How do I start about making my own cider?

johngalway

I have been reading and searching and I'm slightly ever so bogged down in the detail.

Is there a dummies guide to making a decent nice tasting cider? (I don't want to go mental spending money on this either) I wouldn't be a big drinker, or a fan of Bulmers, tried something called the Orchard Pig last year which was lovely.

Is there a step by step guide for challenged people like myself What equipment do I need, what ingredients, what environment (house is not heated), etc.

I am starting from complete scratch here.

Thanks in advance,

John

mayto

There are some good cider making guides here http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/viewforum.php?f=48. Not a big cider fan myself, can hardly drink cidona , reminds me of Linden village.

BeerNut

johngalway wrote: »

Is there a dummies guide to making a decent nice tasting cider?

Ta-da! I think I'd go a little bit more complex than this, however.

So, I would acquire from a home brew supplier:
Two fermenting buckets with lids
An immersion thermometer
A paddle
A hydrometer
A trial jar
A siphon (simple will do, auto is better)
A bottling wand
Some Young's Cider yeast

From the supermarket get:
Thin bleach (not scented, not thick)
Vinegar
Sugar
Splenda (powder, not tablets)
25L of cloudy apple juice (Lidl Vitafit is your best bet)

You'll also need a bottling strategy. Any bottle that has held carbonated drink will do; if you're planning to use glass crown-capped bottles, add caps and a twin-lever capper to your homebrew order.

1. Fill a fermenting bucket with 20L of water.
2. Measure 30ml of thin bleach in the trial jar and throw it in.
3. Measure 30ml of vinegar in the trial jar and throw it in.
4. You now have 20L of sanitiser. Throw in your trial jar, thermometer, hydrometer, paddle and lid and leave for 5 minutes. Splash a bit of the sanitiser around the upper walls of the bucket above the waterline.
5. Remove the sanitised equipment. You can keep the thermometer and hydrometer in the trial jar so they're still being sanitised.
6. Pour away the sanitiser.
7. Add the apple juice to the bucket.
8. Empty the trial jar of sanitiser and dip it in to fill it with juice.
9. Take the temperature of the juice in the trial jar.
10. Take the thermometer out and float the hydrometer in the trial jar.
11. Take the reading from the hydrometer, calibrate it for temperature and note this as your original gravity.
12. You can pour the trial jar contents back in the bucket.
13. Pour in the contents of the yeast sachet.
14. Leave it for 15 minutes then stir in with the paddle.
15. Put the lid on loosely.
16. Leave for about a month, or longer.

17. Fill your other bucket with sanitiser, per steps 1-3.
18. Add your thermometer, hydrometer, trial jar, siphon, bottling wand, your bottles and caps as required.
19. In a saucepan dissolve 120g of sugar and 60g of Splenda. Boil for about five minutes and allow to cool with the lid on. This is your priming solution.
20. Measure the gravity of the fermented cider, per steps 8-12. This will give you your final gravity, and you can use it to calculate the ABV.
21. Empty the sanitiser bucket. This is your bottling bucket.
22. Add the priming solution to the bottling bucket.
23. Siphon the cider into the bucket.
24. Attach the bottling wand and siphon the primed cider into your sanitised botles and seal them.
25. Leave for about three months.
26. Drink.

Khannie

Great post BeerNut. I'm going to diss your personal preference for the siphon and say I prefer my taps. Must admit I hadn't considered sticking the wand on the end of a siphon though.

BeerNut

Khannie wrote: »

I'm going to diss your personal preference for the siphon and say I prefer my taps.

There are a couple of bits to my rationale there: one is that fermenter taps are less sanitary. Giving them a squirt with Starsan is a good idea if using them. The other is about priming: it's fine if you're just putting sugar into a bottle, but my method above is batch primed because of the two sugars involved. I suppose you could batch prime in the primary fermenter, but I'd worry about it not mixing properly or stirring up sediment.

Khannie

Oh I batch prime into a second bucket too. I recognised that one as a real hassle saver early on. I just connect a long tube to the tap of the primary and batch prime into the second bucket that way. It's similar to the siphon, but without the actual siphon part.

I've heard about them being less sanitary alright. When I'm sanitising my bucket I'll generally let some of the sanitiser run out through the tap to clean it out. Touch wood I haven't had any trouble with infection yet.

johngalway

Great post Beernut Thanks!

How does the kit below look?

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=4&products_id=213

I'll add the yeast..

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=62_63&products_id=354

I can't see mention of a bottling wand though...

