Making apple cider from apples

How to Make Cider

Introduction: How to Make Cider

If you have access to a lot of free apples, you can easily make cider from them. Any apples will do, but they should be as ripe as possible. This instructable shows you a simple method that does not require any special equipment.

Update Oct 2014 — In response to popular demand, I have just published an extra Instructable about how to make the press in step 4. Just wood, a few plastic containers and a car jack — cheap but very effective 🙂

Step 1: Collecting Your Apples

The first thing is to get some apples. You will need quite a lot of large containers, because you need to collect about 4 to 5 times the volume of apples compared to the volume of juice you want to make into cider. The container shown here is a 5 gallon (22 litre) fermentation bin.

A sheet or blanket is also handy. Put your sheet under the tree, climb up the tree and shake it. Lots fall off. The advantage of this method is that generally the ripest apples tend to fall off, and seriously under-ripe apples stay on. When you put them into the bucket, pick the apples up by hand, so you don’t get all the twigs, leaves, earwigs etc.

Step 2: Containers for Apples

You need a lot of apples. Here are about 20-22 gallons of apples, which made about 4 and half gallons of juice.

Step 3: Pulping the Apples

To release the juice, you have to smash up the apples, then press them. A long piece of timber is good for this (untreated with any sort of preservative!)

Step 4: Building a Simple Press

Here, a press was made from 4″ x 3″ (12cm x 9cm) timber bolted together. This forms a strong frame in which a tub can be placed.

Step 5: Preparing the Apple Pulp

The mashed apple pulp is put inside a nylon mesh, and put into a plastic box, with a single small hole drilled into it (to let out the juice). The cheapest available was this red mesh, an offcut from the fabric section in a shop.

Step 6: Pressing Using a Car Jack

A board was placed on top of the mesh containing the apple pulp, and a car jack placed between the board and the frame to apply pressure.

Step 7: Sterilising the Juice

This step is not essential, but is advisable if your apples are already quite mouldy or have lots of soft brown bits. Here sodium metabisulphite is being added. This realeases sulphur dioxide, which will kill or seriously retard any dodgy moulds, yeasts or bacteria which otherwise can spoil the juice.
Do not add your yeast for about 24 hours after sterilisation or it may be killed as well!

Step 8: Add Yeast

Any wine or beer grade yeast is good for this. You can add it straight into the juice, but if you have used sulphur dixide to sterilise your juice, you should allow 24 hours before adding the yeast. The wine yeast you add will quickly crowd out any traces of other natural yeasts. It will use up the oxygen in the juice to breed, and will start turning the natural sugars into alcohol.

Step 9: Checking Acidity

After a week or so, the yeast in your cider will have turned all the sugar into alcohol. At this point you can check to see how sour the apples were. If the apples were not completely ripe, or you only had wild apples the juice can be very sharp. This can be so sharp you can’t drink it. You can make this less so by adding calcium carbonate (aka precipitated chalk). This will react with the acids in your cider and neutralise them. You may need to add several ounces per gallon, but do this in stages because when you add it, the reaction of acid and carbonate will release carbon dioxide, so it will fizz.

Step 10: Bottling

After you have left your cider for a few weeks, it will clear as the yeast settles, and it will be ready for bottling. It may not be completely clear, but that doesn’t really matter because it can clear in the bottle.
For each wine size bottle, you will need to prime the bottles by adding just over half a teaspoon of sugar to each. This will restart the fermentation, but because it happens in a sealed bottle, the carbon dioxide released gets dissolved into the cider and creates pressure. When the bottle is opened later, the pressure is released, allowing the gas to esacpe, which creates the sparkle.
You should use bottle designed to stand pressure such as bottles made for sparkling wine. Seal your bottles with corks and champagne wire cages. You can use beer bottles with crown corks, but this needs a special tool.

Step 11: Storing Your Cider

For the first 3-5 days after bottling with, you should keep your bottles in a warm place. This will encourage the yeast to ferment the sugar, to will make the cider fizzy. After that, you should store the bottles in a cold place for about 2 weeks to allow the cider to settle and clear.

Step 12: The Finished Cider

Cheap and cheery, but actually rather tasty, and very satisfying to make.

