I was researching whats involved in it a while ago, as we have a small orchard that will be ready to drop apples in a year or so. Some of the videos of the community getting together to mash and press and fill barrels looked like a great occasion on the yearly calendar...I tried making mead last year using some honey I had taken off the bee hives but it came out like vinegar after 4 months so that was a fail. Keen to know how you go about making a nice sweet cider, flat or fizzy I'm not fussy, as long as it delivers the goods....something needs to cheer us up when it ain't the weather! Do you make it with your own apples, the full process from mashing to pressing, or just buy in the juice and ferment?
Vinegar usually means lack of sterilising, or something has got in the brew if it wasn't sealed. The wrong bacteria has got in there somehow.
Where we lived before I'd planted some apple trees too, I knew where all the other ones were around the village aswell and a local couple used to give us theirs in turn for some of the finished product. We made about 75 litres one year. The good thing about doing your own is it's cheap and you can make it to suit your taste. Commercial cider isn't made from 100% apple juice, it doesn't have to be by law, I forget the minimum standard, but it isn't much. The rest is water, flavourings, preservatives, etc.
You can make your own 100% apple with as much or little additives as you like. You can't make wine (don't know about beer) better than the pros, just cheaper. Cider though I think you can piss all over the big guys IMO with basic equipment and some knowhow/practice.
I used to buy used juicers cheap to process apples, usually off FB marketplace. You need a minimum of 1000w though, ideally 1200 - 1300 or more otherwise they just don't last. We made it that way for quite a few years (and went through a few juicers!). You may want to start off that way if you're not 100% certain you'll be making it for years. I think it's a touch wasteful as the waste is quite heavy (with juice). I used to take it to a local farmer who fed it to his pigs. You also end up with some strange brown froth on top, it's like apple flavoured Angel Delight
If or when we get a few trees up here producing we'll maybe consider a press, you can make your own too.
As you've alluded to you can make it from shop bought apple juice. Cheap '100% juice
from concentrate' is what you want for about 60 - 70p a litre. Don't get caught out with 'Apple flavoured juice' and don't buy expensive juice, it's not worth it.
This kind of cider is called 'Turbo cider' and i'd recommend making it before doing the traditional type.
Flat is easy, fizzy takes a bit more skill so make some batches of flat if you're happy with it and hone your recipe before doing fizzy if you feel the need.
Yeast and juice are the basic ingredients. I think that'll make something like 3 - 4%. Personally I prefer it strong so put sugar in, I put honey in too.
Whilst ever there is live yeast present sugar does not sweeten, it simply makes the alcohol content stronger (up to a point). Remember that, it's important.
If you're making flat cider then either brew it out (till it stops fermenting), or kill the yeast and add sugar to sweeten, or just use an artificial sweetener. The latter won't cause fermentation with yeast so will sweeten without it starting again. If you wait until it's stopped fermenting and don't actively kill the yeast then add sugar to sweeten it'll start fermenting again.
Now here is the secret to make it fizzy and not like battery acid. In cider county they make it like that, simple and pure, 'Hard cider' but not a lot of people can drink it, it's very, very dry and coarse.
You either buy a cider or champagne or white wine yeast (my taste isn't good enough to tell the difference) then add an artificial sweetener to taste when it's finished (I would recommend that to begin with) or you can buy a cider yeast with sweetener already in it. The problem with the latter is the sachet is for 25L of cider and I would strongly recommend starting out your career with just one gallon/4.5L demijohn to begin with.
Starting out cider making is like a lot of things, you get all the equipment to help, measure etc, when you know what you're doing it gets left in the cupboard. It's like starting out as a digger operator with a tape measure so you can get your ditches the right depth. A few years down the line you know what an 18" deep trench looks like so don't even get out the cab.
Equipment needed:
Demijohn and bubbler (you won't need these later if you make big batches, but they can be sold or re-used for test brews wine etc)
Thermometer. You really do need one of these.
Hydrometer - as per the tape measure example above. If you want to know what strength your brew is buy one, I never use one now.
Transfer pipe with tap and a pick up tube with filter cup thingy (very much needed)
If you're giving it away you'll need used booze bottles, crown caps and a capper. We generally don't so a better solution is 1ltr re-sealable bottles from Ikea (with the wired porcelain tops) then just re-use them. You could experiment with used Pet bottles for ultimate cheapness.
Steriliser. You will need some to begin with and during as cleanliness is important. I don't bother with it anymore. What I do is swill out the brew buckets, bottles and equipment with clean water and keep them clean until re-use. If nothing can get in that wasn't in before you're safe. If it's new to you or has been anywhere dirty then sterilise.
Apart from honey other additions are raspberry juice, rhubarb flavouring and others, but in the main tea. Boil some water and sling a few T-bags in to give it some tannin.
I've also bought a mesh bag, filled it with raisins and chucked it in before now. Raisins are of course grapes so it gives it a wine taste.
There is loads of stuff you can do to suit your own taste, that's the beauty of it and it's cheap at less that £1 per litre.
Always leave some head space at the top of your brew, it can and will get lively and bubble over initially if not.
Because we've been making it for years I don't need half the equipment a beginner will, so my advanced fizzy recipe is:
Buy about 24L juice, 450ml jar honey, 1kg sugar and 1 sachet cider yeast with sweetener.
Add approx 15L of juice to a 25L bucket
1kg sugar mixed with about 5L of juice warmed on the hob until the sugar is dissolved (this makes it about 8 - 9%) then add to bucket
Top up until about 2" from the top
Make sure it's at around 20'c, sling in yeast with sweetener and any other extra ingredients (honey etc). I bung the honey in the microwave, empty it, then fill with juice to swill it out clean.
Put lid on then unclip the rim all the way round by flicking up the skirt, this is to let the gas out and stop the lid from stretching when fermentation starts, but stop nasties from getting in.
Keep it at about 20'c until fermentation is over. Most people use bubblers to tell them, but experience means you can do without. If you crack the lid and it's fizzing it's fermenting. If you crack the lid, poke your nose in, take a sniff and it attacks your nose and throat it's fermenting, (that's pure Co2 you can sense) When it gets near the end I clip the lid completely on and see if it balloons up, if it doesn't it's done.
Rack off into another bucket to leave the lees behind.
Mix in sugar at a rate of 1tspn per bottle. Approx level tspn for 500ml bottle, heaped for litre bottles. Get some small digital scales to find out what the total weight will be and chuck that in. Mix it well and bottle into Ikea wired top bottles and leave until fizzy, maybe 3 weeks.
It will be cloudy, it'll clear depending on how long you leave it and there will be sediment on the bottom. Nothing you can do about this if it's fizzy as opposed to still which can be cleared if you really need it to be.
I've written that just to show you how simple and cheap it can be once you know what you're doing, I would really recommend starting out small with a DJ though. You'll be sick if you ruin 25L of juice and ingredients rather than spoiling just a gallon. Use the DJs to perfect your recipe and get it how you like it first before bulk brewing.
I think that covers the basics, i'll maybe edit some more in later.
Any questions just ask or buy a book, join a brewing forum etc
