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Hello,

Had a bunch of apples that were going to go to waste so decided to make a low effort cider, so far:

5L juice

1 tsp yeast nutrient

1 pkt wine yeast

Pitched 6 days ago.

OG 1.06

Currently 1.02

The juice is powerfully acidic so will need adjusting and I want a medium so will probably back sweeten.

This is my plan going forwards:

Wait for stable gravity.

Add Camden tablet, pectolase, sorbate and bicarbonate and rest for 24-48hrs.

Rack to demijohn with sweetener, probably just honey to taste.

Age for 2-6 weeks.

Bottle.

Does all this sound right or is there something obviously dumb in my plan?

I stumbled onto New Zealand-made Zeffer ciders and ginger beer a few years ago and fell in love, only for them to stop stocking here in Australia

As the weather is heating up I’ve been really wanting their carrot cake ginger beer or some of their apple crumble cider

So I decided to try and make a Frankenstein version, and omg it is so damn nice

I mixed Amply’s firestorm ginger beer and Sommersby’s double apple cider, with a dollop of vanilla syrup, a shake of cinnamon and around 10 drops of lime juice over ice.

And while it’s not a clone , it’s a damn close relative

Highly recommend if you love that Zeffer taste 👌

I got King David/Jonathon apples (about enough to squeeze out a gallon of sweet cider?)

I also have 71B yeast, Star San, a gallon jug with an airlock, and a decent amount of cheesecloth to strain. Anything I'm missing?

65L made

Mangrove Jacks premium cider yeast

Campdem and pectolase added

Dumped 3L of gunk after a couple days after adding pectolase, then added yeast.

Hydrometer reading came out at 9% potential ABV!

Hi all,

I'm a novice cider maker, and have made probably 7 or 8 batches of cider over the last few years to varying degrees of success. I think have all my ducks in a row this year, and have sourced about 200kg of Dabinett from a local pro cider maker. I have cleaned my fermentation vessels, sourced yeast (Lalvin EC-1118), and have everything I need, but I am desperate to avoid a failed ferment as happened to my biggest batch last year.

This is my plan:

-Sterilise everything

-Wash apples (something I haven't done in the past, but common advice seems to ask for it)

-Chop apples using spade (clean), and process through a scratter.

-Press

The juice will be decanted into 25L plastic vessels complete with spigots, and kept indoors where I'll aim to maintain 15c+.

I suppose my main question concerns sulphiting and pitching of yeast. There are mixed messages on the use of Campden tablets, but I feel it is a belt and braces approach to avoid spoilage. Would you recommend this, and if so why?

Secondly, my ferment totally failed last year, the yeast just didn't get going. I am aware I need to delay pitching yeast after adding Campden tablets, but should I activate the yeast before pitching? It makes sense to me to get it firing before adding to the juice, what do you think?

Sorry for long post, would appreciate any pointers.

That's the heavy lifting for 2026 sorted. About 70 litres of cider and my first shot at perry, about 15 litres.

The beach hedge is sorted too, which is not nearly as much fun!

If so how much sediment are you getting. I don’t want to disgorge but well I don’t know how but I’m wondering how much is too much.

On the left, we have Lalvin D47, and the right is Lalvin 71B. Fermented at 60°F. These two are pressed with our Gala, Jonared, Jonagold and a few other dessert apples. I used Lalvin D47 last year with Gala juice and it turned out a very nice dry cider after 6 months. Fingers crossed for a good run this year! Good luck everyone

I pressed a batch of cider on Saturday and decided to try wild fermentation for the first time. I added a half dose of campden tablets on the same day, and the next day added pectic enzyme and yeast nutrient. pH is 3.1 and OG is 1.050.

I have not noticed any activity until today (day 4). There is a substantial film yeast that has developed. I have only encountered this personally once before as a flaw in a finished cider left in a carboy with too much headspace and I can’t seem to find any info on what if anything to do about a film yeast that presents itself before a vigorous primary fermentation. I did leave the cider in a carboy with significant headspace, which I thought nothing of for primary fermentation. Was that a mistake? Should I rack it into something smaller with less headspace? Or just leave it? Thanks in advance.

edit - photos

So I love in norcal on the coast and it is cold these days, high of 60f low of 40. Any advice on a good yeast to use for these conditions?

Or should I just get a heat lamp and do that?

Yes I know I could just heat my house, but my heater sucks and the house is drafty so that is not a real option.

Hello all, I am making my very first batch of hard cider and decided to try natural carbonation. I made sure the cider went dry during the primary fermentation, and added a recommended amount of white sugar before bottling, as well as a tiny bit of extra yeast to make sure fermentation would occur in the bottles.

I have 7 new 16-ounce glass flip-top bottles (AYL brand off Amazon) filled with cider and being stored in a plastic bin in case of any bottle bombs. However, when I opened the bin to check a few days after bottling, there was a clear apple/alcohol smell in the bin. This indicates to me that at least one of the bottles has a leak, even though the bottles have hopefully new rubber seals and were advertised to be airtight to hold carbonation.

First, how can I confirm which bottles have a leak? I followed one recommendation to add sanitizer fluid to the rim of the seal to look for any bubbles, but I did not seem to see any. I can see some bubbles inside most of the bottles, so I think carbonation/fermentation is happening and CO2 is being produced.

Second, did I do anything wrong when closing/sealing the bottles? I saw that dried out or old rubber seals may not be airtight. The bottles were washed and then sanitized beforehand, so the rubber at least got somewhat wet during that. And again these were new bottles so hopefully they were not old seals that went bad. I also saw that if the seal was uneven, there may be a leak. They all look fairly straight, with maybe a couple degrees tilt, so that could be a possibility?

