Wild Apple Cider

I am looking for info or a thread on this topic and can't find any.
This must be one of the simplest alcoholic beverages to brew.
I have done dozens of open wild brews, a jar full of apple juice left outside with an open gauze over it only to stop insects and in about 3-4 days chill and drink.
The guy at the LHBS could not believe it but this is the best Apple Cider I have ever had. The stuff I have brewed in a barrel with yeast and an airlock loses all its flavour.
I guess for me the next step is to do larger brews of wild cider and bottle it so I have stock when friends are over.

What do I need to do to get this stuff stabilized and in a bottle?

Also I am new here and struggling with some of the terms used, do you call your cultures Brett?
Most of mine look pretty tame compared to what I have seen on the Picture thread, my best looking culture was think white with a web effect.
Also when you get a wild yeast can you recycle it, and what is the yeast the stuff on the top or the bottom or both?

Check gravity and if stable for one month you should be fine to bottle. If it has a pellicle it's probably Brett. I've made some tasty Brett ciders, the right strain adds to the apple flavor. Oh, and it's both the top and the bottom, but you can just save the bottom, try pitching it in a new cider. It's probably a mixed culture and thus will drift over time, but if it's good the first time it'll probably be good a second at least. Cheers!

What apples are you using?

Using the correct apples in a cider blend is hugely important.

If you are using store bot juice consider adding tannin ( available at your LHBS), the pH should be good for store bought stuff so dont worry about that.

I also am a huge advocate for wild fermentations with cider, wild yeasts add wonderful notes to cider.

Just talked to Kyle at Millstone Cellars for an article on "weird" ciders for BYO. He's a big advocates of wild ciders using yeast from unpasteurized cider.

Cider lacks the complex dextrins of wort, so it tends not to get as gnarly looking or sour.

For repitching, I'd use mostly the cider itself (rather than the dregs on the bottom or the pellicle on the top), although if you are turing it around quickly the dregs would be useful.

mnick12 said:

What apples are you using?

Using the correct apples in a cider blend is hugely important.

If you are using store bot juice consider adding tannin ( available at your LHBS), the pH should be good for store bought stuff so dont worry about that.

I also am a huge advocate for wild fermentations with cider, wild yeasts add wonderful notes to cider.

Click to expand...

Gday mnick, I am using store bought juice and have some tannin so will experiment with this, was considering using some fruit acids also.

I would love to source Apples for my cider but it is 400 km (120 Miles) round trip to the nears apple orchards. If I start brewing in 44 Gallon drums:rockin: It would be worth the trip, lol.

WildCider said:

Gday mnick, I am using store bought juice and have some tannin so will experiment with this, was considering using some fruit acids also.

I would love to source Apples for my cider but it is 400 km (120 Miles) round trip to the nears apple orchards. If I start brewing in 44 Gallon drums:rockin: It would be worth the trip, lol.

Click to expand...

No worries,

You can still make a great cider from store bought juice! I think tannin and a wild ferment will give a cider much better than any commonly available cider.

As for acids, last I checked my store bought apple juice came in a pH of 3.4 which is plenty acidic for a dry cider. In fact you may even want to consider a malo-lactic ferment if you pH is this low.

You could just pitch any sediment/some of the cider itself into a larger batch. I've been brewing cider (just inexpensive Walmart/supermarket juice) with a brett blend from East Coast Yeast (ECY34 Dirty Dozen) and loving the results, extra tart, bone dry, slightly funky, flavorful cider. My method has been to just save some of it after bottling and adding it to the next batch, I see no reason why you can't do the same with your wild culture.