I want to make me some cider

I live in NC and the summer heat is upon us. Since I live in an apartment and SWMBO said I cant have a pot of wort boiling for 60 min in the ac my beer making will be suspended until the ac has been shut off. I have thus decided to try my hand at some hard cider. I have just now started looking into the process and it sounds fun and easy. The big thing I was wondering is, can I use my beer making stuff for cider. I know all of my glass items will be fine but my real question is about the plastic tubing and one of my kegs. I don't want my future brews to have any hints of apple.

I am planning on doing a one gallon test batch, and if all goes well a larger batch of fresh cider this fall.

My understanding is that I will need:
2x 1 gal glass jugs
1x stopper
1x airlock
1x siphon

If there is anything I am missing please let me know.

Edit: Will a one gal jug be big enough to make a one gal batch? The website I was reading said it would be fine, but I am worried about a blow off, any thoughts?

Thanx

Bigger is easier, just because if you are going to wait two months for something you might as well have a lot of it. That being said, you can buy a gallon of apple juice and if you have the right size stopper you can use the bottle it came in.

i just oxyclean my siphon pretty quickly after use and i have never detected any carryover flavors. for the fermenting you can always ferment in a large carboy or bucket and then rack to the 1 gal. or, pour off a little and freeze it, add it back when fermenting is almost done or when (if) you rack. some juice/yeast/temp combinations ferment politely and some make loads of foam, you just never know
and i agree cider is fun and very easy!!

I use my beer brewing gear: bucket or carboy, bung, airlock. Add 4-5G of apple juice, add yeast, stir, airlock and seeya in a month!

I realize that it is not cider season but is there anywhere I can get it this time of year?

1 gal AJ in jug + airlock + ale yeast + time = cider. Seriously, if you just want small batches you can easily make it the jugs it comes in. I've never had an issue with taste/odors carrying over to equipment, but it really shouldn't take much equipment. Cider is about the easiest thing to brew there is. Unless you bump up the ABV with sugar, it's ready almost as quickly as beer, so O2 absorption through the plastic hasn't been an issue with mine. I get a gallon of juice and pour off about 1/2 to 1 cup for a little head space, pitch a packet of ale yeast, pop on the airlock and let 'er rip. In about a month it should drop clear if you used clear juice. Rack it off the lees and give it another 2-3 weeks for fining and smoothing out just a little more. When it tastes good and the apple smell is back, bottle & enjoy. You get a nice, smooth, still dry cider.

That's how I roll, but from there you can go about any direction. You can add more sugar for more kick, but it will take longer to be drinkable. You can backsweeten, bottle carb, keg & carb, or whatever, depending on how much work you want to put into it. I like it still & dry, or if I want it a little sweet I pour it over a pack of Splenda.

You shouldn't have a big blowoff problem or krausen as with beer. Cider is more gentle usually.

Since there are orchards in NC (I lived there for a couple years), try your farmers market. Many orchards keep apples in a cooler so they can fresh press them year round.
I find this question interesting as I have heard that any carboy with hops in it will keep the flavor of hops in it. I've never heard of apples carrying over. But I'm still a newbe...

My first real post! lol

Well, I just completed my first ever 2 gallon batch and I just used an old MR Beer plastic fermenter for beer. Added a pound of brown sugar or so to a few cups of the juice over the stove to melt the sugar down. Dumped it all in the sterilized "bucket" added some proofed white wine yeast and let it hang out for a month. I then added 2 teaspoons of more sugar to 2 litre "soda" bottles that had been sterilized and bottled it in there. Waited another month and i had very very dry super effervescent cider. Next time non fermentable sugar will go in. Oh and, don't forget, if yer gettin store bougght juice, get the stuff preserved with ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) the other stuff can kill yer yeast.

Sure I'm not saying anything new but it's good to make a post anyway!