Newbie at Fermenting! please help...

Hi,
This will be my first time ever making cider! i have the press made and will have apples to press very soon. I would like an idiots guide on how to ferment, what I have to do? do I need to add anything to the apple juice. Anything really that needs to happen after I have pressed the cider!
If anyone could assist me on this journey or help me with what I need to do on the process I would be very grateful

thanks¬

You can adjust acid levels (if you want to), or you could add pectic enzyme (if you want to- I would!), or you could add yeast nutrient (if you want to)...

Find a yeast that you like, and put it in the must (apple juice) that is in the fermenter. It should get going within a few hours or a couple days at most.

I would recommend using pectic enzyme at the least, especially if you're using raw crushed apples or ground up apples. It aids in clearing up the finished product.

+ 1 on pectinase. If you want to sanitize it, use a crushed campden tablet which will get rid of all the wild yeast you have in there. If you want to bump up your ABV add some sugar into it, there is a few websites you can look at if you want to research a hydrometer to measure the alcohol content. Other than that, just add some yeast in, cover, add airlock and ferment away

Good luck!

This is probably the best cider making website out there: http://www.cider.org.uk/frameset.htm

It tells you how to do it, and gives you lots of troubleshooting help. This guy also has a book, but he admits everything is on the website.

thanks for all your replies so far, anymore advice keep it coming. one more, do i need to add yeast to the cider? will it ferment without adding anything to it? or do i have to add something? thanks

herminator said:

do i need to add yeast to the cider? will it ferment without adding anything to it? or do i have to add something?

Click to expand...

technically, no... but you are opening yourself up for infection. You should use sulfites to kill bacteria and stun the natural yeasts, and then add domestic yeast. It is sad, but you really need to get the yeast up and growing and making alcohol before the other nasties have a chance. The alcohol will then help keep the nasties in check, too.

The website I provided talks all about that, as he is a big fan of natural yeasts, but understands the difficulties in getting them going (he used to work for a UK university cider research facility).

If you are pressing your own apples, I really recommend checking out the website CandleWineProject linked to. Andrew Lea also has a book called "Craft Cider Making"

Since you're in Dorset, I'd recommend using Brupaks ale yeast, Ritches Ale or Youngs lager. Those should be fairly easy to get. Dont use Young's cider yeast unless you are using apples that are specifically meant for cider making - it will strip out all the flavor of most apples.

If you practice good sanitation and dont let the apples sit on the ground, you can skip the campden/k-meta. Just pitch the yeast and it will overwhelm the natural yeast, but the natural yeast will add some flavor. I understand that in the UK, standard practice is to let the apples sit on the ground for a while. I dont recommend that and if you do it, you'll want to add k-meta or campden to kill the molds.

keep an eye on the fermentation as it progresses and cold crash to taste. Anywhere from 1.006 to 1.015, depending on your taste makes for a good pub cider. Much lower and you will be in white wine territory taste-wise

The best advice I can give is preached hear on a regular basis, just relax. After stressing my way through my first few batches, I have finally unwound. Luckily it looks like brewing is pretty forgiving of those little mistakes. Just make sure to keep up with the good sanitation practices and the rest will fall into place.

thanks for all your replies! great forum and full of helpful people.. I have made my own cider press mostly of wood. my only question is, i have made a lid that will slide down and push the pulp down in wooden drum i have. But this is made of plastic? is this ok to do so? or should I make a wooden lid?