Boiling Freshly Pressed Apple Juice

[dylanphelan]

I've been brewing for many years. Never made cider before though.

I've arranged to get 40KG of apples this week, and will juice them at home.

I like the idea of using freshly pressed, unpasteurized apple juice, but is there too much of a risk of infection - wild yeast, bacteria etc?

Do you have to boil pasteurize the apple juice?

I am going for an English style cider. Planning to use SAFALE S-04 yeast.

 

[RPh_Guy]

is there too much of a risk of infection - wild yeast, bacteria etc?

Cider isn't like beer -- wild microbes don't generally caused problems if your process prevents oxygen exposure after fermentation.

In fact most people who have made wild cider will tell you it's better than pitching yeast (myself included).

 

[madscientist451]

Usually, cider isn't boiled, but there is some evidence that in the past, boiling of the juice was somewhat common.
Last year, I experimented with boiling cider to raise the ABV; also in one batch I added spruce tips.
It came out OK, but don't know if I'll do it again, the fermented boiled apple juice has a different flavor than non-boiled.
If you are worried about wild yeast, add sulfites to your juice, wait at least 24 hours and then pitch your yeast.
If you have any 1 gallon jugs, perhaps put about 3 quarts of juice in one, add an airlock and let the wild yeast ferment the cider. You may hate it or you may like it, there are too many factors involved to make a prediction.

 

[Yooper]

Boiling the cider will cook it. Think of the differences in flavor between a cooked apple, like in apple pie, and a fresh crisp apple.

You can use campden tablets (potassium metabisulfite) to kill any wild bacteria in the juice and then 24 hours later you can pitch your chosen yeast strain. That's what I do with my cider from apples I pick in my neighborhood and wooded areas.

 

[dylanphelan]

Thanks.
I already made a small batch with freshly pressed apple juice a few days back.

I'll go ahead and do a larger batch the same way - without boiling!