# So I have 500lbs of apple.....



## varano14 (Oct 25, 2021)

So yah this weekend a friend offered me as many apples as I wanted. 10 crates fit into my jeep so that's what I ended up with. This came after they heard about and tasted some of my wine. They were all excited for me to make a hard cider/ apple wine. At the time I figured I could figure something out. Well now I am sorta concerned after everything I read only was that you basically need a press to get the juice out. I do not have a press, I was planning on looking into it for next year but then this fell in my lap.

I have an idea to "crush" them by hand using a garden tamper and a large brute trashcan. But I am stumped on how to press them. Tried the local home brew store and they do not have a press to rent or any one hand to even sell me. I have one possible lead on a used on semi local but my concern is if that falls through I am ganna be stuck. How long will they keep, ordering a relatively cheap china made on off of amazon can get me something in about a week. (I am aware of the quality issues here).

They are currently sitting on my back porch today its pretty warm here in central pa, mid 70's, the next like 5 days it looks like highs of about 60 lows 45. The other option would be my basement which stays a pretty constant 65. 

Help


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## VinesnBines (Oct 25, 2021)

Ideally you need this: The American Harvester. I have pieces of two old cider mills that I would love to get back together. 

The apples go in the hopper and are ground/crushed between two iron wheels and fall in the basket at the back. Once full, that basket slides to the front under the press and the juice is pressed out of the apples. You can have at 2 people or more working the mill and press. Making cider is a great friend and family activity.

You might get by by finding a grinding method but you need a press. I don't think you will be able to crush well enough with a garden tamper and a press is a necessity. Uncooked apples are too hard to squeeze without a press. 

Your other option is to cook up the apples and make apple butter. You need a huge copper pot, a stirring paddle, all day fire and a bunch of people.

Good luck. Hope you figure out something.


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## winemaker81 (Oct 25, 2021)

Last time I made apple wine I used a juicer on 1 bushel. You have _just a bit_ more than I had, so this solution may not be ideal.


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## varano14 (Oct 25, 2021)

winemaker81 said:


> Last time I made apple wine I used a juicer on 1 bushel. You have _just a bit_ more than I had, so this solution may not be ideal.



Just a bit 
The saying "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" seems to have gotten me in a bit of a pickle but there are worse problems to have I suppose


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## varano14 (Oct 25, 2021)

VinesnBines said:


> Ideally you need this: The American Harvester. I have pieces of two old cider mills that I would love to get back together.
> 
> The apples go in the hopper and are ground/crushed between two iron wheels and fall in the basket at the back. Once full, that basket slides to the front under the press and the juice is pressed out of the apples. You can have at 2 people or more working the mill and press. Making cider is a great friend and family activity.
> 
> ...



Yes a full mill like you listed would be idea, unfortunately there are no second hand ones available even remotely locally and a new one is a bit out of the budget.

My idea was to smash the heck out of them with the tamper after halving or quartering them and then press the smashed fruit. I figured on smashing smaller quantities at a time to make it easier. Not speedy but I am hoping it'll be better then trying to press whole fruit.

The issue has been locating a press on short notice. The old interwebs seems to say the apples should be okay for atleast a week or so but that still isn't all that long.


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## winemaker81 (Oct 25, 2021)

Core the apples and process in a food processor. This is going to be serious effort, but you'll get more juice.


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## varano14 (Oct 25, 2021)

winemaker81 said:


> Core the apples and process in a food processor. This is going to be serious effort, but you'll get more juice.



I don't currently have a food processor, just ordered a china special press. For the 170 shipped price if it gets me through this I will be happy.


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## raspberry (Oct 25, 2021)

amazon


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## Arne (Oct 26, 2021)

I have never tried this with apples but you could freeze them and it would make the juice easier to extract from them by hand. Careful if you try cooking them, it will most likely set the pectin and you will not get your wine to clear. Arne.