BeerNut

johngalway wrote: »

I can't see mention of a bottling wand though...

With no sense of flamboyance, he calls it a "Bottle Filling Stick".

That's the set I started with. Should get you well on your way.

johngalway

I will note his customers dismay at the lack of flamboyance in my order

johngalway

I like the look of these bottles as well.

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_172&products_id=920

johngalway

Got my order in, all going well I should be sampling my first brew a while before Christmas

romanm

once I've made a young wine from 100% wild berries juice. The taste was ok, my guests didn't notice any bad taste. I have made also mead,for that you'll need to patient,it takes at least 6 months to get ready

Khannie

johngalway wrote: »

Got my order in, all going well I should be sampling my first brew a while before Christmas

It's perfectly drinkable after a month.

johngalway

Khannie wrote: »

It's perfectly drinkable after a month.

Aw crap...

...temptation

mayto

johngalway wrote: »

Got my order in, all going well I should be sampling my first brew a while before Christmas

You will be taking quality control samples after two weeks

johngalway

Ah here now, shut it the two of ye, at this rate I'll be drinking bloody apple juice

johngalway

Got all my brewing gear two days ago, only able to take it out of the box tonight Got the apple juice etc. this morning!

johngalway

I have a question before I start.

When I have enough done that I'm pouring in apple juice and leaving it ferment as per Beernuts plan above, can I move the buckets at all after that? Say if I need to get at other stuff, or a cable needs replacing (just giving possible reasons).

Khannie

Yeah you can move it if necessary. Just try to be gentle with it. It'll all settle again after an hour or so anyway.

Good luck!

johngalway

Thanks Khannie.

Just got the sanitising solution made up and got my hydrometer, thermometer, paddle, and lid in it, put the other buckets lid on it, and sloshed it around the sides.

Question about the kit I ordered above, I don't appear to have a trial jar? But in the description it reads "Hydrometer plus sampling tube", I presume this means the tube the hydrometer came packed in, as there's no other tube to be had. Will this tube work as a trial jar? It's in the solution as well just in case.

I presume Splenda in granulated form is OK? I couldn't find another type of Splenda.

BeerNut

johngalway wrote: »

I don't appear to have a trial jar? But in the description it reads "Hydrometer plus sampling tube",

The trial jar/sampling jar should be about an inch in diameter, with a base for standing up and marked with measures up to 100ml. You float the hydrometer in it.

If you didn't get one:
a) don't worry
b) you can use a sanitised pint glass or anything tall enough to take your measurements, or even put the hydrometer directly into the bucket
c) get on to your supplier and ask them to send you the trial jar/sample tube you bought

johngalway wrote: »

I presume Splenda in granulated form is OK?

That's what I meant, yes.

johngalway

Thanks BN, I should have checked this first

I used the tube to take the temp then float the hydrometer in.

Original temp 21
Hydrometer 7/120/44 (44 is the number I entered into the beer recipe calculator)
Specific gravity 1.045

Does that sound right, or way off?

Another question

I am just after putting in the yeast, it says it's enough to do 23 litres, I've 25 litres in, that OK? Or should I add a little of another packet?

BeerNut

johngalway wrote: »

Hydrometer 7/120/44 (44 is the number I entered into the beer recipe calculator)

Yep: the big-print numbers are the ones that interest you.

johngalway wrote: »

Specific gravity 1.045

Does that sound right, or way off?

Spot on. You should be heading somewhere north of 5% ABV with that.

johngalway wrote: »

I've 25 litres in, that OK?

Well within the margin of error, yes.

johngalway wrote: »

Or should I add a little of another packet?

Yeast should be kept sterile. It's not a good idea to leave a sachet open for future use.

johngalway

BN, you're a star! I can relax now and look forward to my first batch of cider

I'm at stage 16 now, so I guess I don't need to do anything else for a month anyway then get onto 17 and bottling Have to say that I'm delighted with the swing top bottles, they look the business.

Got a bag of caps and a capper with my kit, herself has some Heineken bottles left over from a BBQ, I must ask her to keep them for me

Now, the waiting....





Is it done yet? Is it done yet? Is it done yet?

BeerNut

You should start seeing foam on the top some time tomorrow. Once that's under way you're good to leave it the hell alone for a while.

johngalway

Couple of photos (I'll leave it along now, I promise )



Swing top bottle, looking good!

azzeretti

You've the lid off just for the photo, yeah? While, the krausen will protect the beer for a while it will subside and leave it open to potential infection, so the lid is recommended.

johngalway

Yep! Just off a few seconds for the photo then back on again loosely

johngalway

It'll be a month (well, 4 weeks, 28 days, 672 hours........... ) on Saturday. The first week was terrible, then I forced myself to ignore the bucket altogether, that helped. Feckin hell, I haven't even drank any of it yet and I nearly needed AA (Anticipation Anonymous). I haven't had the lid off since.

