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Chalkyt I've been using a cheap 1/3 hp garbage disposal to pulp the apples from my home orchard for a few years. I press the pulp with a basket press and my yields are quite good. I get pretty good separation of apple solids from the liquid. It is not practical to process anything...

Bernard, thanks for your thoughts on the origin of my pectin haze. I do press my own apples, around half a ton each season. I would be interested to know a practical means of removing the seeds. From what I can find on the subject, there does not seem to be anything written on the the...

I am struggling with a pectin haze or worse yet, a slug of pectin snot that has defied every fining agent that is commercially available. In my experience, once it forms, pectinase has absolutely no effect on it. In fact my current problem batch was macerated with pectinase for 48 hours prior...

Your hydrometer is your friend. In the beginning it tells you how strong your cider might be. Along the way, it tells you how your ferment is doing. At the end you can use it to determine how much priming sugar to add and how much alcohol your cider has in it. Accurate readings and...

Maylar makes two very good points. Taste your cider before wasting it. Oxygenating during the siphoning might have restarted the yeast. Did you take a reading with your hydrometer? If it was not dry, a reinvigorated yeast might be whats happening. If this is the case, let it finish...

Wait for dark or turn off the lights in a closed room then shine a flashlight through your cider. You will likely see a steady stream of bubble rising even when fermentation is nearly finished. The headspace in your carboy is so large, changes in temp and atmospheric pressure will mask any...

No need to pasteurize your must. In fact you will get a more full bodied and complex cider if you let it ferment naturally. When you add sulfite to your fresh must, it kills the bacteria but only stuns the yeast. The native yeast recovers and does a fine job of fermenting the must without any...

I don't take any chances on this. I add champagne yeast + DAP + priming sugar to my batch when bottling. I bottled my first 5 gal batch of 2016 cider last week after 7 months in carboys. It is now at 28 psi and on track to hit 50-60 psi or so in a few weeks. At that point, I will wait...

Greetings from Norfolk County Massachusetts! There are so many cider apple varieties that it is hard to answer your question. If I lived in Norfolkshire, I would look to what varieties are thriving in the Shire. That should give you a better chance of selecting three or four varieties that...

This is what my 2017 cider looks like. This tree was planted around 1885 and despite its rotten trunk and branches, it produced over 300 lbs in 2015. We were in drought in 2016 so all the apples fell off before they ripened. This year looks good and it might yield enough for 20-30 gallons of...

You should be able to do this. Some people have grafted multiple varieties to the same tree just for fun. One branch on your tree isn't going to give you many apples but it sounds like that is not the point for you. It can take more than one try. I have a dwarf gravenstein in my yard that...

Looking good!!!! Since you have so many, put the most vigorous one(s) in your orchard next year and give the rest away. It is really satisfying when you do this tree surgery and it works. I would find a straight support like a length of bamboo to stick in the ground beside it and carefully...

If the ground is too cold or buried in snow to work, put them in buckets of compost. You should be able to put at least five in each 5 gal bucket. Moisten the compost then put them outside in a shady area sheltered from the wind. They need to be cold so they don't start developing before you...

Plant them in your garden if you have one. The buds will slow down but that is not a problem. You could have a problem if you have a serious cold snap. If your forecast is for freezing temps, put a plastic bucket over each tree overnight. If they are too tall for buckets, go to FedEx and...

Check my post to this thread for more information. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=592419 If you need more details, repost to this thread and I will respond.

The primary reason to graft is to take advantage of the disease resistant properties, increased root strength, specific soil adaptation, and growth expression of carefully developed root stock. You will preserve the apple variety with this method but the tree will be on weak roots that may have...

Adding dried crab or wild apples is an interesting idea. I think it might be a crap shoot to know how much to add though. I ferment wild apples as a separate batch and blend it in with my main batch to taste but also measure the total acid to avoid getting a sour result.

A French monk in the champagne region solved this problem in the nineteenth century. When his wine was nearly done fermenting, he put it in strong bottles to carbonate and complete fermentation. When the pressure was sufficient, he inverted the bottles for a few months twisting them every day...

Good looking scions. You have a large variation in diameters so no matter what they send you for root stock, you have it covered. Be sure to keep them wrapped and refrigerated until you are ready to graft them. I have had good success using parafilm and grafting wax. Sharp, clean cutting...

I bought the cheapest disposal I could find (1/3 hp) on Amazon. I did 1,200 lbs of apples the first year and about 1,000 lbs last fall. If the apples are juicy, it never overheats. If I run wild apples through it, it gets hot and trips the internal breaker after ten minutes of use or so. No...