Produce > Drink ....

Apple cider

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Gordonmull:
As another option, you can get "scratters" (apple shredders) that are a bucket with a hole and a double blade attachment for an electric drill to chop up your apples. A car jack and some carpentry can make a press. You could put something together pretty cheap. Have a google of DIY scratters and presses. If you're making a lot, I wouldn't go down the pop-bottle-brewery route.

I used a food processor to do 20-odd kg of apples and it was a flaming nightmare. If you forget to release the pressure on the bottles it can be really messy, even plastic bottles can explode. You can get 5l bottles of mineral water for £1. Drill or melt a hole in the cap and use a grommit to make a place to put an airlock. Can also just stuff with cotton wool. Either that or go to Wilcos and get some demijohns. If you do go down the pop bottle route, just use cotton wool instead of the lid until fermentation is over.

All-in-all, though, I'd make jam and stick to turbo cider, using cheapo juice from Lidl. No mess, no fuss and a decent tasting south-east-type cider. Think it comes out at about 30p a pint. Taste-wise it kicks Strongbow's and Magners' arse up and down the field and leaves them weeping. With a straight cast of the yeast onto the juice it comes out at 5% ABV, so needs a little sugar added to the mix for proper "falling over water", although I don't bother with that. 

galina:

--- Quote from: Gordonmull on June 02, 2014, 01:27:11 ---. If you forget to release the pressure on the bottles it can be really messy, even plastic bottles can explode. You can get 5l bottles of mineral water for £1. Drill or melt a hole in the cap and use a grommit to make a place to put an airlock. Can also just stuff with cotton wool. Either that or go to Wilcos and get some demijohns. If you do go down the pop bottle route, just use cotton wool instead of the lid until fermentation is over. 

--- End quote ---

Cotton wool sounds a good idea, but it is equally simple (like when going away for a few days) to leave the stopper half open.  There is a lot of expansion room in the corrugated base of plastic bottles, never had a problem with exploding here.  Never had one bulge at the bottom either.  And being in a cold fridge also slows the fermentation.

I agree, demijohns with proper airlocks are the right way to go for producing any quantity.  And they are not that expensive.  Our local Wilko's also stocks a decent homebrewing collection.

gazza1960:
Yer,thank you all some food for thought,I've seen cheap Demi john bottles at Wimborne market
So will look into it.

hartshay:
I wonder how many are still making cider on here.

Using my own and any spare allotment apples we can acquire we make about 100 litres a year.  It is a pain crushing and pressing the apples but the results are amazing.  I have a queue of people waiting for they annual bottle or two ...  very different to the wine I make!

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