Cider Brew Day (Not a Purists Brew Day) updated

[DC]

Hi all, after a dismal year last year for apples and other hedgerow fruit, this year seems like it’s going to be a bumper year. After completing my cider press build and using it for the 1st time in anger back in the summer of 2011, I have been noting down locations of crab apple trees in my local area and watching the progress of the apples. After spending around 7 hour’s hand mashing and pressing during my last Cider Brew Day I reckoned I needed an easier way to chop/mash the apples prior to pressing. After a quick search of the internet I came across a video on Youtube of a guy using a garden shredder to chop his apples before pressing. So I thought I can do that, off to the Bay I went and low and behold I only score for a virtually brand new shredder the same as the guy’s on YouTube for £25. I decided not to butcher the shredder (cut the top off) so I had to chop the apples to get them to fit through the slot in the top of the shredder.

New Shredder


Top removed and cleaned and sterilised


Not bad for 1 ½ hours Scrumping


First batch of apples awaiting their fate


A quick video of the shredder in action
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho0A3bv2t8 ... load_owner

The Shredder made light work of the apples



The press is raring to go



Forming the cheese



Pressing commences


The first runnings


First batch just short of 15L


OG of 1036



All tucked up with Saflager S-23 Yeast as an experiment


2nd batch just short of a gallon to be brewed with Safale S-04 yeast


Cheers DC

[DC]

53 views and not 1 reply surely a Cider Brew Day can't be that bad to post in the Brew Day section

Cheers DC

[pads72]

Very cool press, have you posted a construction plan?
I'm definitely more into my ales, but like a good cider occasionally (living in Devon & all!) and have wondered about doing a cider brew.

Any idea as to the type of apples you scrumped?

[pads72]

One other thing, are you supposed to avoid having the pips in the pulped apple?

[DC]

A quick update, the 1 gallon with Safale S04 yeast is going great guns after 24 hours.

Safale S04 batch


The 3 gallons with SafLager S-23 yeast has yet to spring into life maybe by tomorrow morning it will have started fermenting

As for the pips in the brew I dont think it makes any odds it was bad enough chopping them to fit in the shredder there was no way I was taking the pips out as well

Cheers DC

[DC]

Hi pads72, I don't have any plans as such but I did post on the home brew forum when I originally built the press
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewt ... 40&t=17969 if you want to have a look

But I did change the base after initial trials

Cheers DC

[sbond10]

My first thoughts a tree shredder second hand eBay ewww then you say you sterilised it how? And did you have to peel before shredding

[DC]

Hi sbond10, I sterilised the shredder with Videne Soltion made up at 1.25ml per 1L of water and just sprayed the shredder after cleaning with hot soapy water

I removed the blade pictured below and washed it all and left the blade in Oxyclean overnight



Videne Solution


As for the apples I didnt bother washing or peeling them (I know I sterilised it then threw none washed apples into the shredder but how far do you take sterilising)

PS ! the blade came up cleaner after shredding the apples than it did when I steeped it in Oxyclean must be the acid in the apples

Cheers DC

[jmc]

Nice post DC
Be interested to see how you get on with the different yeasts.


Your apples looked like they were good quality. Were they all picked?
I've been given quite a few windfalls so I'll be washing them 1st.

I'm waiting for my Old Rosie starter to build up a bit before I do my first batch from this year's apples.
I've only got a little 12L press and home-made scratter but hopeful its going to be a good year.

[orlando]

I will be making Cider again this year after missing last year for the same reasons. My last attempt was let down by poor technique and my sanitation left something to be desired. On the point about pips I thought they were an essential part of the cider making but have forgotten why. As for washing the apples I put mine in a dust bin then give them a blast with a high pressure hose just to get the dirt off then whack them through the scratter. It's bloody hard work cider making so glad it's only once a year, makes a brew day look relatively easy.

[DC]

@ JMC, they were all hand picked mate by myself, SWMBO & the boy on Sunday morning gone. They were all from local trees growing wild near to where we live. The odd one did hit the floor only after me missing the bucket when throwing them from the tree there were 1 or 2 that were bruised but not too bad. Is that a food disposal unit from a kitchen sink you use as a scratter I was thinking of using one of those before buying my shredder. I will post on the progress of the ciders with the different yeasts as they progress. My youngs cider yeast I harvested back in April 2012 has sprang into life last night after 3 days in an apple juice starter that's a viable yeast after 18 months in the fridge ! But it missed this batch of cider, will grow it on and see if I can make another batch in a few weeks and use the revived youngs yeast

Cheers DC

[jmc]

@ JMC, they were all hand picked mate by myself, SWMBO & the boy on Sunday morning gone. They were all from local trees growing wild near to where we live. The odd one did hit the floor only after me missing the bucket when throwing them from the tree there were 1 or 2 that were bruised but not too bad. Is that a food disposal unit from a kitchen sink you use as a scratter I was thinking of using one of those before buying my shredder. I will post on the progress of the ciders with the different yeasts as they progress. My youngs cider yeast I harvested back in April 2012 has sprang into life last night after 3 days in an apple juice starter that's a viable yeast after 18 months in the fridge ! But it missed this batch of cider, will grow it on and see if I can make another batch in a few weeks and use the revived youngs yeast

Cheers DC

I bought a nearly-new (unused) waste disposal unit to make my scratter
More info here: Scratter Build + pics


Just had a trial run so far.

My apples are mostly windfalls so unfortunately not pristine like yours
After taking to a friend from Evesham though he says to use them all except the obviously rotten ones.

This article: How to Cultivate yeast from a bottle of Westons Old Rosie
inspired trying out using Old Rosie yeast.
Some say it has lactobacillus in it too to help with malolactic fermentation.

[floydmeddler]

Looking forward to tracking your progress!

[wilfh]

Hi DC
Interesting to see how other people do it. I’m the other way around to most on here. I’m principally a cider maker that’s got into beer rather than the other way around.

Were your apples ripe as an sg of 1.036 it pretty low for apple even if they were wildlings?
The new shredder looks good although I hope that there aren’t any soft iron parts in there that will contaminate the cider. The pomace looks very dry to me and you would probably get a better extraction of juice if you put it through again. In comparison my pomace comes out like a thick soup.

You don’t actually need to culture a yeast from old Rosie to ferment apple juice or for that matter add yeast. The apples have quite enough yeast on them to ferment dry without any bother. The problem is trying to keep the other beasties at bay. If you want to keep it a pure strain fermentation you need to Camden tablet the juice to knock out what’s in there. Or give a half dose to give a guided wild yeast fermentation. (see Andrew Lea’s website http://www.cider.org.uk). Personally I think that this give the most interesting cider of all.

The old Rosie culture is a funny (curious rather than ha ha) one to me. Are you sure that the yeast in old Rosie isn’t just a commercial wine yeast that has been used to ferment the apple juice? Cider making is effectively wine making and much of the Weston’s products are made from concentrate the last time I looked (albeit concentrate from their own apples making it more likely that the yeast is a pure strain added later). I would be surprised that they added a malolactic bacteria as that would affect shelf stability. How much did the acid drop last time (total acid rather than ph) when you last did a batch)?

What temps are you fermenting at? Slow and cool works best (less than 10C) as the volatile flavours get burned off otherwise by the co2.

Good luck with it.
cheers
Wilf

[pssmith]

Looks good mate, I especially like the use of the bottle jack in the press, very inivative as usual.