capt_crazy

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okay, i know that idealy you should press your own apples to get the juice you need. after that you should get juice from the farmers market, and last you should buy it from costco or some other place.

my question is, does the quality diminish that dramatically if you buy the stuff from costco?

im a broke college kid who likes cider, but dont have enough money to get really good juice, so i was curious.

Griffin10

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I'd be interested to hear about this too - the Costco 2-pack of gallon jugs of tree top juice for $8 is tempting when you have student loans, haha. They are made from concentrate, but technically only contain apple juice and vitamin C, no preservatives - so they should technically be ok? But is it gonna end up watery or low quality in some other way where we should just fork over the extra $2-4 per gallon for better juice?

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damien

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I guess it's all about availability. I got 3 gallons from a nearby orchard for $12. That's the same as the Costco brand stuff. You can save money lots of places maybe juice shouldn't be one of them....

Pickled_Pepper

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I've used many many gallons of Kirkland Brand Fresh Pressed Apple Juice. (it's U.S. grown apples and contains no vitamin C or preservatives) My ciders basically taste like the original juice with the sugar removed and I can't taste any alcohol at 6-7% ABV. It does get quite a bit clearer and lighter in color than the original juice though.

I pay $8.80 for 2 gallons at costco here in Atlanta. I'd definitely recommend trying it.

EDIT: Forgot to mention...it's 100% apple juice and not from concentrate

Fizzycist

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I've got 5.5 gallons of Treetop apple juice and 1 lb brown sugar in primary now, two packs of EC-1118 made the airlock freakin dance! 7 days later the temp is dropping back to room temp and the bubbling has slowed, gonna test gravity in another day or two.

johnsnownw

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Yeah, I picked up some Treetop 3 apple pressed juice from Rainbow relatively cheaply, and it's preforming quite nicely. So, I would say that you aren't going to have much of an issue assuming you purchase not from concentrate juice.

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damien

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That yeast (lavlin 1118) is fantastic. I use it for conditioning now.

capt_crazy

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thanks guys! time for a costco run!

CvilleKevin

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This is a key point. In my experience, most supermarket juice is crap. Its mostly red and golden delicious, which tastes great fresh and the press operators like it because the juice yields are so high, but once you ferment the sugar off, there isnt much taste left. Even juice stand / farmers market juice can be pretty mediocre for hard cider, if it is intended to be table juice.

Supermarket apple juice is like making beer from extract. It will work and probably taste OK, but likely not as good as something you can already buy in a 6-pack. For that, you need fresh ingredients. If you live in apple country, it should not be difficult to locate an orchard with a press operator who knows something about putting hard cider blends together. Just like making an all-grain batch of beer, you cant just mash anything together and expect it to taste good just because its fresh, but once you have a feel for putting a grain bill (or apple blend) together, its the only way to go.

The nice thing about supermarket juice is that it is easy to find, so its good for practicing on. If you can get decent results from supermarket juice, you can probably get great results from a good apple mix.

Pickled_Pepper

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I live within an hour and a half of multiple orchards but the price of apples here in Georgia is through the roof. I buy 100% AJ from costco and while it's probably made from red delicious from washington state, I still think it's a nice final product.

I honestly have not been able to find an orchard in North Georgia that offers fresh pressed juice that rivals what I get from Kirklands Brand. I can press my own apples and make a more complex final product...but I just haven't been able to justify the cost. $4.40 a gallon vs. $4 a lb for apples or $8 a gallon for orchard juice. I've even offered to buy 20 gallons from about every orchard and they say no bulk price discounts. (questionable business practice in my opinion but ok fine)

I make ciders to enjoy through the winter and I think I've come up with something that is as good if not better than what I can buy in a commercial product...for cheaper. I can't complain one bit about cost per flavor ratio with what I've done.