Brand new,never did any brewing before

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Newbie69

Active Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2012
Messages
33
Reaction score
0
Location
Belvidere
Hello... This is my first time at trying to brew anything. I need a new hobby so I figured I would give mead and cider brewing a try. I drove around yesterday to local orchards to inquire about their cider,none of them pasteurize,but one said that the press they use "flashes" the cider to kill the diseases that are associated with cider. My question is this,would I still have to heat this cider to pasteurize it? I really don't want to because I know I would most likely end up screwing it up by letting it get too hot... Thanks in advance,and you can count on seeing more questions about cider and mead making from me..ha... I've read a lot about it online but there are things I don't quite get.
 
Hello and Welcome to the forums.
You need to define "cider" first. Most of the world this is a fermented beverage but here in the states it is unfiltered apple juice.
If you use in interchangeably we won't really know what you are talking about.

I am assuming that you are going to be purchasing sweet apple cider from a local orchard.
If they do not pasteurize you may want to quiz them on what preservatives they use. You will have a hard time fermenting anything with preservatives like potassium sorbate.
If it is preservative free and non-pasteurized you run the risk of acetic bacteria living in the cider. These guys are naturally fond of apple skins.
These drunk little bastards feed on alcohol and require oxygen to multiply; the resulting product is apple cider vinegar!. So if you want to enjoy your cider before they do, you will likely need to pasteurize at some point and/or be very careful of introducing oxygen post fermentation (or drink it quickly!). Some people on here will pasteurize before and after fermentation. Good luck.
 
Using campden tablets before fermentation will kill off bad bacteria and still allow your yeast to do it's magic. For a first batch just do a quickie with store bought pasteurized apple juice and Nottingham yeast.
 
Campden tablets work great to inhibit wild yeast, turn chlorine to chloride, an kill most bacteria in unpasteurized sweet cider. Brewing yeast is tamed to the point that it is resistant to potassium metabisulfite and will live on in its presence. It will not kill all of the acetic bacteria so make sure exposure to O2 is at a minimum post fermentation; dissolve a campden tablet in the must a day before introducing your yeast.

Also check this out, Nottingham yeast works pretty good for cider:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/results-juice-yeast-sugar-experiments-83060/
 
Campden tablets work great to inhibit wild yeast, turn chlorine to chloride, an kill most bacteria in unpasteurized sweet cider. Brewing yeast is tamed to the point that it is resistant to potassium metabisulfite and will live on in its presence. It will not kill all of the acetic bacteria so make sure exposure to O2 is at a minimum post fermentation; dissolve a campden tablet in the must a day before introducing your yeast.

Also check this out, Nottingham yeast works pretty good for cider:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/results-juice-yeast-sugar-experiments-83060/

Is there a significantly more informative echo in here?
 
Yes... I'm going to be using sweet cider from local orchards, I found one that said that they pasteurize with UV lights,is that acceptable?
 
I'm getting ready to take my first stab at cider, myself. as per the recommendation of my local homebrew shop, I have campden tablets, pectic enzyme, and yeast nutrient, at the ready.

my question, though, is how many campden tablets to use.

Since this is my first try, I'm only going to do a gallon. would a full tablet be too much or should I split it up?

any help is appreciated. thanks!
 
I'm getting ready to take my first stab at cider, myself. as per the recommendation of my local homebrew shop, I have campden tablets, pectic enzyme, and yeast nutrient, at the ready.

my question, though, is how many campden tablets to use.

Since this is my first try, I'm only going to do a gallon. would a full tablet be too much or should I split it up?

any help is appreciated. thanks!

Sulfites are useful when working with fresh pressed juice. Not really needed when fermenting clear store juice IMO.

I like to add about 50ppm of SO2 (campden tablets raw material) to my ciders when I add pectic enzyme, usually a day before pitching the yeast. Hopefully, the packaging says how many ppm are added per gallon per tablet. I've seen tablets ranging from 35ppm-150ppm but if it doesn't explicitly say then just add and assume it's around 50ppm.
 
Yes... I'm going to be using sweet cider from local orchards, I found one that said that they pasteurize with UV lights,is that acceptable?

UV is preferable to heat pasteurization since it is seen as having less of an effect on flavor, but personally I don't taste the difference between UV and flash pasteurization. I would suggest using sulfites for both treatments.
 
thanks for the input!

what I purchased is brewcraft campden tablets and it doesn't really give a "dosage" on the package. so I'm going to assume that it's 50 ppm, like you said.

so one tablet will be fine for one gallon, then?

I plan to add the campden and the pectic enzyme tonight and pitch the yeast tomorrow night, along with adding some yeast energizer. That being said, I was also planning on doing a yeast starter tonight with about 500-1000ml of the cider. I assume that I should boil that amount for the starter, right?
 
Don't ever boil juice, it will set the pectin and make the cider cloudy. Just use a small amount of water or just add the yeast straight.
 
Back
Top