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## mikewatkins727 (Oct 26, 2021)

Arne said:


> I have never tried this with apples but you could freeze them and it would make the juice easier to extract from them by hand. Careful if you try cooking them, it will most likely set the pectin and you will not get your wine to clear. Arne.


@Arne that's *500 pounds* of apples, where is he going to put them for freezing?


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## VinesnBines (Oct 26, 2021)

I thought of freezing too but is is 500 lbs. I had a thought that is a little wild; get two clean tarps, cut up the apples, lay them out on one tarp, cover with the other and driver over with a riding lawn mower. Using the weight of the mower you will crush the apples making them ready for the press. You could do the same with a lawn roller if you have one. Similar to the garden tamper but much more weigh and will be faster. 

This is a completely sober idea. Not sure how big a mess it would make but I was thinking of how we get the hulls off black walnuts.


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## varano14 (Oct 26, 2021)

VinesnBines said:


> This is a completely sober idea.


Any idea with this disclaimer is always a winner in my book

This is the reason I love the internet, a totally insane off the wall idea that probably would work. Its funny I was actually considering trying to use the weigh of my jeep but couldn't figure out a way to not have the apples everywhere. I think the problem is with the tarps you would have most of the apple squirting out the sides. If you folded the tarps over that would contain them but I am not sure if the tarps would just bust.

In good news the local press deal is working out, looks to be a ratcheting style and superior to the china special I have on order. The cheapo is either getting cancelled or returned.

As far as freezing them goes my research indicates that is likely the way to get the most juice out of them but alas I have no where near the freezer space to do it. If I had an large and completely empty chest freezer I could probably do them all in one batch but I do not. 

I think I will do an initial press run with the tamper method and see; a) how long it takes and b) what kind of extraction I get.


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## VinesnBines (Oct 26, 2021)

Is the press ratchet/crank or water/hydraulic? The press is essential. You can crush the apples some way. I thought of heavy bags to use to crush under the jeep but that would be expensive. Cut the pieces small and they will be easier to crush.


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## varano14 (Oct 26, 2021)

VinesnBines said:


> Is the press ratchet/crank or water/hydraulic? The press is essential. You can crush the apples some way. I thought of heavy bags to use to crush under the jeep but that would be expensive. Cut the pieces small and they will be easier to crush.


From the pictures ratchet and crank which I think should be a step up from the one I had ordered which was just a direct screw.

I was intenting to half or quarter the apples before smashing with the stamper. I'm thinking a few good stomps should get it to near mush form. The key will be only smashing smaller amounts at once I think which is what is going to slow me down.


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## franc1969 (Oct 26, 2021)

@varano14 Get a cheap sink (cleanable stainless steel, does not have to be new) and disposal (new and clean!) There are YouTube videos, blog posts, etc about using them. Homebrewtalk.com has posts, haven't searched Winemakingtalk, or here - Whizbang Cider.net He advocates building a tray, most places say buying a sink is easier and faster. Otherwise, same setup, grinds fast. If you have a decent press on order, you should be fine. As I said in some other thread- some people ferment with fruit, it is probably too much mess to press after ferment though. Fruit should be fine a few days - some apples or pears hold much longer, some apples or pears don't. Whenever it is sweated ripe and ready.


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## Bossbaby (Oct 26, 2021)

where are you located? My press is sitting empty at the moment.


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## mainshipfred (Oct 26, 2021)

franc1969 said:


> @varano14 Get a cheap sink (cleanable stainless steel, does not have to be new) and disposal (new and clean!) There are YouTube videos, blog posts, etc about using them. Homebrewtalk.com has posts, haven't searched Winemakingtalk, or here - Whizbang Cider.net He advocates building a tray, most places say buying a sink is easier and faster. Otherwise, same setup, grinds fast. If you have a decent press on order, you should be fine. As I said in some other thread- some people ferment with fruit, it is probably too much mess to press after ferment though. Fruit should be fine a few days - some apples or pears hold much longer, some apples or pears don't. Whenever it is sweated ripe and ready.



