buds. It’s really hard to get this right so always add less than you think. You only just want to be able to taste the acid (lemon taste). Increasing the Tannin Level Tannin is the taste we associate when we drink a strong tea. We want it present but we don’t want it to be an over powering presence. Add approximately half a level teaspoon per 5 litres (1 gallon) to increase this taste. Pectolase Powder If Pectolase is added at the start it will improve the taste in the cider as they help to bring out flavours and without this addition you won’t have clear cider. Add one teaspoon per 5 litres (1 gallon). Alcohol Levels The first thing we need to do before the start of fermentation is to take a hydrometer reading of the juice. To do this, place the hydrometer in the juice and we will see a reading where the hydrometer is level with the liquid. We can then use this reading to work out how much alcohol will be present after fermentation. See the table below for reference. SG Reading, Final Reading (end of fermentation), Approx ABV (Alcohol By Volume) [table][tr] [td] 1060 1000 or less 8% 1055 1000 or less 7.5% 1050 1000 or less 6.5% 1045 1000 or less 6% 1040 1000 or less 5.5% 1035 1000 or less 4.5% [/td][/tr][/table] To increase the start gravity add caster sugar (or white granulated sugar) and dissolve well. For cider we are looking ideally for start gravity in the region of 1040 to 1045. Any more alcohol than this will spoil the balance. Do not get carried away trying to make it to strong. To reduce the SG add water. Fermentation Start the fermentation as soon as possible but no longer than 24 hours after pressing the juice. Use food grade plastic buckets, fermenters or glass jars. They must be clean and sterile. Adjust balance of acidity, tannic and sweetness as discussed earlier. Add the apple yeast and 2 grams per 5 litres (1 gallon) of Cider Nutrient to the fermenter and be sure to use a good quality cider/apple yeast. Normal bakers yeast will work as well. Leave to ferment at a temperature between 20-27°C for about 5 to 14 days or until your hydrometer is showing the fermentation has finished. A constant cool temperature is much better than one that fluctuates. The fermentation time will depend on the room temperature and the initial starting gravity. 5 to 14 days is just a guide. The slower the fermentation the better the cider will taste. It is really important not to exceed 27°C. When the fermentation has finished (the gravity reading on the hydrometer will be the same for a few days and will be under 1000 SG) siphon off from the yeast into another clean sterilised container. For Flat Cider: Adding Stabiliser/Preservative and Clearing When the fermentation has finished we recommend that you add one Campden Tablet per 5 litres (1 gallon) and one gram per 5 litres (1 gallon) of Potassium Sorbate. This will help prevent infection and from restarting to ferment. The cider should then be degassed (stirred vigorously to remove the carbon dioxide given off during fermentation). You can add Kwik Clear (two part wine finings which contain Gelatine and Kieselsol) to clear the cider. Once clear, siphon off the sediment, and leave in glass containers. Make sure the containers are full and have no air space at the top which can cause infection. Taste it and if it’s young and a bit sharp then leave it to mature. Ideally you should fit a safety stopper to the container to allow for any breathing. After one month we suggest you have a taste. If the cider is maturing well then leave (if it’s thrown sediment, which is likely you might want to rack the sediment into a clean sterilised container and top up with cold water). At this stage it might be a good idea to sweeten the cider which is most likely, you should use our Acesulphame K sweetener (as these are non fermentable sweeteners). Alternatively you can use granulated sugar or purchase Sucralose from a supermarket (which is an artificial non fermentable sweetener but it must be Sucralose). Some people like to keep the cider as natural as possible so don’t like to add Stabiliser, Campdens and finings but from our experiences this will help protect the cider from oxidising and prevent any refermenting. It will also allow you to add sugar to sweeten. If you don’t want to add the Stabiliser, Campden, and finings then should you wish to sweeten the cider which is most likely, then we would suggest you should use our Acesulphame K sweetener (as these are non fermentable sweeteners). Alternatively you can purchase Sucralose from a supermarket (which is an artificial non fermentable sweetener but it must be Sucralose). For Sparkling Cider: After Fermentation We would recommend that you siphon the cider into a clean, sterilised container. You can now add any necessary adjustments like extra acid or sweetener. Use malic acid to increase the acidity (will give the cider a sharper taste), and use Acesulphame K sweetener, as this is non fermentable. Alternatively you can purchase sucralose from supermarkets but only buy this brand. Don’t add more sugar as this will ferment. Once you are happy with the taste you may bottle your cider. If this is a short term (say you are keeping this 4-6 weeks) then clear PET plastic bottles (the type lemonade, coke etc comes in) are fine. If it’s more than this then use green or brown PET bottles, beer bottles or grolsch style bottles. This is essential as the green/brown lining prevents the transmission of UV light which will ruin your cider over time. Transfer the cider into the bottle and add one rounded teaspoon of sugar per litre for a slight sparkle and two rounded teaspoons per litre for a more heavily carbonated drink. Seal the bottles and transfer to a warm place for 3 to 4 days (this will give you a secondary fermentation) and then move to a cool place for storage. If the cider has been stabilised or preserved then this will prevent the option of a secondary fermentation. Sweetening the Cider and Pouring Nearly all commercial ciders are fermented using additional sugar which gives it a sweet taste when drunk. The chances are you cider will be very dry (and can seem undrinkable) unless you add sweeteners. This is quite natural. When you open the bottles you will need to poor the cider carefully so as not to disturb the sediment which will be thrown. Enjoy your cider!
I too make cider, you actually dont need to add anything to the juice, the last 4 batches I made I just let the juice ferment using natural yeasts on the skins. Its quite satisfying knowing that you have one and only one ingredient - apple juice. This is the farmhouse traditional scrumpy method, and traditionally it is fermented very slowly over a period of months at a low temperature outside. I am not patient enough to do this, and I think it increases the risk of contamination. Prior to that I used to use champagne yeast as I like my cider dry. There is a slight risk with this method that you get some bad yeast or bacteria that will make the cider go off as you have not sterilised the juice using camden tablets so you can start it off using a knoiwn english cider yeast. not happened to me yet though. Dont use bakers yeast though it does not give a great flavour. I use fermenting bins and barrels with a co2 pressure system to keep it fresh - I have two 5 gallon barrels and a bought cider press with a crusher that fits on top of it I dont bother using any form of bag in the press either. cant get much simpler than that. This year though I will be using the, sterilise, balance, tannin, method though to see how different it turns out. I have an electronic Ph meter and all the extra ingredients at the ready. I good variety of apples that are as ripe as possible produces the best results, . Some cooking apples are fine and large bramleys have quite a lot of juice, but you need some good eating apples for the flavour too. I cant be bothered to lay them out on sheets on the lawn to ripen further so I pick my weekend carefully when about half the apples have fallen, the remainder I climb up the tree and shake branches to get them down.
You can let it ferment using the natural yeast from the air but the you run the risk of infecting the juice. If you infect the juice, it's all gotta be binned. Last year we used only Bramleys (cooking apples) as that's all we had. With a nice dose of sugar post ferment and 6 months maturing it is now a very pleasurable drink.
We have an apple tree and a pear tree in our garden so I may give it a bash - thanks for all the info!
