Fresh Apple question

[Acrid]

Hello, new to cider making. I do not have access to non-preservative grocery ciders. I DO have access to a farmers market with fresh apples, even if they're not ideal.

My plan is to pickup 2 bushels of regular apples (like granny smith), and mix in as many crab apples as I can find.

I do not have a juicer, but after washing and removing the bad spots, I was going to freeze them, thaw them, then pop them into a food processor and chop them up into mush, and squeeze through cheese cloth to get out the juice.

1. Is this an acceptable method that will work.

2. If I back carb with Apple juice concentrate, is it okay if the concentrate has preservatives, or will it kill the whole batch?

Thanks for your patience.

 

[Alfonsotropolos]

How about freezing a little bit of the original juice you make, then thaw it when your main batch is done fermenting and use it to back carb? Then you can be sure it's 100% preservative free and it's all from the same stuff! Sounds great! Best of luck!

 

[Acrid]

How about freezing a little bit of the original juice you make, then thaw it when your main batch is done fermenting and use it to back carb? Then you can be sure it's 100% preservative free and it's all from the same stuff! Sounds great! Best of luck!

That's just it. Concentrate is concentrated. Maybe if I doubled the juice, it may work. Right now, I'm more interested in my original question of whether or not fresh apples juice would work.

 

[Alfonsotropolos]

Should work great, but there are a couple little precautions you should definitely take. Here is a great resource with all the info you should need to get started!

http://www.cider.org.uk/frameset.htm

 

[Yooper]

I wouldn't put them in a food processor- they'd be so thick that you'd never be able to get the juice out plus break up the seeds (which you don't want).

I make tons of cider and apple wine (and crabapples are great!) and I wash and freeze them in plastic bags. That really helps break up the fruit. Then, when it's time to make the wine, I put them in big mesh bags from the brew store and place it all in a sanitized bucket. I let them thaw, and pour a little water and campden tablets (crushed and dissolved) over them to kill wild yeast and bacteria from the fruit. 12 hours later, I add some pectic enzyme. 12 hours after that, I add the yeast. For the next three days or so, I keep smashing up the fruit and stirring it. After about three to five days, I sanitize my hands and lift out the bags of fruit, squeezing them to get most of the juice out of them.

It's sort of a poor man's way to crush apples, and then press them.

 

[Acrid]

I wouldn't put them in a food processor- they'd be so thick that you'd never be able to get the juice out plus break up the seeds (which you don't want).

I make tons of cider and apple wine (and crabapples are great!) and I wash and freeze them in plastic bags. That really helps break up the fruit. Then, when it's time to make the wine, I put them in big mesh bags from the brew store and place it all in a sanitized bucket. I let them thaw, and pour a little water and campden tablets (crushed and dissolved) over them to kill wild yeast and bacteria from the fruit. 12 hours later, I add some pectic enzyme. 12 hours after that, I add the yeast. For the next three days or so, I keep smashing up the fruit and stirring it. After about three to five days, I sanitize my hands and lift out the bags of fruit, squeezing them to get most of the juice out of them.

It's sort of a poor man's way to crush apples, and then press them.

What about this method, would this work:

http://m.instructables.com/id/Juicing-without-a-Juicer/?ALLSTEPS

 

[Yooper]

What about this method, would this work:

http://m.instructables.com/id/Juicing-without-a-Juicer/?ALLSTEPS

Maybe, if you wanted to use juice. I make all of my wines and ciders with fruit, as a rule, and not juice as that provides some flavors you don't get from just juice (like tannins).

 

[dschoemaker]

Yooper,

Your method makes a lot of sense to me, do you have any control over abv or are even able to figure it out?

Dave

 

[Yooper]

Yooper,

Your method makes a lot of sense to me, do you have any control over abv or are even able to figure it out?

Dave

Sure. You take the SG with a hydrometer, and add more fermentables (generally sugar, but raisins and more juice work also) if you want to increase the final ABV.