Yeild and Varieties for Pressing Apples

I have access to a pretty decent cider press and I was wondering if anybody has some knowledge of the quantity of apples I will need for ten gallons of cider, as well as what varieties are good for use/blending.

Thanks,
Paul

As a rough guide 20 lbs of apples will yield up to about 1 gallon of juice. You have to grind the apples or coarsely chop them to get a good yield. For cider, the tarter the apple the better. Granny Smith, Johnathans, etc.

Have access to a ton of galas which aren't all that tart, but if I cut them with something tarter would that work? I've read that most of the best ciders are blends anyways.

Thanks for the Help

The 20lb of apples to a gallon of juice is a rough estimate - chop them to a fine 'pomice' (i.e. Finely chopped) for maximum juice in a cider press. if you can find a balance of tart apples all well but if not don't worry, get plenty of the 'rawer apples' in.

So... After I juice the apples what do I need to do about eliminating the native yeasts, bacteria etc? Can I hit it with some sulphite to kill everything off and then re-pitch my own yeast a day or so later or am I going to be better off heating to 160 for the low temp pastuerization thing? or any other ideas... I like alcoholic cider... not a fan of vinegar

Halthane said:

So... After I juice the apples what do I need to do about eliminating the native yeasts, bacteria etc? Can I hit it with some sulphite to kill everything off and then re-pitch my own yeast a day or so later or am I going to be better off heating to 160 for the low temp pastuerization thing? or any other ideas... I like alcoholic cider... not a fan of vinegar

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Hit it with sulphite - one teaspoon per gallon of juice - it'll suppress the wild yeast just long enough to let your 'own selected yeast' take charge!

What is the reason for killing the wild yeast wont they work together with the added yeast

jock90 said:

What is the reason for killing the wild yeast wont they work together with the added yeast

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Sulphite won't kill the 'wild' yeasts. It just suppresses it long enough to give your 'cultured' variety of yeast space to take over and 'out-perform' it. Wild yeasts work on their own if you want to give them a go however they can (particularly if you're doing smaller batches like 10 gallons) be either prone to off flavours or be the best cider you've ever made. It's a real hit and miss affair though if you've spent all day chopping the huge amount of apples (for a homebrewer) into a fine pomace, pressing them into a mere 10 gallons of juice to have it possibly turn dodgy.

now Im worried, this is my first brew six and a half gallon took me two days to collect chop and press. fingers crossed its the best ive ever tasted when its ready

jock90 said:

now Im worried, this is my first brew six and a half gallon took me two days to collect chop and press. fingers crossed its the best ive ever tasted when its ready

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I'm sure you'll be fine. 'When it's ready' is a cider brewers term.....