That is a really neat idea


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## varano14 (Oct 26, 2021)

franc1969 said:


> @varano14 Get a cheap sink (cleanable stainless steel, does not have to be new) and disposal (new and clean!) There are YouTube videos, blog posts, etc about using them. Homebrewtalk.com has posts, haven't searched Winemakingtalk, or here - Whizbang Cider.net He advocates building a tray, most places say buying a sink is easier and faster. Otherwise, same setup, grinds fast. If you have a decent press on order, you should be fine. As I said in some other thread- some people ferment with fruit, it is probably too much mess to press after ferment though. Fruit should be fine a few days - some apples or pears hold much longer, some apples or pears don't. Whenever it is sweated ripe and ready.



Yes I have read in multiple places about that idea and have come the conclusion that short of an actual grinder it is the best way to go. So places make it seem like it may even be better then an actual grinder. My apple source indicated they would like to make a bunch of cider/wine with the apples next year if this goes well as the person who used to make cider with them moved and the apples have just been dropping, unused. I realize 500lbs isn't the smallest test run but they probably had 10 times that still hanging on the trees.

I think if this goes well and we decide to scale up or production I will have at least a year to get squared away for next year. I usually take much more time to plan and gather supplies but this sorta dropped in my lap and the last minute.


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## varano14 (Oct 26, 2021)

Bossbaby said:


> where are you located? My press is sitting empty at the moment.



Central PA, I do believe I have located a press and should be bringing it home tonight. 
Thank you for the offer.


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## varano14 (Oct 26, 2021)

Press is home, it's a #35, there is a tag on it that says mearelli so I am assuming that is the brand. It is missing the handle which should be easy enough to replace and one of the metal tabs that allow it to ratchet (pawl I believe). Seems to function with just one but I will try and replace it. Picked it up along with 2 six gallon, 1 five and 1 three carboys for $375. Not a complete steal but I think I did okay.

All in all a huge upgrade over the one I had ordered.


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## hounddawg (Oct 26, 2021)

varano14 said:


> From the pictures ratchet and crank which I think should be a step up from the one I had ordered which was just a direct screw.
> 
> I was intenting to half or quarter the apples before smashing with the stamper. I'm thinking a few good stomps should get it to near mush form. The key will be only smashing smaller amounts at once I think which is what is going to slow me down.


yep every direct screw break on me as well
Dawg


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## hounddawg (Oct 26, 2021)

franc1969 said:


> @varano14 Get a cheap sink (cleanable stainless steel, does not have to be new) and disposal (new and clean!) There are YouTube videos, blog posts, etc about using them. Homebrewtalk.com has posts, haven't searched Winemakingtalk, or here - Whizbang Cider.net He advocates building a tray, most places say buying a sink is easier and faster. Otherwise, same setup, grinds fast. If you have a decent press on order, you should be fine. As I said in some other thread- some people ferment with fruit, it is probably too much mess to press after ferment though. Fruit should be fine a few days - some apples or pears hold much longer, some apples or pears don't. Whenever it is sweated ripe and ready.


now i like that ideal. i could put one on my 3 basin stainless sink. I LIKE THAT IDEAL, , room is my problem, that would set under the sink, still have 2 basins free...With out crowding my wine room even more,,
Dawg


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## Rice_Guy (Oct 26, 2021)

* the note above for a clean garbage disposal works and a lot of folks do it. You are looking for a 1/8 to 1/4 inch granule, if you get too fine you blind the press bag and too large leaves a lot of juice.
* for home production several nylon bags will contain the pulp, clean pillow cases would work if you don’t have anything else.
* good you found a press, if you were improvising you could accomplish it as a stack of press bags with plywood separators. The pressure could be threaded rod or bar clamps on the corners.
* pressing is faster with thinner dimensions for the juice to travel. ie a twenty inch high stack of four inch high pillows with layer separations will press faster than a single twenty in high bag. Mixing also helps speed extraction.

