Hi all, I have been lurking for the last couple of weeks and thought it was time to join. I have three apple trees in my yard that almost broke under the weight of this years apple crop. I built a homemade press and decided it was time to dive into some hard cider making.
After almost being scared to death by the ecoli threads, believe it or not, I decided to brew up a batch of untreated, unpasteurized freshly pressed cider. I took sanitizing and cleaning fruit very serious and used only apples picked from the trees free of rot.
For my cider, I decided not to kill any wild yeasts. It might be a mistake, but I guess I will learn. I used nearly 5 gallons of fresh pressed cider. My three trees are all different types, but I have no idea what they are so I used an equal mixture of fruit. I did put in one can of thawed frozen apple juice concentrate. I then pitched a packet of M79 Burton Union yeast. After racking and secondary fermentation, I plan to bottle with a few conditioning tabs to try and achieve a light carbonation and might back sweeten with some Truvia so the wife might like it. I think I would prefer a dryer product, but this will be a good way to learn.
About 20 hours into the process and the yeast seem to be quite happy.
After almost being scared to death by the ecoli threads, believe it or not, I decided to brew up a batch of untreated, unpasteurized freshly pressed cider. I took sanitizing and cleaning fruit very serious and used only apples picked from the trees free of rot.
For my cider, I decided not to kill any wild yeasts. It might be a mistake, but I guess I will learn. I used nearly 5 gallons of fresh pressed cider. My three trees are all different types, but I have no idea what they are so I used an equal mixture of fruit. I did put in one can of thawed frozen apple juice concentrate. I then pitched a packet of M79 Burton Union yeast. After racking and secondary fermentation, I plan to bottle with a few conditioning tabs to try and achieve a light carbonation and might back sweeten with some Truvia so the wife might like it. I think I would prefer a dryer product, but this will be a good way to learn.
About 20 hours into the process and the yeast seem to be quite happy.
