Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

So I got a TON of apples from a guy I did some work for off all his trees. So I decided to get the cider press my dad built out and smash them up.

He built the whole thing out of pallet wood and aluminum stock at work about 10 years ago. He only ordered the grinder.

Pics:
Attachment 13744

Attachment 13745

Theres the honda riding lawn tractor going on 21+ years old.
Attachment 13746

After smashing about 4 gallons worth I went to work adding sugar:

I simply heated the cider up but did not boil it. I added a bunch of sugar and let it cool slightly.

Then I added some yeast to it. I didn't use brewers yeast or anything special, just simple bread yeast. I've read it's fine to do that and that different yeasts give a slightly different flavor.

Attachment 13747

Attachment 13748

I put it all in a watercooler jug. I simply threaded a brass pipe fitting and hose barb into the cap where the water cooler plug is supposed to go. then ran some vinyl line into a bottle of water to act as an air lock. So far it's working excellent as the cider has been fermenting. It lets a bubble of c02 out ever couple seconds.

Attachment 13749

This is the first time I've ever brewed it. So we'll see how it comes out in a few weeks. I'm going to bottle it all using a really old school bottler and some 22 oz bottles. I'm pretty confident it will come out decent.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

Make sure you filter that ---- very well... bread yeast left in there will taste like HIV infested ass. A buddy of mine has an uncle that makes beer with bread yeast including porters and other such strong things. They're good, until you get near the bottom of the bottle and there's chunks of nasty ---- because it wasn't filtered well. Makes me almost want to throw up thinking about it.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

Looks more like chocolate milk than cider.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

lol yeah this is hard core stuff. Not the ----- filtered cider in stores. Fresh, it tastes like magic.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

Give it time, JD... give it time...

I need to do this sometime. There's a farmer's market nearby that sells big bags of bakers yeast for super cheap. The stuff is like a half pound bag for under $2. You can't get it for that at Walmart, not even close. I have a bag of yeasties I need to put to good use.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

My friend used to do that with fruit but he called it brandy. We would start out filtering a gallon or so figuring it would be plenty for the night. One of the last fuzzy memories would be siphoning straight out of the big container too drunk to filter properly just trying not to suck up the garbage at the bottom. ---- wasn't the best flavor but fucked you up.
Was always like a real life version of 'dude where's my car' in the morning learning of the stupid ---- that took place in the days after

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

I wasn't mocking, it just looks like chocolate milk. I guess the sediment settles over time? Post progress pics over time?

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

shouldnt that jug be somewhere dar?? didnt think it would ferment properly if it was left in direct light..

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

If i were you i would boil the cider before fermenting. There are all sorts of bacteria and wild yeasts on the apples. You want your yeast to do the fermenting not the other things. By boiling you kill them and then add your yeast. The wild strains may give it a more sour, lambic style flavor. Since the apples have lots of sugar and you added even more you might want to consider a champaign yeast that can survive at higher alcohol contents. I think you might end up killing the yeast due to the high alcohol content before all of the sugars are converted. Finally, plastic is a great start but if you plan to do it again you should spend $20 on a glass carboy. They are easier to clean and sanitize. Some people also say plastic leaves and aftertaste but i have never noticed it. Are you planning on bottling? If so, you should clean and sanitize all of the bottles then add a small amount of sugar right before bottling. That way the leftover yeast will ferment the sugar and naturally carbonate it for you. As TorganFM pointed out natural fermentation will leave yeast in the bottom of the bottle. It isn't an issue of filtering as that yeast is a product of the second phase of fermentation for natural carbonation.

I have been homebrewing for a while and am finally set up with a C02 setup so i can artificially carbonate and keg my beer. I will have to post some pictures of my kegerator. I just finished brewing an Oktoberfest and have a Brown Ale on tap.

It looks great! It must be nice to have access to that much natural fruit. Oh, and that press is tits.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

That plastic jug might make it taste a little weird. I need to get in on this. I love hard cider and apples are dirt cheep here.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

I heated the cider but I didn't bring it to a boil. I read that it will make the cider permanently cloudy. If this comes out good, I'll probably buy some good brewing equipment.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

That mash looks like art. For ten years old,that was well put together.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

Correct. I, too, live in apple country.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

make sure your filter tube has a one-way valve or some way of keeping a vacuum from sucking back in, oxygen will ---- up the fermentation hardcorely.

how much yeast/sugar did you add?

oh, and we have the same stove. ge hotpoint? i ------- love how the front left burner takes 10 minutes to get boiling a small pot, and the right will boil one in 3

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

Keep it airlocked to you don't get contamination. If you just pressed the apples and didn't sanitize you will probably get some very off flavors due to wild yeast and bacteria. None of them will kill you though...just taste weird. You shouldn't need to "filter" it. As it ferments all the nastys will settle to the bottom. When you siphon off for bottling just don't suck up the last few inches. Also, you will need to add some more sugar when you bottle in order for it to bottle condition (carbonate). Corn sugar works just fine, or some concentrated juice. Lastly, keep the temps around 65-75* F, that should be suitable for your bread yest. Good luck.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

I work with a guy that makes homemade wine. Puts grapes and sugar in a jug, tapes it up real good, and then buries that ----. I been harassing him for a long time to bring me some, but he still hasn't. That ---- must be pretty good.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

Winchester, VA. The apple capital of America.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

Haha.

