InertiaticESP

Recipes 

i've been brewing cider for about 2 years now and have used store bought apple juice, ranging from tree top to local farm produced apple juice/cider (pasteurized). i have access to an apple press so want to know:

what is the standard procedure when i comes to brewing with fresh pressed apple juice vs store bought? are there any necessary "ingredients" when dealing with non-pasteurized juice? i plan on using campden tablets and will be picky when using the fruit, being careful to only use healthy looking non-blemished/bruised apples and source the apples from a reputable source.

just trying to avoid any issues when using fresh pressed juice.

thanks!

roadymi

Recipes 

Your plan seems sound. Sanitize your equipment. I mostly use locally sourced fresh pressed juice, treat it with campden when I get it, and pitch the yeast. No issues thus far and I'm sure they don't inspect the apples as closely as you will.

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CodyA

Recipes 

Bruised/ Blemished apples will suffice just fine. In fact, most orchards throw the bruised and blemished apples in the "for cider" pile. Oh, and if you can, freeze the apples before pressing. Makes things MUCH easier and you yield more juice.

gregbathurst

Recipes 

Try http://www.homebrewtalk.com/cider.org.uk for how to make cider from apples.

gregbathurst

Recipes 

Try cider.org.uk for how to make cider from apples.

biochemedic

Recipes 

I've used both with campden and without. When I am able to acquire cider and process/pitch the same day, I don't do anything to it, and it turns out just fine. If you pitch a proper amount of healthy brewing yeast (use one of the online pitching rate calculators) it easily overwhelms any wild yeast and/or bacteria.

There have been some years where I've not been able to pick up the cider on the day the LHBS presses it, so they sulfite it and store it in one of their walk-ins for me until I can get it. I've not noted any taste difference, fermentation difference, or other side effects of the addition, but from my experience it isn't a necessary step if you can press and pitch immediately as noted...

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