Apples for fun

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Apples for fun

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sat Feb 22, 2020 5:28 pm

G'day Guy's,
Earlier in the weeks SWMBO mentioned 25kg's of cider apples for $20 and when I rang up this morning they were all gone :angry-banghead: anyway she did say the vege store next to woolies in Mt Barker had buckets of apples going cheap. So went in and bought 3 buckets this morning, don't know the variety so just grabbed one bucket of each colour so I did get a variety. :happy-partydance:

Anyway the next step was to crush the apples to get all the juice out and all I had in the shed was my corona mill. So set the plates with a decent gap, cored and cut diced the apples then off I went turning the handle but found the apple wasn't feeding :angry-banghead: Thought I did have that 15" length of 1" SS so went and got that to use as a rammer and that worked a treat. :happy-partydance:

Every 30 apples decided I needed to start filling the 5 litre demi and needed a squeeze bag so went down to the house and my youngest daughter got on the sewing machine and made me one. I ended using 96 apples and got about 8 litres of apple juice. Now when I checked with my refractometer 1065 SG :scared-eek: WTF thats up there :laughing-rolling:

Now the aim here is to make a cider and leave some for my minime to make some more apple brandy as it tastes so yummy after aging on french oak. But it does take time to age so thats why I do this every few months to ensure I keep my supply going.

My plan is to go into town in the morning and grab 2 more buckets so I can get 12-13 litres of apple juice then I can water it down 100% and add a bit of inverted sugar to get back to the 1045SG mark which won't make the ciders a bomb when drinking. The last batch I did 6 ciders and you are on the floor literally :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

I do intend to use some EC1118 yeast and the goal is go for 30 litres to suit my cider fermenter.

No I did find some of the apple seeds had germinated with little sprouts so potted 3 of those seeds and all the cores went into a trench I dug in the vege patch which I soak with water everyday to see if I can't get some to grow. I mean one can never have enough apple trees when one makes cider and the brandy thats such a treat after waiting and waiting.

Cheers Bryan
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Re: Apples for fun

Postby crow » Sat Feb 22, 2020 11:00 pm

Its been a good few years since I've done apples, I just happened to be in SAn during apple season so put down a 44 of em on the pulp as I didn't have a decent way to juice them. I have since found out that a grape crusher and wine press will work well on them. Back in SA I could borrow one but it is on my bucket list to buy them some day
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Re: Apples for fun

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sun Feb 23, 2020 11:05 am

This morning decided to make up the wash and looking at the calc's on this forum going for a 5% cider which won't be over the top 1040SG was the target. First I put in about 4 litres of water and about 3 litres from the 5 litre beaker to wash it out and the SG was 1035. So inverted 2 kg's of sugar and topped up the fermenter to 30 litres and when I checked the SG 1041 :happy-partydance: :happy-partydance: :happy-partydance:

I rehydrated some EC1118 yeast in some 30 degree rainwater and put in some sugar and mixed it until it all went into solution then added the yeast. About 15 minutes the yeast formed a cap so gave it a mix to knock down the cap and did that 3 times to ensure the yeast was fully hydrated. I also put in a yeast nutrient which I had left over from previous cider ferments where I used 2 tins.

Tried to setup my digi ph meter only to find even in 4 ph solution it wouldn't calibrate so this week I'll get some ph papers and go back to the old school method of checking ph.

Now this has got me thinking those cider tins one gets from the hb shop is just a concentrate so I do wonder if I boiled up a batch of pure cider to drive the water away would that produce the gooey concentrate one pays an arm and a leg at the hb shop. I reckon it would only take about 20 apples to get enough to play with and I do need to start thinking about making a cider press and of course it would have to be a copper one. So now off to take a look at that copper hotwater heater I have here to see if the copper tank can be a donor :laughing-rolling:

Cheers Bryan
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Re: Apples for fun

Postby scythe » Tue Feb 25, 2020 5:13 pm

I would not think that copper could take the stresses involved in juice pressing.
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Re: Apples for fun

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sat Mar 21, 2020 2:29 pm

Well a couple of weeks ago the missus swapped a bucket of coxin orange pippins apples which is close to a medieval type apple, well yes the apples were quite small and off a bucket I only got enough to do a 5 litre ferment. Well I did put more in the 5 litre jug as one night after work the airlock was apple juice. :angry-banghead: So took out the cork and gave the airlock a good rinse and clean, ( this is where pipe cleaners come in handy). 3 days later the ferment had finished so I left until today. I racked off the ferment into my 5 litre beaker and cleaned up 4 longnecks and also cleaned up 3 of the throw downs from the last cider I made which is getting better every week. I ended up with 4 longnecks and 3 throw downs and having a sip of the wash WOW :o this stuff is gunna be good.

So now I am finished with using store bought kits as pure juice is the way to go. Now if the yield off the apples is not enough to do a clear ferment just water it down and check the SG. Now to raise the SG just invert a bit of sugar and aim for 1041 SG. This will yield around a 6% cider which will be a crowd pleaser at any party.

My goal is get enough apples for a 60 litre ferment so I can put down it on charred French oak for about 12 months to make some top apple brandy. The trials I have done on my minime have shown this to be a top drop.

