small scale brewing

in a few months i will be able to get hold of nice fresh apples and pears from near by tree's "friendly neighbours" and i don't want to take advantage so much that i make like 5+ gallons of cider..

all the ciders i have been making have been from cartons of juice "pure" and i want to try and juice my own fruit and make propper cider.

so how much yeast would i need roughly if i made a batch of 1L of juice as then from this i can double or triple to get what i need.

any help would be thanked.

George.

I can't answer your question about the amount of apples per gallon of juice but would it really be taking advantage if you were to make 5 gal and to give the tree owners back a gallon or two of finished product?

I'm not sure what your question is? You juice the apples, and add yeast. One package of yeast is good for up to six gallons.

YooperBrew said:

One package of yeast is good for up to six gallons.

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And let's be honest. Yeast is right around $1.00. Don't be a cheapskate! Use the whole package...in a 1 gallons batch, 3 gallon batch, or 6 gallons. You would rather over pitch than under TRUST ME!
Just juice away and take a gravity reading...You can always add honey or sugar or whatever to increase the alcohol levels if you want to.

BigKahuna said:

And let's be honest. Yeast is right around $1.00. Don't be a cheapskate!

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im not bothered about money, its just as i will only make 1litre of juice which is 1/4 of gallon slightly less i wasn't sure whether too much yeast would be a bad thing. sorry if i confused people but thats all i was trying to say

Anyone mind if I ask a few questions too? I'm thinking about doing a few test batches of hard cider later this summer (1 gallon each). I would like to use apple cider from a local farm. They do not pasteurize the cider. So a bunch of questions:

1 - Should I pasteurize the cider? Are there any disadvantages (other than the extra time) to doing this? I would prefer a controlled fermentation rather than a natural one.

2 - Are there specific fining agents that are preferred for making cider (vs. those used for beer)?

3 - If I want to make 1 gallon test batches, what is a good container size to ferment in? Could I just use a little less and use a 1 gallon container or would it be better to use something bigger? If I go bigger, how much extra space is too much (oxidation)?

4 - If I would like to add fruit to the cider (this is where the experimentation comes in), is it better to do in a secondary or to just add it to the primary? I assume this gets into the "when do I add the fruit to my beer" debate, but perhaps with cider there are different opinions.

5 - It seems that a number of recipes call for the addition of yeast nutrients. How important is this? Any recommendations?

6 - I'd like to keep this brew a little sweet. Will the addition of fruit help with that, or should I add a sweetening agent like lactose?

7 - And lastly (for now) what strain of yeast should I use? I'm not looking for a high percentage brew, but something more in line with a strong beer alcohol-wise. Would an ale yeast do the trick?

Warboss, I think we pressed 7 bu last year and got around 30 gallons of Cider. Thing is the more you press, the better the results...so do more than you think you'll need. It takes quite a bit.