The Fruit Tree

Just made a batch of cider on monday, using juice from our apples trees. It’s still fermenting away in the kitchen and bubbling so much that their is apple stuff creeeping into the air lock!

I posted the recipe below. The only thing is that I added a shitload more suger so that I get the highest alcohol content possible. Im hoping for around 14% alcohol concentration. Of course cider of this concentration will taste like absolute shite, but I’m going to distill the brew (using my 5 litre pot still) and create an apple spirit. Drink and get shitfaced! I will post up my results. Basically all you need to make this brew is apple juice, sugar and wine yeast.

Simple Cider (to make 4.5l) by Peter Laycock.

A very easily made dry cider which is slightly acidic to the taste and can easily be adapted/modified as required, I find adding the petals of an aromatic, fully opened rose, picked on a good sunny day, can be added around day 4, giving a little subtlety to the bouquet and flavour.

Ingredients:-

4l Apple juice (Supermarket type, no added chemicals or sugar & avoid anything with “drink” in the name)
50g sugar (see Notes below)
5g (1tsp) Pectic enzyme
2.5g (1/2 tsp) yeast nutrient **
Wine yeast (white Champagne is best but any will do, even red)

1) Pour 1l of apple juice into a demijohn, add the sugar after dissolving in a small amount of warmed water (250ml or less), add the pectic enzyme, yeast (** nutrient need not be added as the juice should contain sufficient).
2) After 1 day add 1l apple juice, repeat on days 3 & 4. All the juice could be added on day 1 but this gradual process possibly gives more flavour. (See AWARD WINING WINES by Bill Smith - Nexus Special Interests, for further information.)
3) On the last day make up to about 4.7l (this allows for wastage).
4) Rack when finished.
5) Bottle in plastic “pop” bottles with 1 rounded tsp sugar per 500ml & keep warm for a few days for the bottles to get “fat” with the secondary fermentation.
6) Store somewhere cool for at least a month before trying.

Notes:- This cider would typically have an O.G. of around 1040 and a F.G. of 1000, giving about 5.8% ABV (including the priming sugar) and 0.74% acidity. For a less acidic cider the apple juice can be reduced to 3l and the sugar increased to 150g.
Stronger versions can be produce by adding extra sugar during stage 1, each extra 50g of sugar provides about 0.5% alcohol but do not sacrifice quality for alcoholic strength!

I usually make cider at the same time as I make a wine, just re-hydrate the wine yeast in a small amount of water as per the Manufacturers instructions, add an equal quantity of apple juice after 15min and again 1hr later, this working yeast can then be equally divided between the wine & the cider, preferably after a further 30min to an hour (not at all critical).

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