For the non believers just ask Zac as he had a taste and the look on his face was priceless :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

Cheers Bryan
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Re: Apples for fun

Postby bluc » Sat Mar 21, 2020 3:56 pm

I am stock piling(not panic buying) cheap coles apple juice. I intend on 30l of juice and buying a case fresh apples. Undecided on type..and running them through my cold press juicer :handgestures-thumbupleft: think i have bout 15l juice
Last edited by bluc on Sat Mar 21, 2020 3:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Apples for fun

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sun May 17, 2020 4:01 pm

G'day Guy's,
The last cider was so nice it ran out pretty quick so thought best to get another batch done. So went to the local fruit and vege shop and they had buckets of apples for $8 each, so grabbed 4 of them and ended up with 20kg's of apples and after juicing ended up with just over 10 litres. So doing my normal method of giving the juice a sugar bump to get more litres. Decided to use my 40 litre black fermenter and got 33 litres at 1041. It did take close to a month to ferment due to the colder weather and today it was ready. Cleaned up 70 stubbies and 1/2 a dozen longnecks and after filling all of them still had a heap left.

Anyway my apple brandy stocks are getting low so got my 5 litre boiler and it filled it easily leaving some headroom in case it wants to puke as i did do a bulk prime. After that there was still some left so filled 2 more longnecks.

It didn't tkae long to setup my old 2" pot still and got it heating up now to do a stripping run then with the low wines I'll do the spirit run in my MiniMe and put some fresh apple in the thumper after leaving it to macerate in some 40% over night.

By the way this batch of apples are the pink lady variety and are a very sweet apple so it will be interesting to see how the cider and brandy turn out.

Cheers Bryan
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Re: Apples for fun

Postby bluc » Sun May 17, 2020 4:42 pm

Do you add skins to fermenter?
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Re: Apples for fun

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sun May 17, 2020 4:53 pm

nope just the juice, now I do an arcane method to juice the apples as I only have my hand powered corona mill. I cut the apples up into small chunks and found that was the best way then with the pulp it goes into a pillow case where i squeeze out as much juice as I can. It does take a few hours to do and the end result is worth the effort. Everyone that had tasted my cider has offered to help me clean the bottles as they want more of it :laughing-rolling: .

Now making the brandy thru my minime and after about 2 months on french oak the taste is just moresum

Cheers Bryan
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Re: Apples for fun

Postby bluc » Sun May 17, 2020 6:30 pm

How i did whole apples..
[youtube] https://youtu.be/p4sObnBerSA [/youtube]
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Re: Apples for fun

Postby RuddyCrazy » Thu Jan 21, 2021 4:08 pm

Well the old adage of leaving a fermenter sealed and the wash will stay good was myth busted :laughing-rolling: with my latest apple cider. I left it for a couple of weeks and decided it was time to bottle it so got the priming sugar sorted and when I opened the fermenter a white fungus crud was growing ontop of the wash that smelt pretty off :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead: :angry-banghead:

So into my 50 litre keg boiler it went and I did a strip run where I got about 4 litres to 35%, being a low ABV wash the yield wasn't great so I went and bought a couple of fugi apples and wacked some herbs in the low wines. Cinnamon, Cassia, All Spice and whole Black Peppers.

Left it for a week giving the 5 litre demi a good shake everyday and yesterday did a spirit run in my 2" pot still, as there was only 4 litres I topped up the boiler with some apple backset. Did the cuts this morning and put down 2 litre's @65% with just one 5 gram toasted/charred French Oak chip. I'll leave it to age for a few months to colour up then have a DP :obscene-drinkingchug: to see how it's travelling but from the DP :obscene-drinkingchug: on the spirit run this is going to be one nice drop :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Cheers Bryan
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Re: Apples for fun

Postby Wellsy » Thu Jan 21, 2021 5:06 pm

There is always an answer hey Bryan
Apple cider apple brandy it is all the same isn’t it :laughing-rolling:
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Re: Apples for fun

Postby RuddyCrazy » Sat Jan 23, 2021 9:22 am

Wellsy wrote:
Apple cider apple brandy it is all the same isn’t it :laughing-rolling:



G'day Wellsy,
For the novice like yourself :laughing-rolling: it may seem all the same but in reality :teasing-tease: they are poles apart :laughing-rolling:

Decanted a dram this morning :obscene-drinkingchug: and man this stuff really doesn't need aging as it's bloody nice and the herbs shine thru after the taste of the apple has subsided. Goes down nice and smooth and for a guy like me who hates gin :violence-smack: and will never become a gin snob :laughing-rolling: going this route using a fruit wash then stripping and macerating fresh fruit and the herbs for a week. Then running it thru a pot still on the spirit run makes for a full flavoured drop that will beat a gin hands down in the taste stakes :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

Cheers Bryan
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Re: Apples for fun

Postby Amberale » Sat Jan 23, 2021 9:59 am

I’m hoping to beat the parrots to some of our cider apples this year, the nets are up.

I haven’t got a press but I going to try running them through a chipper/mulcher and see what I get.
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