Cider from home pressed apples and without adding yeast

[James1992]

Hello all,

I am new to cider making and decided to have a go this year as I have so many spare apples. I have already made a press. This is more of an experiment than anything and the apples I have are not cider apples but its what I have so it is what I will use. I hope to make a batch without adding any yeast but rather letting the natural yeast do the fermentation to see what I end up with. However I am still a little confused over the process at this point.

I have several demijohns ready with airlocks. These will be used to create different batches of cider with the same juice. Some will have yeast added and others will not. What I don't understand is that after pressing my juice so I need to pour it straight into my demijohns and apply the airlock or should it be left to the air for a few days, covered only by a cloth? Is the process any different for the natural yeast and added yeast batches?

Thanks all for your help. Fingers crossed I get something nice.

James

 

[madscientist451]

Just dump the juice in, put the airlock on and you're done. Put the fermenter in a cool place or try to keep it cool any way you can. I usually don't make cider until October, so I can ferment in the 50-60 range.

 

[James1992]

Thanks for the feedback. I will do just that!

 

[divrack]

My experience is not huge, but I did it the way described above and although it started out smelling amazing it ended up a dumper with lots of harsh solvent badness, and someone told me I should have added a small dose of campden...
Not sure if this would have worked, however the other half batch I did full campden plus yeast ended up good.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Just dump the juice in, put the airlock on and you're done. Put the fermenter in a cool place or try to keep it cool any way you can. I usually don't make cider until October, so I can ferment in the 50-60 range.

+1
The 50s temp range is important.

Good luck!

 

[madscientist451]

My experience is not huge, but I did it the way described above and although it started out smelling amazing it ended up a dumper with lots of harsh solvent badness, and someone told me I should have added a small dose of campden...
Not sure if this would have worked, however the other half batch I did full campden plus yeast ended up good.

Adding the campden tablets to sanitize the must is the safe way to go. I've been lucky, the wild yeast in my area hasn't caused problems. Your results will probably be different.