Around here, everybody like you and your coworker died off ~15 years back. I miss down and dirty rednecks. :'(

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

The hose and the gatorade bottle is the airlock. C02 just bubbles out the end of the tube.

There's roughly 3.75 gallons of cider and I added about 5 cups normal sugar and 1 cup of brown sugar, and one packet of bread yeast.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

not going to be a high proof yield but thats probably the idea, right?

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

bread yeast works in this kind of application? i iidnt think they lived long enough or produced enough to make them worth it. i dont know wtf im talking about though.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenatchee

thats wierd i have never heard of an apple coming from VA. i might try this since my moms boyfriend has a few apple orchards and a cherry orchard. is there any other way to mash them up with out a press? and how much cider to suger to yeast do you use?

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

can you do this with any fruit? liek mainly apples but add other ---- to make it taste differant?

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

Ever eat anything from White House?
http://www.whitehousefoods.com/

We have a ton of apple farms here and camps for the Jamaicans to live in during apple season.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

i've made a couple batches of whiskey from some apples.

not bad. but you need a shine distill :)

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

i dont think i have ever heard of whitehouse before

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

i'd post a picture of my still but its way too cool for ya'll to see

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

I love applejack. Home distillation is illegal though. Not that anybody cares.




Anyways, yes you can make this with any kind of fruit. Grapes, apples, or cherries make a good base but you can use anything that has convertible sugars and a reasonable PH level.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

me too :)

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

I have 5 gallons of cider going at the moment as well as an apple/blueberry/pomegranate/raspberry concoction. I just bought some publix apple juice, 2lbs of sugar, and some montrachet wine yeast. Came out awesome last time I made it. You can use campden tablets to kill all the wild yeast and bacteria instead of boiling I dont know what boiling does to apple juice but it probably works just as well. If you move the cider to another carboy after 4 weeks and age it for another couple weeks it should clarify a lot. Ill get some pics of my brews when I get my room mates camera monday.

www.homebrewtalk.com

Use real brewing yeast, it will come out way better. I recommend a wine or champagne yeast since they can normally take higher alcohol. Red Star yeast packets are 60-80 cents. Get a hydrometer and you can find out what your alcohol level is.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/produ...px?ProdID=4393

Using that yeast in my straight apple juice and this one in the apple blueberry/raspberry cider.

http://www.midwestsupplies.com/produ...px?ProdID=4394

60 cents isnt much to spend when you know it can take alcohol and is breed to make alcohol not fluffy bread.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

its perfectly legal in georgia.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

so your saying i can just get some apple juice and put yeast in it and let it forment for a couple weeks and i will have delicious alcohol flavored goodness?

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

Actually yes, try and get some corn sugar (dextrose) to add, the extra sugar boosts the alcohol.

Its a homebrewtalk favorite. Instead of using dextrose like I did the first time I used 2 lbs of brown sugar, I wont know how it is until 4-6 weeks. Also its not a good idea to use the 5 gallon water bottles for water coolers they have some bad propertys, not good for fermenting alcohol. I am sure you could get all the equipment for 40 bucks plus 25 dollars for 5 gallons of apple juice and some sugar, 4 weeks later awesomeness. Also you can clean/sanitize any pop top non twist top beer bottle and reuse them to bottle your alcohol.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/man-...felwein-14860/

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

It is against federal law in any state. Georgia may not enforce the law but it is illegal. You can get a permit from the BATF but that isn't cheap.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

Nice. I always thought about building a still.

I took a small sample out of it today, just to see what was going on. I can smell alcohol in it and taste it, The color has gotten lighter and it's still fermenting and bubbling. It's looking good so far.


On a side note I did a batch of pears up in the same manner, heated, sugar, yeast, container. I'm curious to see how that comes out. I only did 2 gallons though.

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

you wish lmao

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

johnny has no still. pics or it doesnt exist

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

i thought distillation was legal if its for personal use?

its only illegal if you make it to sell it?

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

Re: Homemade Hard Apple Cider
 

now that looks hella easy to make. but what if you dont want to bottle it and just drink it all in one night? how can i do that? just throw it into smaller bottles (ie:gatorade or somethign of the sort) and throw it in the freezer till cold enough to drink? and how can i make it stronger alcohol content?