Newbie Question

patoinsf

I have an apple tree that I got years ago that puts out a lot of apples each year.
Usually I keep them in a dark box and eat them through until around Xmas.
This year I wanted to experiment at making some cider from them.
I also have natural unpasteurised honey from a hive down the end of my garden.
I have looked at sites and read threads and think this is what I need to do.
1. Cut apples into quarters and remove pips.
2. Run them through the blender until they are liquidised.
3. Squeeze the juice out using cheese cloth or fine sieve.
4. Put some honey into the juice.
5. Pour it into a container and leave to ferment.
Questions
First of all are the steps correct.
How much honey do I put in and what does it do.
Do I need to add yeast to the mix.
What type of container and where can I get one.
How long do I leave it in the container and is there a limit as to how long.
What other basic equipment do I need.
Thanks in advance Pat..

BeerNut

patoinsf wrote: »

First of all are the steps correct.

Sounds about right. Make sure you sanitise the container you're fermenting in to minimise the nasties.

patoinsf wrote: »

How much honey do I put in and what does it do.

As much as you want, and probably not much. Honey is mostly sugar so will just ferment out. You might get a bit of a honey flavour off the finished product but it sounds like a waste of good honey to me.

patoinsf wrote: »

Do I need to add yeast to the mix.

There should be natural yeast on the apples, but no harm in having a sachet of cider yeast on standby, just in case.[/quote]

patoinsf wrote: »

What type of container and where can I get one.

Anything that's clean and food-grade, really. A homebrew fermenting bucket from a homebrew supplier would be ideal.

patoinsf wrote: »

How long do I leave it in the container

It'll probably finish fermenting after about a fortnight, but something like that I would leave for an absolute minimum of three months and would really expect it to taste any way drinkable until after six.

patoinsf wrote: »

and is there a limit as to how long.

Not that I've found. The longer the better, with cider.[/quote]

patoinsf wrote: »

What other basic equipment do I need.

You don't really need anything else, but you'll find a hydrometer, thermometer, trial jar, siphon and bottling stick useful -- the basic stuff that comes in any homebrew starter set. You'll also want to think about how you're going to package it. If re-using beer or cider bottles you'll likely need caps and capper.

loyatemu

you won't get much juice out of them without a press of some sort (you can build a basic one from rough timber and use a car jack for pressure - see YouTube for numerous examples).

patoinsf

Thanks a million for the help.
I will go ahead and attempt it without honey and let you know next June/July if it turns out ok.
Pat..