Hard apple cider

T.G · 10-16-2013, 07:12 PM

Juicers aren't very efficient for something on this scale. You'll spend a lot less time and effort while getting a much better extraction from the apples if you wait until you have all the apples picked and just rent a press.

You won't be able to carbonate with that kit, which, if you like still ciders, is no big deal. For bottle carbonating, you'll need to get either a beer bottle capper or a bunch of "EZ Cap" swing cap bottles (like Grolsch beer bottles). Even for still cider, you might find the EZ Caps to be simpler to deal with than the double arm corker.

If you're going to do this a lot, you might want to look into a bottling bucket with a filling wand which has a spring loaded valve, so that it only fills when you have the bottle pressed up to it - the moment you pull the bottle down, it cuts off the flow and, it always fills to the proper level.

And, for the love of god, please, please take that champagne yeast and throw it away, get cider yeast from White Labs or Wyeast (I forget the numbers offhand). Champagne yeast just doesn't give good results, it's just too aggressive a yeast, you really have to keep an eye on it or it'll dry the cider out and leave you with a near flavorless bucket of boozy water.

10-16-2013, 07:12 PM	#1
T.G Grrrrrr Join Date: Mar 2009 First Name: The Other Adam Posts: 15,565 Trading: (37)	Re: Hard apple cider Juicers aren't very efficient for something on this scale. You'll spend a lot less time and effort while getting a much better extraction from the apples if you wait until you have all the apples picked and just rent a press. You won't be able to carbonate with that kit, which, if you like still ciders, is no big deal. For bottle carbonating, you'll need to get either a beer bottle capper or a bunch of "EZ Cap" swing cap bottles (like Grolsch beer bottles). Even for still cider, you might find the EZ Caps to be simpler to deal with than the double arm corker. If you're going to do this a lot, you might want to look into a bottling bucket with a filling wand which has a spring loaded valve, so that it only fills when you have the bottle pressed up to it - the moment you pull the bottle down, it cuts off the flow and, it always fills to the proper level. And, for the love of god, please, please take that champagne yeast and throw it away, get cider yeast from White Labs or Wyeast (I forget the numbers offhand). Champagne yeast just doesn't give good results, it's just too aggressive a yeast, you really have to keep an eye on it or it'll dry the cider out and leave you with a near flavorless bucket of boozy water.