Hey everyone! I've been making mead for several years, beer for about a year, and have a pretty strong understanding of fermentation in general. I recently acquired a press that was mostly rotted out on the bottom and have started repairing it - it's freestanding again and just needs a couple more 2x6s replaced to be in good working order. I am planning to finish the repairs tonight and use it tomorrow!
I have several large containers of apples, and need some help in figuring out the easiest way to make cider. I've got carboys and buckets, and am leaning towards a carboy for this hard cider. I will be kegging most of the finished product and possibly bottling a little bit of it from the keg.
I anticipate only having enough for a 5-gallon batch but since I haven't done this before, I've no idea what the yield is like.
My plan is to cut the apples into thin slices before I wrap them in cheesecloth and throw them in the pressing bucket. Then press until juice stops flowing. Next I'll add to the carboy and toss in a campden tablet to kill any bacteria and seal it up with an airlock. Then a day or so later add some yeast - haven't figured out what I want to use, yet... would like a semi-sweet cider but I'm not afraid to backsweeten if I need to.
I'll let it ferment out all the way, rack it, let it condition for a short time (2-3 weeks?), backsweeten with honey or dextrose most likely, then keg and chill.
So, what's wrong with my plan? Never done cider from fresh apples before, I made a malted & hopped cider and it came out fine.
What's common practice for sanitizing the press itself? Star-san? Should I not worry about it?
Thanks for the input!
I have several large containers of apples, and need some help in figuring out the easiest way to make cider. I've got carboys and buckets, and am leaning towards a carboy for this hard cider. I will be kegging most of the finished product and possibly bottling a little bit of it from the keg.
I anticipate only having enough for a 5-gallon batch but since I haven't done this before, I've no idea what the yield is like.
My plan is to cut the apples into thin slices before I wrap them in cheesecloth and throw them in the pressing bucket. Then press until juice stops flowing. Next I'll add to the carboy and toss in a campden tablet to kill any bacteria and seal it up with an airlock. Then a day or so later add some yeast - haven't figured out what I want to use, yet... would like a semi-sweet cider but I'm not afraid to backsweeten if I need to.
I'll let it ferment out all the way, rack it, let it condition for a short time (2-3 weeks?), backsweeten with honey or dextrose most likely, then keg and chill.
So, what's wrong with my plan? Never done cider from fresh apples before, I made a malted & hopped cider and it came out fine.
What's common practice for sanitizing the press itself? Star-san? Should I not worry about it?
Thanks for the input!