Ratsathome

Bottled last night some "Cloudy Cider"(11.22%),Ginger Beer(11.89%),Fruit Wine(13.6%) and Lemon Wine(8.82%) all 1 Gal batches.Had a nice headache this morning from all the testing........

Khannie

Ratsathome wrote: »

Bottled last night some "Cloudy Cider"(11.22%)

Cloudy apple wine.

Did you add any carbonation to it? Interested to hear how that turns out. I've never ventured beyond 7% with mine.

Ratsathome

Khannie wrote: »

Cloudy apple wine.

Did you add any carbonation to it? Interested to hear how that turns out. I've never ventured beyond 7% with mine.

No not really back sweeten it with about 3/4 L pineapple juice.If that gives a bit of fizz it would be a plus.

johngalway

Ratsathome wrote: »

Bottled last night some "Cloudy Cider"(11.22%),Ginger Beer(11.89%),Fruit Wine(13.6%) and Lemon Wine(8.82%) all 1 Gal batches.Had a nice headache this morning from all the testing........

I'm not surprised They turned out well then?





Another question. I can buy food grade plastic buckets with lids on, for 65c a piece. They come to a local bakery filled with apple filling. If I were to start using them, how would I break up the yeast evenly, or would it matter if I used too much yeast? The Youngs yeast I got did something like 23 or 25 litres. Not sure what volume water the buckets hold but it would be much much less than that. I guess if I wasn't making a few batches at a time, staggering them instead I'd probably be wasting a lot of yeast.

Khannie

johngalway wrote: »

Another question. I can buy food grade plastic buckets with lids on, for 65c a piece. They come to a local bakery filled with apple filling. If I were to start using them, how would I break up the yeast evenly, or would it matter if I used too much yeast? The Youngs yeast I got did something like 23 or 25 litres. Not sure what volume water the buckets hold but it would be much much less than that. I guess if I wasn't making a few batches at a time, staggering them instead I'd probably be wasting a lot of yeast.

Honestly, having done a few small batches, I would say they are not worth the hassle compared to doing one large batch. Pain in the face tbh.

jap gt

been following the posts here and i have a brew ready to bottle on saturday, few newbie questions, when i sanatise the bottles whats the best way to wash dry these out so as not to get an after taste

secondly it says disolve the sugar etc, how much water should i use to boil the sugar and splenda, when i add this and the cider to my vessel how long should i wait to start bottling should i give it a quick stir up

Khannie

jap gt wrote: »

when i sanatise the bottles whats the best way to wash dry these out so as not to get an after taste

I was concerned about an aftertaste when using the bleach / vinegar sanitiser thing. Turns out there's no need to rinse. I just leave the bottles upside down on some paper towel for a few minutes before actually bottling with them. The remaining sanitiser flows out and presumably keeps the bottle top sanitary. I've never had any issues anyway.

jap gt wrote: »

secondly it says disolve the sugar etc, how much water should i use to boil the sugar and splenda, when i add this and the cider to my vessel how long should i wait to start bottling should i give it a quick stir up

I use as little water as possible myself. You can get away with very little.

If you can, it is worth batch priming. That means you don't have to go stirring anything. I have only had one batch not fully carbonate and that was a batch that I didn't batch prime. If I was just putting it in on top, I would give it a gentle stir with something sanitary as you pour in the sugar liquid, then wait for it to settle down again before bottling.

jap gt

Khannie wrote: »

I was concerned about an aftertaste when using the bleach / vinegar sanitiser thing. Turns out there's no need to rinse. I just leave the bottles upside down on some paper towel for a few minutes before actually bottling with them. The remaining sanitiser flows out and presumably keeps the bottle top sanitary. I've never had any issues anyway.



I use as little water as possible myself. You can get away with very little.

If you can, it is worth batch priming. That means you don't have to go stirring anything. I have only had one batch not fully carbonate and that was a batch that I didn't batch prime. If I was just putting it in on top, I would give it a gentle stir with something sanitary as you pour in the sugar liquid, then wait for it to settle down again before bottling.

thanks, i will follow the guide on the first page, add my sugar etc the cider then bottle, cheers