500 pounds is a lot, I would wonder if a local apple farm would let you rent time on their equipment, ,,, or rent the old antique pieces that they use for a store display.

Good luck on the project.


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## varano14 (Oct 27, 2021)

Rice_Guy said:


> if you were improvising you could accomplish it as a stack of press bags with plywood separators. The pressure could be threaded rod or bar clamps on the corners.
> 
> 500 pounds is a lot, I would wonder if a local apple farm would let you rent time on their equipment, ,,, or rent the old antique pieces that they use for a store display.
> 
> Good luck on the project.



That is actually a really good idea for an improvised press. Probably the best I have heard so far as it requires almost no skill to set up, whereas some of the ones using bottle jacks require some woodworking ability.

And yes 500 pounds is definitely a lot, they wanted me to come back for another load (another 500#) and I had to say no. I think if this goes well I would consider doing a much larger run next year if the apples are good again but I will plan it out so that I have help lined up as well as a legitimate crusher set up. I enjoy a project like this but prefer to go into it with a solid plan.


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## Neil (Oct 27, 2021)

I had a similar problem. One year I did the sink waste disposal. Took way to long. The last couple of years I just put them through my Mulcher/Chipper. Its designed for small branches and handles the apples really well. I put a bucket over the discharge and pour about a bucket of apples at a time through. The mush that comes out is perfect for pressing. Takes about 15-20 seconds per bucket.

At the end of the day I just hose the chipper down and clean out any remaining mush. Its not "food grade, stainless steel" but I figure the apples have been lay on the dirt for a while so they are not exactly clean to start with and if I hose out the chipper well after the small amount of juice that gets into the machine isn't going to hurt it - after all its designed to deal with branches, tree sap and the like.


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## Arne (Oct 27, 2021)

mikewatkins727 said:


> @Arne that's *500 pounds* of apples, where is he going to put them for freezing?


Well, it was a thought. Another would be cut them up and throw them in the primary. Would be nice if you have ferment bags to throw them in. Again, large quanity. Probably quite a few bags and a few ffermenters. Arne.


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## Vinegaroon (Oct 27, 2021)

Sounds like a fine windfall. A hand crank grape crusher works pretty well, better when it doesn’t have the destemmer bars. You can also pound them in the ancient Basque style, lots of work but fun if you like that sort of thing. For that the easiest way is a 20 or 25 gallon stainless kettle and a heavy chunk of wood. An oak bannister post from a big box store has the advantage of being small enough where you need to grip it and heavy enough that it goes pretty well as long as you don’t have the apples piled too deep. I’d leave them on the porch out of the sun if possible you don’t want them to spoil but letting them “sweat” for a week or two will help your cider.


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## varano14 (Oct 27, 2021)

Vinegaroon said:


> Sounds like a fine windfall. A hand crank grape crusher works pretty well, better when it doesn’t have the destemmer bars. You can also pound them in the ancient Basque style, lots of work but fun if you like that sort of thing. For that the easiest way is a 20 or 25 gallon stainless kettle and a heavy chunk of wood. An oak bannister post from a big box store has the advantage of being small enough where you need to grip it and heavy enough that it goes pretty well as long as you don’t have the apples piled too deep. I’d leave them on the porch out of the sun if possible you don’t want them to spoil but letting them “sweat” for a week or two will help your cider.



My plan is similar to the stainless kettle idea. I am going to use a heavy garden tamper and a brute trash can to smash them.

As far as sweating them that is the first I have heard of that. So are you saying it may actually be beneficial to let them sit for another week? They were picked Sunday so by Saturday they will have been sitting in my basement for just about a week.


