simple quick cider

i have wine yeast a **** load of apples (i have a press i made) but i cannot get campden tablets, whats the fastest cider i can do???

Add the yeast to the cider.

If you add sugar, it will only take longer. Besides, the purist in me shudders when people add sugar.

so just apple juice in bottle air lock on top and yeast inside, how long does this take???

Some people let wild yeast do it's thing.

but that takes forever right

I wouldn't know. I'm a nub myself. I'd say that you'd be best off just using apple juice+yeast. You'd have to get this confirmed by somebody else, but maybe a wine yeast would ferment it out faster. Then again I have heard that the slower the better.

I'm not much help I know. You might be better off just buying simple apple juice to make a real quick cider. Then using the apples for a proper cider. The cider from apples is a better cider and you may as well do it right.

Edit-Again somebody better confirm what I have to say...I'm a nub.

I envy you. Being in Chile, there's a decent chance you've got some high quality feral yeasts from the vinyards hanging around your apples. If you haven't rinsed them, just press them, shake up the juice real good to aerate, and put an airlock on it. If you don't see fermentation after 24 hours, pitch redstar p. cuvee or L. EC-1118 and it will be done in a day.

Depends on how much you have. More juice takes longer.

If it is just a gallon, 2 weeks before the first racking, then maybe another 2 weeks, or longer if you have patience, before bottling. Wait three months to six before drinking.

Remember, cider pressing happens in fall, does primary fermentation, does a malolatic fermentation in the spring, and then is bottled. You can push that time line up. There is a cider house here that doesn't do malolatic fermentation, so they are bottling right now after pressing in Oct-Nov.

You don't have to wait that long if you don't want to. Just do what feels right when the hydrometer reaches certain points.

can someone please put what hydrometer readings mean what for alcaholic cider please

beermonster1985 said:

can someone please put what hydrometer readings mean what for alcaholic cider please

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If you have any cider books, it is usually in the appendix.

Anyway, they suggest OG should be above 1.055 (about 7%), but don't go higher than 1.065 (8.6%) if you are just working with juice (I'm a purist and don't like adding sugar to cider). All the sugars in cider are fermentable, which means it will finish at less than 1.000. Do not try to stop it before that, as it is nearly impossible. It is best to let it go, stabilize it, and then add back juice or a tish of sugar to make it sweet.

do you mean priming sugar before bottling

CandleWineProject said:

If you have any cider books, it is usually in the appendix.

Anyway, they suggest OG should be above 1.055 (about 7%), but don't go higher than 1.065 (8.6%) if you are just working with juice (I'm a purist and don't like adding sugar to cider). All the sugars in cider are fermentable, which means it will finish at less than 1.000. Do not try to stop it before that, as it is nearly impossible. It is best to let it go, stabilize it, and then add back juice or a tish of sugar to make it sweet.

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The caveat on those OG vs. % ABV is what the FG is. If you let it go all the way down, then a 1.055 will be about 8-9%, but if you stop it prior to that it will be whatever is calculated.

Juice by itself straight from the apple is going to come in at about 1.045 in my experience. If I add 1/2lb of DME to a gallon, I usually get a 1.060 reading.

And you can stop it. Its actually really easy to cold crash. You have to be careful about your racking procedures to make sure you minimize the yeast being kicked up while bottling. There are chemical processes that also stop it easily.

Really whether you stop it or let it go depends on preference on the final product. Do you want a slightly sweet cider, or a dry one? Try a one gallon batch of each. Let one ferment away until it stops on its own (0.980-ish) and stop the other one at 1.015-1.020 and see which one you prefer. There is a BIG difference in how these two come out.

How quick can you get a cider? I have had them ferment to dry in 3 days, but most of the time my favorite recipe takes 2 weeks (S04 w. 2.5lb DME in 5 gal @45-50deg, OG 1.060, FG 1.020, ~5.5% ABV)

No offense, serious question... is English not your first language?

Put yeast in cider as the first reply says.

You said it is wine yeast.

Wine yeast will ferment the juice very fast, probably 3 days if the temperature is over 70 F but under 80 F. Maybe 7 days.

