Cider making

[surreyarborist]

On telly last night BBC2 "Its hard trying to be green" with dick the tache

They were showing how easy it appears to make cider on a small scale

Well as prune do quite a few apple trees in domestic gardens (loads of freebies in autum) I was thinking to squash the apples down with the log splitter machine, what i need is a sturdy steel container with a load of holes in the bottom for the juice to run out into a collecting container.

Anyone tried bodging something up like this to make an apple press.

Clive

[liamjordan]

after reading this i went and looked at our log splitter, it wouldnt be that hard to do at all

 

 

just bolt some sides along where the ram runs, take off the splitter (comes off anyway) and just use a flat steel plate, use some guttering underneath the deck for the cider to run through.

 

Dont really see that there would be a large gain from this, but would be somthing fun to try ha.

Edited February 13, 2009 by liamjordan

[Tom D]

I have been thinking about this too, the year before last there was a bumper crop, I remeber one customer asking us to clear the fallen apples away from her tree, there was a dumpy bag full!.

 

The only question I have is can you make cider from any apples or do they have to be special juice varieties?

[liamjordan]

I have been thinking about this too, the year before last there was a bumper crop, I remeber one customer asking us to clear the fallen apples away from her tree, there was a dumpy bag full!.

 

The only question I have is can you make cider from any apples or do they have to be special juice varieties?

yeah i wouldnt mind knowing a bit more to, i know that we were hauling bulker trailers of cider apples to bulmers last yeah, thats a lot of apples

 

haha this topic has really got me wanting to bolt some bits on to one of our splitters

[High Scale]

I have a press and also a masher thingy with a hand operated wheel but have not used it, my father used to press his own cider but it was horrible stuff, he would add some sugar to make it sweeter but it was still undrinkable, this was despite the fact that he had a good variety of apple tree in his jardin.

[Backpain]

Stick um under that thing and they'll be nothing left. Crackin idea and got to be worth a try just for the laugh if nothing else. Just make sure you video it. First time I made cider I used a large blade on the end of my bosch drill. Apple pulp all over the kitchen, mum went bonkers. It tasted great though. I've moved on to renting a masher and press from my local home brew shop for £10 a weekend. I use my sisters apples, don't know varieties but they're a mixture of nice eaters probably 70% and cookers 30%. I just ferment the juice in a demijohn £3 each, no added sugar or yeast (although you're best to add a champagne yeast which will makes it fizzzz) once it stops bubbling, syphon into another demijohn (it's known as racking) leave it to clear for a week or so. Then bottle it in screw top bottles, not corks you'll have it all over the place. Be patient and wait til the following summer and it'll be lovely. I've got about 1/2 dozen bottle in the garage maturing. I was in the brew shop a while ago and this bloke came in talking about having 70 gallons he needed to bottle. He'd got a sample with him for us to try, well the shop owners face was a picture when it tried it. He looked like he'd just been smacked in the chops. It was like vinegar. It's all in the apples. Good luck with the splitter:laugh1:

[chipper wallah]

ive got a press not used it for a couple of years been to busy.I do have 2 60 gallon bowmore single malt whiskey barrels full of 2 year old cider in the shed made from stoke red cider apples. I think if ther is camping at the AA this year I ought to donate a barrel to the arbtalk village(see john hancock todays post.

[redmoosefaction]

How's about these fellas:

 

Making Apple Cider

 

Excellent! Just use plastic to prevent the bacteria doing it stuff and turning it to vinegar. I'm off to me sisters orchard!