Hello
For my first attempt at home brewing, I want to turn the 100s of windfall apples scattered over my garden in to cider.
I have a home brew starter kit inc 5 gallon fermenter, airlock, steriliser, hydrometer, thermometer, bottling rod & syphon. I havent got a press, so will be using a kitchen juicer to extract the juice.
After a fair bit of reading on the subject, there doesnt seem to be an absolute right way to do this, but after taking advice from a local homebrew shop, my plan is roughly this:
Sterilise equipment
Wash, chop and juice apples
Filter / sieve to remove any excess pulp
Put juice in fermenter
Add Campden tablets (Sodium Metasulphite, on recommendation from brewshop)
Leave 24 hrs
Add yeast (and possibly some sugar)
Seal and leave to ferment for 2/3 weeks
Drink some / bottle some
I have some questions:
Using windfall apples there will be obvious bad bits, which I will cut out, but its difficult to get every little wormhole out. If any nasties are left in, will the campden tablets kill these off or neutralise the effects?
I have two juicers and have just done an experimental batch. Both remove most of the pulp, but there is still some left behind. One of them producers more than the other, but it floats to the top, whereas the other one produces less and it sinks to the bottom.
Ive read about putting the juice in a blender to further liquidise it, then scooping off the froth, leaving to stand and syphon off clear juice, then sieve through a coffee grinder or muslin cloth.
Is all this necessary, and what difference will it make if there is still some pulp in the fermenter?
What can I use instead of a muslin cloth? There is not a great choice of shops nearby, so may not be able to buy it locally.
Is it important to get an airtight seal on the fermenter using Vaseline etc?
Does it need to be filled to the top with juice or can there be a gap if I cant make enough juice?
Can it be opened after fermentation has begun?
Ok, thanks in advance!
For my first attempt at home brewing, I want to turn the 100s of windfall apples scattered over my garden in to cider.
I have a home brew starter kit inc 5 gallon fermenter, airlock, steriliser, hydrometer, thermometer, bottling rod & syphon. I havent got a press, so will be using a kitchen juicer to extract the juice.
After a fair bit of reading on the subject, there doesnt seem to be an absolute right way to do this, but after taking advice from a local homebrew shop, my plan is roughly this:
Sterilise equipment
Wash, chop and juice apples
Filter / sieve to remove any excess pulp
Put juice in fermenter
Add Campden tablets (Sodium Metasulphite, on recommendation from brewshop)
Leave 24 hrs
Add yeast (and possibly some sugar)
Seal and leave to ferment for 2/3 weeks
Drink some / bottle some
I have some questions:
Using windfall apples there will be obvious bad bits, which I will cut out, but its difficult to get every little wormhole out. If any nasties are left in, will the campden tablets kill these off or neutralise the effects?
I have two juicers and have just done an experimental batch. Both remove most of the pulp, but there is still some left behind. One of them producers more than the other, but it floats to the top, whereas the other one produces less and it sinks to the bottom.
Ive read about putting the juice in a blender to further liquidise it, then scooping off the froth, leaving to stand and syphon off clear juice, then sieve through a coffee grinder or muslin cloth.
Is all this necessary, and what difference will it make if there is still some pulp in the fermenter?
What can I use instead of a muslin cloth? There is not a great choice of shops nearby, so may not be able to buy it locally.
Is it important to get an airtight seal on the fermenter using Vaseline etc?
Does it need to be filled to the top with juice or can there be a gap if I cant make enough juice?
Can it be opened after fermentation has begun?
Ok, thanks in advance!