i have only done a few at most. and they were basic, however, one of my colleagues has an orchard and an over abundance of apples. he wants to try to make his own cider. both alcoholic and not alcoholic. does anyone have any recommendations on shredding the apples, pressing etc?
On anything bigger than a very small scale you are going to want to rent a cider mill set up. it’s a grinder and a press. Usually one rinses the apples well in sanitizer and then grinds and presses.
thanks. it will probably be small scale. he did buy a press. he found some forum where guys make grinders out of garbage disposals. we’ll see
A recommendation is to wait for the apples to become soft, perhaps not ideal for eating, for ease of grinding and pressing. No personal experience tho.
Yeah, you want to “sweat” the apples for maybe a week or so after you pick them. Drew just put out a book on cider you might want to pick up…
thanks guys. I like Drew’s brewing book so I bet this is as good and will pick it up
I press small batches the same day they’re picked with no ill effects, but if you wait a whole week to press, make sure there’s no bad ones. One bad apple can cause many more to go bad quickly if not kept cold. I’d check daily.
You need to blend different apples for the best flavor and body. A good rule of thumb is 65% neutral base, 25% tart, 10% bitter(tannic). You can blend juice by volume or apples by weight or finished varietals to taste.
We (HomebrewersAssociation.org) are publishing a story the first week of September that explores an alternative way of creating fermentable juice from fresh apples. I don’t want to spoil it too much, but I will say that it involves a household juicer and a straining bag. It sounds like a lot of work, but the fellow I am working with swears by it.
He said on his household, whole-fruit juicer (1200w), he can get ~8.5 gallons of juice in an hour of processing. Not too shabby, and a good way to get around the typical ‘pulp and press’ equipment.
I will post a link when it is published on September 9th.
Cheers,
Duncan
edit* Due to recent flooding in Boulder, the Juice and Strain article mentioned above will be published on 9/20/2013. Apologies for the delay.
I already do something like this. Jack Lalanne power juicer and then press the pulp in a small press. 2 bushels nets me about 5 gallons. 2 consecutive bushels through a juicer meant to make a quart of juice at a time is probably a little harsh on the juicer but they’re cheap at yard sales.
That would be faster than I can get 8 gallons of juice from a press too. I did juice some crab apples once to add to cider, but the chute on my juicer would require me to cut whole apples.
Yeah, he noted a big increase in productivity when he moved from a a juicer that required apples to be sliced and de-seeded to one that can process whole apples with out any prep (besides a good cleaning of course).
I use one of these…winner of many cider press comps! http://www.correllciderpresses.com/
that is pretty awesome. my buddy made about 8 gallons of cider this last weekend. we have not fermented any yet. every one is drinking as is. he made a chopper out of a brand new high horsepower garbage disposal with a rigged up fan to help keep the motor cool. worked very well.
This almost looks too nice to use!
I would have it sit in the foyer as a decoration in the old Victorian house I don’t own ;D
How much does one of these bad boys run?
Around $800. They’re all hand built. Even the metalwork, except for the screws. The guy who builds them lives a few miles from me and we had rented one from him in the past. A few years ago we broke down and bought one since we press apples from our trees every year. Ours lives in the garage/brewery and you have no idea how many people ask me if that’s what I use to crush grain!
almost a piece of art.
Denny,
my buddy used one of my grain bags in his press to keep the solids from running out. do you do anything like this or just let it go?
That’s beautiful Denny! What kind of wood is it?
The press I use has a mesh bag that fits in the press. I think something is mandatory or you’ll have a mess.
A few years ago I did two gallons using a standard kitchen blender. Not the way to go, even for such a small amount.
I just let the wild yeast do it’s thing, and it was some good drinking.
Here is the Juice and Strain feature I mentioned in my previous posts. It is definitely a creative alternative to the usual pulp/press technique.
Cheers!
Duncan