gregbathurst
Well-Known Member
Hi, I am new to this forum so doing a bit of intro.
I live in Australia, 100 miles west of sydney in the ranges. I have 50 acres with a couple of dozen apple trees of various cultivars plus seedlings. The trees have been in about 10 years and starting to produce good harvests after the birds take their share.
Last year I started making cider using a garden mulcher for a mill and a homemade press powered by a car jack. Last year I made 10 gallons and this year 35 gal. My batches are based on whatever is in fruit at the time, I use dessert, cooking apples , cider apples, crabs and pears. ( pear juice is fairly bland and lacks acidity so I only use it at 20% of total.)
I have some experience as a casual worker in a winery, so my approach is from a winemaking perspective. I use a champagne yeast, rehydrated, and then a secondary malo-lactic fermentation using commercial oenococcus bacteria. (this is to remove sourness and to make the cider more stable). I don't use sugar or yeast nutrients and minimal camden tablets.
After a month in the fermenter I bottle under crown caps with sugar to make it sparkling. It takes a couple of weeks to get fully fizzy and drinkable and after that seems to continue to improve for months, until finished. If I had the patience to wait longer it would be interesting to see when it stops improving.
Anyway, it is very interesting to read about the variety of styles and experiences of cider makers on this site. Its a pity I can't taste some of those brews I have been reading about, in Australia the range of ciders available is very poor.
Greg.
I live in Australia, 100 miles west of sydney in the ranges. I have 50 acres with a couple of dozen apple trees of various cultivars plus seedlings. The trees have been in about 10 years and starting to produce good harvests after the birds take their share.
Last year I started making cider using a garden mulcher for a mill and a homemade press powered by a car jack. Last year I made 10 gallons and this year 35 gal. My batches are based on whatever is in fruit at the time, I use dessert, cooking apples , cider apples, crabs and pears. ( pear juice is fairly bland and lacks acidity so I only use it at 20% of total.)
I have some experience as a casual worker in a winery, so my approach is from a winemaking perspective. I use a champagne yeast, rehydrated, and then a secondary malo-lactic fermentation using commercial oenococcus bacteria. (this is to remove sourness and to make the cider more stable). I don't use sugar or yeast nutrients and minimal camden tablets.
After a month in the fermenter I bottle under crown caps with sugar to make it sparkling. It takes a couple of weeks to get fully fizzy and drinkable and after that seems to continue to improve for months, until finished. If I had the patience to wait longer it would be interesting to see when it stops improving.
Anyway, it is very interesting to read about the variety of styles and experiences of cider makers on this site. Its a pity I can't taste some of those brews I have been reading about, in Australia the range of ciders available is very poor.
Greg.