bottling cider?

I am going to make a 2.5 gal batch of cider, but is it the same as you bottle beer? or is it diffrent?

Nope, it's the same. You put it in the little round hole at the top.

If you're making sparkling cider, use the same amount of sugar as beer. For still cider you can also use wine bottles and corks in addition to beer bottles.

yup
bottles the exact same way beer does, Mikey is right

oh ok, but i hear some people cant get it clear and they add some kinda tablet??

makingitgood said:

oh ok, but i hear some people cant get it clear and they add some kinda tablet??

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Yeah, it's the same and completely legal for minors except DOH! you need top be 21 to use the tablet.

oh ok, but i hear some people cant get it clear and they add some kinda tablet? And do you guys use 100% apple juice? Or can it be from concentraite? or will the concentraite stuff tast bad?

Wow, lots of questions

I made one (1) batch of cider. Turned out fantastic.

Used Pectin Amalayse to help reduce the haze (although I am not entirely convinced that it wouldn't have cleared in cellaring on it's own!)
Used Unpasteurized apples (mostly from our trees) that we got pressed at a local mill.
Used Campden Tablets to kill off the wild yeast
Used an Ale yeast to ferment
Bottled once the airlock stopped + 2 weeks conditioning
Bottled using 4 oz corn sugar (5 gallons).

Results...A beautiful sparkling cider. Clear and tasty. Medium-dry.

makingitgood said:

oh ok, but i hear some people cant get it clear and they add some kinda tablet??

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It almost always clears on its own, if you give it enough time. You don't really want to use finings if you don't have to, as it still takes some time and involves more racking. Rack it off the "stuff" occasionally if you have to, before you resort to finings.

If it's still not clear after a few months, then it might be appropriate to add finings. The only time I've had to use finings was when I had a stubborn batch of dandelion wine. Everything else cleared eventually.

Lorena

Yooper Chick said:

The only time I've had to use finings was when I had a stubborn batch of dandelion wine. Everything else cleared eventually.

Lorena

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My Grandma used to make this, but I never tried any. Is it basically a bunch of dandelion flowers, sugar, water and yeast? Lord knows I have tons of these flowers in the Spring.

zoebisch01 said:

My Grandma used to make this, but I never tried any. Is it basically a bunch of dandelion flowers, sugar, water and yeast? Lord knows I have tons of these flowers in the Spring.

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Dandelion wine is great- especially just off dry- I bottled one batch at 1.000. Crisp, and like a pinot grigio. You need to use only the dandelion petals- no green. It's also important to pick the flowers midday in the sun- so the flowers are completely open. I did my petals by weight- I think 90 grams per quart is what I figured. Here's two recipes (I prefer the first):

Dandelion Wine
3 qts dandelion flowers
1 lb raisins
1 gallon water
3 lbs granulated sugar
2 lemons
1 orange
yeast and nutrient
Pick the flowers just before starting, so they're fresh. Put the flowers in a large bowl. Set aside 1 pint of water and bring the remainder to a boil. Pour the boiling water over the dandelion flowers and cover tightly with cloth or plastic wrap. Leave for two days, stirring twice daily. Do not exceed this time. Pour flowers and water in large pot and bring to a low boil. Add the sugar and the peels (peel thinly and avoid any of the white pith) of the lemons and orange. Boil for one hour, then pour into a crock or plastic pail. Add the juice and pulp of the lemons and orange. Allow to stand until cool (70-75 degrees F.). Add yeast and yeast nutrient, cover, and put in a warm place for three days. Strain and pour into a secondary fermentation vessel (bottle or jug). Add the raisins and fit a fermentation trap to the vessel. Leave until fermentation ceases completely, then rack and top up with reserved pint of water and any additional required to reduce all but 1 inch of airspace. Set aside until wine clears, rack and bottle. This wine must age six months in the bottle before tasting, but will improve remarkably if allowed a year.

Dandelion Wine (2)
2 qts dandelion flowers
3 lbs granulated sugar
4 oranges
1 gallon water
yeast and nutrient
This is the traditional "Midday Dandelion Wine" of old, named because the flowers must be picked at midday when they are fully open. Pick the flowers and bring into the kitchen. Set one gallon of water to boil. While it heats up to a boil, remove as much of the green material from the flower heads as possible (the original recipe calls for two quarts of petals only, but this will work as long as you end up with two quarts of prepared flowers). Pour the boiling water over the flowers, cover with cloth, and leave to seep for two days. Do not exceed two days. Pour the mixture back into a pot and bring to a boil. Add the peelings from the four oranges (again, no white pith) and boil for ten minutes. Strain through a muslin cloth or bag onto acrock or plastic pail containing the sugar, stirring to dissolve. When cool, add the juice of the oranges, the yeast and yeast nutrient. Pour into secondary fermentation vessel, fit fermentation trap, and allow to ferment completely. Rack and bottle when wine clears. Again, allow it to age six months in the bottle before tasting, but a year will improve it vastly. This wine has less body than the first recipe produces, but every bit as much flavor (some say more!).

sorry to hijack your cider thread- back to cider now.

Lorena

Cool thx, now back the regularly scheduled program...:fro:

thanks, I guess i will just beer bottles