Berry Cider - Need guidance!

[EdYy2]

I've made several ciders before using store bought, 100% pressed, apple juice and Young's cider yeast. The results have been consistenly good.

At the moment I have an abundance of blackberrys which I want to add to recipe to create a blackberry cider.

My problem is how should i extract the juice from the berrys without the use of a fruit press?

Most importantly i do not want any wild yeasts to become part of the recipe as i will be adding my own yeast, so should i boil the fruit in water or add campen tablets to the juice?

And will i need to add pectolase at any point?

Any suggestions or tips will be very much appreciated,

Thanks!

 

[david_42]

Do not boil your berries. I freeze them as they are picked, then thaw and pasteurize at 160F. They go in a big mesh bag which goes in the pail. I add the yeast and cider, then pull the bag after a week. Much the same way you'd make a red wine.

I call it Revenge - because blackberry cider is best served cold.

Last year's crop wasn't worth picking, but it's looking good so far for this year. Might even try some blackberry wine.

 

[yeastluvr]

Dont boil. Get yourself a fruit bag and put in your washed blackberries. Add some campden for 24 hours to kill any bad stuff. I wouldn't see a reason why you couldnt just mix up your cider as you want it except for the yeast, add the fruit bag and campden, let it sit 24 hours and pitch the yeast. I would take the bag out after 4-5 days of fermenting as most your flavor will be gained by then and you shouldn't get any bitterness from the seeds.
With wine, you mix the fruit bag once a day for those 4-5 days so you could do something similar and just put everything in a ferment bucket, add your campden and berries in a bag, picth yeast 24 hours later, and give it a quick stir everyday "with a sanitized spoon of course". After 4-5 days, your only going to have a little mush and seeds left in your bag, then rack it into a carboy. Let me know how this turns out....sounds good.