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## Vinegaroon (Oct 27, 2021)

Yes sir, two things happen the apples soften a bit and they dehydrate some. So they crush a bit easier and the juice is a little richer in sugar. You want to visually inspect everything you crush anyway but when they’ve set for a week the buggy ones are much more obvious because spoilage has progressed but the apples that are sound are fine. I have read about folks waiting as much as a month but I never have, two weeks or so works fine though. Ya I have a heavy tamper too I guess I’d never given that much thought. Somebody else on the thread advised about getting your pulp too fine and plugging your press bags, I’d do small batches and dump repeatedly otherwise you wind up with applesauce and it doesn’t press well. But ya apples maybe two or three deep in your bucket a couple of good whacks take a look,maybe a couple more dump and repeat. Good excuse to have friends and family over. Keep plenty of beer on hand and enjoy!


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## Eddy Monsoon (Oct 27, 2021)

Freeze them for 24 hours. The ripest ones first if you're short on space.

When they're defrosted they go mushy. Easy to juice or just bust up anyhow.

Get the fermentation going and add more as they come available

Canadians do a fair bit of this, known as ice cider, has more sugars I believe.

The rougher the better in my view, making a Scrumpy style Cider (I hail from SouthWest England)

I've got 10 litres (from 40lbs) brewing atm so I reckon you'll get about 120 litres of 7-8% cider all up. I'll post a picture of mine when I get home.


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## Rice_Guy (Oct 27, 2021)

varano14 said:


> That is actually a really good idea for an improvised press. Probably the best I have heard so far as it requires almost no skill to set up,


it_ is not my idea C Jolicoeur in The New Cider Makers Handbook has plans/ photo. He also has plans for a build your own apple crusher. If you are doing apple every year he is the best reference I have seen, he likes to explain the goals and give predictive photos and the chemistry, . . . etc._


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## varano14 (Nov 1, 2021)

Update for those curious how this is going.

This weekend I started (with the intend of finishing) crushing and pressing the apples. I had about half the day Saturday before I had to leave on a trip. In that time I got through about 180-190 lbs of apples, assuming a crate is about 50lbs. This was 3 presses full. It resulted in about 9 gallons of cider. Based on what I am reading online my method is doing okay efficiency wise. My strategy was as follows:

1. Quick hose of of the apples to knock off large debris
2. Quarter the apples
3. Once I had a 5 gallon bucket full of slices I dumped that into a 30gallin brute,
4. Smashed them with a garden tamper. This took a lot of physical effort on my part.
5. Smash until there are very few large pieces left, usually at the point that smashed apples started splatting up in the air I stopped
6. Transfer mashed apples into a mesh bag and load into press.
7. Press and enjoy


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## Rice_Guy (Nov 1, 2021)

did you put yeast on? add sugar? 
Apples at room temp have a few weeks shelf life and a cool garage can be months, ciders I have done are about 1.050 which would be 5.5% alcohol, the pH can be good or late apples sometimes are over 4.0.
If I have limited time I would start a ferment and add more as it is made, a refrigerator temp (38) was fermenting after two weeks last year. Freezing could be indefinite storage.
My sugar will be honey, is a cyser, , , good luck on finishing the rest.


varano14 said:


> Update for those curious how this is going.


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## varano14 (Nov 2, 2021)

Rice_Guy said:


> did you put yeast on? add sugar?
> Apples at room temp have a few weeks shelf life and a cool garage can be months, ciders I have done are about 1.050 which would be 5.5% alcohol, the pH can be good or late apples sometimes are over 4.0.
> If I have limited time I would start a ferment and add more as it is made, a refrigerator temp (38) was fermenting after two weeks last year. Freezing could be indefinite storage.
> My sugar will be honey, is a cyser, , , good luck on finishing the rest.



So for the first full bucket of cider I added plain sugar to bring it up about 1.080-1.090 to make it more wine strength and pitched yeast. The fermentation appears to be underway. Our house is cool this time of year which I think will be good for fruit wine fermentation.