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224 Comments

Question 2 months ago

Hi.
I’m new to this and it looked a really simple solution to using my apples.

I have pressed the apples
Added Campden to it and left it 24hrs

Added test on the 21st and some yeast nutrient.

It seems to be fermenting well and a sediment “Lee’s” at the bottom.

Still bubbling away but there’s a hint of rotten eggs in the shed where it’s fermenting. Is that normal?

Should it look like this 7 days in?

Question 1 year ago

Me again, I’ve just tried making pear cider, and this is the result after 24hours fermenting (the demijon on the left is pear , while the one on the right is apple after a week fermenting).What I would like to know , is how do you make this clear out.thanks .

Question 1 year ago on Step 1

Hi , I’ve just made a second trial batch, but looks the same as the first quite cloudy and dense, even though I filtered it, The first batch after 3-4 weeks seems to have got darker in colour ,what could be the problem, or is this normal. thanks

you can use clean fizzy drink bottles as long as they are sterilised with hot water or a sodium metabisulphite solution such as campden tablets rinsed out with clean water fizzy drink bottles are designed to withhold pressure always leave an inch or 2 gap to allow for expansion of the second stage fermentation process to prevent fizz from coming out when opening put your bottles in the fridge a couple of hours at least before serving this allows the sediment to settle in the base of the bottles

Question 1 year ago

Your recipe seems easier (fewer stages, less equipment) than many others I’ve seen. So I just wanted to check: am I right that you don’t sterilise any of the equipment, bottles, etc or need stuff like demijohns and airlocks? Thanks.

Answer 1 year ago

Hi, thanks — you should always use cleaned equipment, bottles, airlocks etc. If washed well in soapy water and rinsed thoroughly then you can risk not sterilising them as well but it’s always best to sterilise everything. I use sodium metabisulphite in water for this. It’s very cheap.
If you only wash and rinse things, then you won’t get any sulphur dioxide in it, which is commonly added in lots of wine for preserving it, but harmless.
the trade off is that there is more of a risk that any airborne microbes that get into your cider will spoil it if you don’t use it. It’s a choice. BUT everything must be at least clean : )

Reply 1 year ago

Thanks, that makes sense! You mention airlocks etc but your fermenting is all in a big lidded bucket so there’s no demijohns and airlocks etc. It’s not closed to the air. Right? I’m just trying to understand what equipment I need to gather and your instructions seem simpler than many I’ve seen, so they appeal to me the most. I probably have lidded buckets. x

Reply 1 year ago

the whole purpose of a lidded bucket is to keep microbes out but an airlock keeps the air out but also allows the co2 produced in the fermentation process to escape the secret of the airlock is to only fill the bottom u shape too much water will give you a false reading using a hydrometre is your safest bet to know when your brew is ready to bottle

Question 1 year ago on Step 7

a lot of people add extra sugar into their apple juice whats your take on this as we run a home brew shop and dextrose is recommended as an addition cheers Bill

Question 1 year ago

How much yeast do I use per litre of pressed apple juice and can I use normal baking yeast

Question 1 year ago

Hi , another newbie question, I have just been given these apples and they are ready. I plan to spray them with campden tablet dilute, crush and press, then add to sterilised Demi John with yeast and yeast nutrient. Does that sound right , do I add sugar at this stage ? Thanks

Answer 1 year ago

Hi. Sorry I missed this.
I would add the camden tablets after pressing, as it is easier to disperse it consistently in a liquid.
Havind said that, if you are not pressing the apples immediately, you could wash them with a camden tablet in water to sterilise the surface. This will last a day or so. Longer if kept in a sealed container.

If you sterilise the juice, let it stand (covered) for at least 24 hours before adding the yeast. This lets the sulphur dioxide dissipate. When you add the yeast and nutrient, give it a damn good stir to bear some oxygen in. The yeast needs this at the beginning of the fermentation (to reproduce initially). After that, keep air out or microbes can get in.

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How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar at Home

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Every fall we take at least one trip to an apple orchard near us. They have family-friendly activities, wonderful local canned goods for sale, and of course, apples. So many apples! My kids love applesauce so I take advantage of the apple season to make homemade applesauce so that we can enjoy it throughout the year.

Don’t Waste Apple Cores and Peels!