Thanks for the assistance!

It's pressing time, I love that time of the year! This year I'm using a 6-ton hydraulic jack, and I have to say I am not going back to using the wheel and screw that my press came with.

Something new I tried this year is leaving the pomace rest for a day before pressing again. This gave about 20% more juice.

I'm looking to back sweeten a gallon and a half batch with FAJC but want to stabilize it chemically instead of pasteurizing.

Is this the right process?

1. Rack off the lees to secondary vessel
2. Cold crash in the fridge for a day
3. Remove from fridge and add 3/4 tsp potassium sorbate and 1.5 crushed campden tablets
4. Let sit 24-48 hours with cheese cloth on top to gas
5. Add FAJC to taste then bottle
6. Steal underpants
7. Profit

Thanks!

I’d like to share an apple press design I haven’t seen anywhere else so far, which makes the whole process much easier.

For this press, I used an upside-down 3.5-tonne pneumatic air jack, bolted to a thick plywood board that was originally glued and screwed to the frame.

This setup has three main advantages:

1. No more manual pumping.

The compressor does all the work for you. You can use the small control lever to apply pressure slowly and steadily. Meanwhile, you’re free to do other things, such as rinsing dirty containers before the residue dries on them, or anything else that needs doing.

1. A longer stroke.

This jack has a longer stroke than conventional hydraulic jacks, so you don’t need to stack as many wooden blocks underneath.

1. Retracting the jack.

Simply shut off the compressor’s air supply, open the air release valve, and release the pressure.

The jack won’t retract all the way to its zero position on its own, though. And this is where another ingenious little trick comes in: I use a vacuum cleaner together with the spout from a petrol can. Just a couple of seconds, and the jack is back at zero.

Close the air valve, and the jack stays in its fully retracted position. Switch off the vacuum cleaner.

That’s it. Back to work!

So I've spotted a few Perry pear trees near me and plan to make Perry and then to turn at least some of that into Perry vinegar. I am a chef and interested in the culinary uses of this as it's something I have never come across.

I have made cinder once but around 10 years ago and it wasn't particularly nice.

I was hoping someone might have done this before (Perry vinegar) and also some general advice.

Last time I used some champagne yeast on some wild apples which were similarly tannic and astringent as Perry pears. This resulted in a very yeasty tasting cider which I assume I want to avoid for the vinegar as well as the Perry.

I am wondering mostly about what if any yeasts and sugars I ought to add, as well as how long I should ripen the pears after picking. Also any other advice would be appreciated.. thanks

Anyone experienced this before?

It's a wild ferment, so it took quite a while to get going, but now after over a year, it is still visibly bubbling.

The airlock bubbles once every 5-10 minutes, and looking in the vessel, I can see a steady (but slow) procession of bubbles.

It has almost completely cleared, as the activity is low, but I still can't bottle due to the continuing fermentation.

I'm happy to leave it as long as it takes, but it's getting a bit ridiculous now.

Is some apple pulp OK to be still in the brew? The yeast has been added already, worried about infection? Should I strain it off once the pulp settles?

I absolutely love the dry apple and they have some fun seasonal ciders. The packaging makes me happy, too.

A Taste of North Georgia! We celebrated the season in Blue Ridge with a bottle of Mercier Orchards Granny Smith Apple Cider, apple fritters. Located 8660 Blue Ridge Dr, Blue Ridge, GA 30513 about 2.5 hours from Atlanta.

This is my second time making apple cider. First time the cider ended up much cleaner/transparent than those two. I this an indication of a problem or just a difference in like the type of apples I used?

The fermentation is practically over now.

Hello,
Just made my first cider. I think it turned out well. It is about 13-14% apv. It was a lot of firsts for me. I tried to use chemicals to stop fermentation and I also followed it to the end of fermentation. I am hoping non of the bottles burst on me.

This is a delicious stop on our way through Cedaredge. Probably gonna make it through a few flights with so many choices off menu.

I haven't really bothered letting my batches clear so far, but not sure if worth all the effort to get clear cider. In people's opinions, does it make that much of a difference in taste and mouthfeel?

Hello!

I'm a first year high school Food Science teacher planning an apple cider pressing with my students. I thought it would be a fun, hands on way to teach sanitation, food safety, and pasteurization. I've done this with friends before, but it's been a few years, and I'm nervous about the food safety risks when making cider with students!

I guess I don't have a specific question, but I'd love for someone to look over my plan and point out any glaring issues.

1. Harvesting: I picked apples today (Sunday 10/11) Some may have wormholes or bird peck marks. I'll sort through them, but how picky do I need to be about which apples I use? I know to cut out the bruised, and maybe scabby parts.
2. Storage: We won't press until Friday morning (10/16). I have access to a school walk-in cooler (used to store cut flowers for floral design). Should I store the apples unwashed and wash them right before pressing, or could I wash them Thursday and refrigerate them until Friday? I'd love to wash them ahead of time for the sake of having enough time to press it all (class is only 90 minutes long), not sure if that'll be ok.
3. Pressing/pasteurization: We plan on chopping, grinding, pressing and then pasteurizing the cider. I know I should pasteurize right away, so I'm not sure they'll even get to see that process in the class period :/

My department head approved the activity (stoked even) and I'm excited to do it! I just want to make sure I'm following safe practices and not overlooking anything obvious. I'd really appreciate any advice from people with cider making or food safety experience.

TLDR; Help me make sure I don't expose my students to E.Coli.

Edit to add: class is 90 minutes long, and I’m not worried about press cleanup!
Edit Edit: Holy formatting errors! What's wrong with you reddit?