That is fast easy cider and it will taste good.

well.. yes as im english, just living in chile

thanks every one, also does the cloudiness settle down and dissapear when racked or should i filter it before fermenting?

So you are from England, living in Chile, and asking Americans how to make cider?

You asked how to make cider as quickly as possible, and then start asking about clearing.

That takes time. Make up your mind and we can help you. If you want 1000 ways to make 100 ciders, use the search function. Your questions have been answered.

Sorry if I sound like a dick. It's just the mood I'm in.

I normaly just brew beer but just found out about OZtops reusable pressure release caps.

As per instructions I bought a Pet bottle of 2.4 litres of Apple juice (Non preservative). I transfered the juice to a sanitised 2 litre Coke bottle added some Champagne yeast. I then fitted a high presure cap (40psi) and placed in a dark corner of my screen room. After 5 days I placed the bottle in the fridge to put the yeast to sleep for 3 days.

This weekend I sampled the resulting Cider over the two days. Result:-
As it fermented out it was very dry estimated about 8 - 10%abv. but as I like dry wines it certainly met my pallet. It tasted like a dry Strongbow.

I will buy some more this week and try adding Dextrose and let alcohol tolerance stop the yeast leaving a slight natural sweetness. It goes without saying that the carbination at 40psi was perfect. I was curious that the C02 was held in solution and did not bubble out as much as I would have thought.

I shall get a bit technical with the next effort and record my additives and also the SG readings before and after. One I will brew with a airlock for the more accurate ABV value.

Here in OZ 2.5litres of juice costs approx $3-4 can be fermented ajnd served in the bottle it comes in and ready in a week. This really is a dream for me as it does not interupt my brewing efforts.


I am suprised I only heard about them recently from a post on one of the forums I am a member of.

Hmmm... interesting... you will put your name and reputation on this product? I think I need some of these. They just fit on a 2 liter bottle?

http://www.oztops.com.au/store/products/item8.inetstore

Very very interesting.

Great stuff, but those high pressure caps really let fly. we opened a bottle yesterday and it blew like a geyser. It was a warm day and the bottle was at room temp. Is this normal?� You must chill your brews before opening! And remember the high pressure cap is equivalent to champagne pressure so use the same caution as you would for that drink.

The different pressures the caps work at, what are they and what is the point?� The actual pressures are proprietary information, but the purpose is to control the final carbonation, or "fizz' in your drinks. The physics is that the higher the pressure, the more dissolved gas will go into solution in a liquid (other things being equal). Hence, the high pressure caps for Champagne style drinks, low pressure caps for spritzer style beverages.

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Me and my reputation is secure, I only bought them and am following advice by other users. If you uncap while warm I shudder to think of the result.

I have made that mistake with warm beer in hot weather(37c today here where I live). believe me one does learn by ones mistakes.

I just sampled some fermented grape juice allowed to ferment out and chilled for a few days. I was suprised by the taste. It was dry about 8% abv. have to do some measuring next time. All I can describe the taste as a wine spritzig. It was dry but I like a good Aussie dry wine and it was very refreshing.

We have two airconditioners going and it is hard to get the temperature below 30c. Just heard on the news that the sea temperature off Sydney beaches is at 25c. Bring your own ice.

I have only started to use these and today I put a proposed Cider down and added 1/4 cup of sugar to get a good abv and a slight sweetness.

These tops/caps are a bloody marvel and obviously an Aussie invention. The Scottish tight arse influence of our forefathers definatly helps us turn cheap supermarket juices into a alcoholic drink in a few days.

Actually it is a most secret Aussie secret weapon designed to get the worlds population happy drunk so we can have our way. Today the OZtop tomorrow the world.

Tonight and it is about 9pm now. I have dispensed 3 scooners from my TAD system Hmmm! and about 1 or 3 glasses of that yet to be given a name.

I am open to sugestions there "A fermented red grape juice dry, fruity with a spritzig carbination" Please do not offer "Plonk" that name has been taken.

Hope that offers a good rebutal