I don’t always peel the apples when I make applesauce but if you do take the time to peel the apples (maybe you even prefer your applesauce that way), you can use the peels and the cores to make apple cider vinegar. This way you have virtually no waste!

It is also totally possible to make apple cider vinegar from the whole apple so don’t worry if you don’t have leftover peels and cores from anything.

When I make applesauce, I typically do large quantities at a time so I have enough peels and cores for a batch of apple cider vinegar. If you only occasionally use apples, you can store the peels and cores in the freezer until you have enough gathered to start a batch.

If you don’t have an apple orchard nearby, farmers markets are another great place to get organically grown apples. Just check with the farmer. Organic apples are ideal for apple cider vinegar, especially if you will be using the peel. If you cannot find organic apples, peel them first. Discard the peel and just use the inside portion.

What Is So Special About Apple Cider Vinegar?

Apple cider vinegar (ACV) has many healthy uses. It is made through the process of fermentation and is high in phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and calcium. Hippocrates is believed to have prescribed ACV for a variety of ailments.

ACV for Digestion and Heartburn

ACV is the base of spicy cider which is a great remedy to help quickly knock out a cold.

Amazingly, and contrary to what seems logical, ACV also has a valuable role in preventing heartburn and aiding digestion. In most cases heartburn is actually caused by too little stomach acid which slows down digestion. Food and gasses put pressure on the stomach, causing stomach contents (including stomach acid) to leak back into the esophagus. When you remedyВ heartburn with ACV it increases stomach acid and helps the body digest the food more quickly. This prevents the build-up and subsequent leakage which causes heartburn. You can read more about natural heartburn relief here.

ACV Topically

In addition to its many benefits when taken internally, it is wonderful for the skin. When added to bathwater, it helps to naturally restore balance to the skin’s pH. It also helps kill bacteria and fungus on the skin which can lead to a host of problems, including eczema, dandruff, and other skin conditions.

Because of its great pH balancing benefits and dandruff preventing abilities, it makes a great hair rinse that replaces conditioner and can be used after shampooing with a natural shampoo.

Unfiltered, Unpasteurized, And With “The Mother”

Most of the ACV you find in the supermarket is pasteurized and highly filtered. These versions still work well for cleaning but they are not optimal for internal and culinary uses because most of the benefits are gone once the “mother” is filtered out and the vinegar is pasteurized.

There are a few available that are “with the mother” which means they leave in the beneficial bacteria that develops during the fermentation process in the vinegar. When you make your own ACV you can be sure that your vinegar retains this beneficial “mother.”

Important Notes:

• This recipe uses sugar. The sugar is necessary to “feed” the yeast, but most (if not all) of the sugar is fermented out. People often ask if they can use honey. The short answer is yes, but it really does not work as well and causes the whole process to take longer. And to be honest, because the sugar is broken down, there really isn’t anything to be concerned about as far as the effect it will have on blood sugar.
• Make sure all of your equipment and your jar are very clean. It is important to make sure you don’t introduce any bacteria other than what is naturally occurring in the process.
• My favorite apple variety to use for applesauce is Gala so my scraps are usually a majority Gala. However, you get the best flavor if you have a mix of varieties. I use mostly Gala, but I will throw in a mixture of other types for the rest. Some I have used are Fuji, Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, and McIntosh. It just adds some complexity to the flavor.
• White scum is going to form on the top. This is normal. Mold, however, is not good and will spoil your ACV. Be sure that the apples stay submerged under the water. This will help prevent mold. You can use a fermentation weight or even just a smaller glass jar (thoroughly clean the outside) and set it on top of the apples to keep them submerged.
• Gnats and flies love ACV so you need to make sure your jar is well covered. However, it needs to be able to breath and release gasses created from the fermentation process so do not use a solid lid. Cheesecloth or a coffee filter work well.

Final Notes

At some point while making apple cider vinegar, you will probably notice a SCOBY-like “thing” that forms on the top. This is the “mother.” You can remove it or you can just leave it floating in your vinegar.

If you don’t want to make your own apple cider vinegar, it is becoming more common for grocery stores to carry organic ACV “with the mother.” Or you can buy it online.

How to Make Apple Cider Vinegar

Before starting to make ACV, there are a few things you’ll need to have on hand first:

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