Last night with the help of my wife I processed the remainder of the apples I plan on turning into cider. I saved about 50lbs that I plan to make into apple butter. This resulted in a total of about 19 gallons of cider. Which worked out nicely as it gave me two more 6 gallon buckets to work with and left me with an extra gallon to just drink. I am letting the second two buckets warm up a bit today an plan to pitch yeast tonight. I am a bit undecided on what to do with them. I considered using brown sugar for one and making it wine strength and then for the other leaving it at hard cider strength and then kegging it. This of course would require me to purchase all of the kegging equipment and is also a process I know nothing about but I do enjoy hard cider.


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## Eddy Monsoon (Nov 4, 2021)

Eddy Monsoon said:


> I've got 10 litres (from 40lbs) brewing atm so I reckon you'll get about 120 litres of 7-8% cider all up. I'll post a picture of mine when I get home.






This thawed-apple "ice" cider is staying cloudier than usual, still early days !


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## varano14 (Nov 5, 2021)

Eddy Monsoon said:


> This thawed-apple "ice" cider is staying cloudier than usual, still early days !


Looks good I have three 6 gallon buckets fermenting right now. I'll try to get some pictures in a week or so when they are in carboys


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## verdot (Nov 7, 2021)

I have a small orchard and make cider almost every year so I can give you a few tips -

I use wyeast cider strain with nutrients and pectin

I ferment cool. Here in western North Carolina I will leave the carboy in a room in garage where it stays around 60 and I will rack after primary and leave it to finish up over winter and spring. If it goes lower or even freezes it’s not a problem.

I rack to bottle and add a dosage of sugar for carbonation and bottle in beer and champagne style bottles, keep at room temp a few weeks. The champagne bottles can be riddled and the yeast blown off in traditional method but I don’t recommend it for a beginner and some yeast left in the bottle will be fine.


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## varano14 (Nov 8, 2021)

verdot said:


> I have a small orchard and make cider almost every year so I can give you a few tips -
> 
> I use wyeast cider strain with nutrients and pectin
> 
> ...



I too am trying to ferment on the cooler side. Probably around 65 degrees. I planned to store it in my basement for the winter to allow to clear and see where it was at in a few months. I have never carbonate so I am currently planning to make this all into a wine style drink. I did add sugar to bring the alcohol up a bit closer to wine territory.

I have to say while fermenting it is giving off a bit of a funky smell, hopefully it tastes better. How much does the flavor change over time after it has fermented?


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## verdot (Nov 9, 2021)

varano14 said:


> I too am trying to ferment on the cooler side. Probably around 65 degrees. I planned to store it in my basement for the winter to allow to clear and see where it was at in a few months. I have never carbonate so I am currently planning to make this all into a wine style drink. I did add sugar to bring the alcohol up a bit closer to wine territory.
> 
> I have to say while fermenting it is giving off a bit of a funky smell, hopefully it tastes better. How much does the flavor change over time after it has fermented?


If the smell is like cabbage or eggy you may have an H2S problem, which yeast produce when they lack available nitrogen. I had it this year with a batch of wine. Adding yeast nutrients/energizers at the start of fermentation can help with off-aromas. Adding some yeast nutrient might help.


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## varano14 (Nov 10, 2021)

verdot said:


> If the smell is like cabbage or eggy you may have an H2S problem, which yeast produce when they lack available nitrogen. I had it this year with a batch of wine. Adding yeast nutrients/energizers at the start of fermentation can help with off-aromas. Adding some yeast nutrient might help.



That is sorta the smell, will it hurt to at the nutrient this late? Probably a week into the ferment already. If it is too late will the smell effect the wine or will the ferment just slow down?


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## OrchardRoad (Nov 10, 2021)

How'd it go?


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## Spencerthebuilder (Nov 10, 2021)

Quick question.. Doing 4 gallons of preservative free cider. Fermenting nicely with some QA 23. Does cider benefit from extended aging? I'd like to degas and bottle for Thanksgiving gifts


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## varano14 (Nov 11, 2021)

Spencerthebuilder said:


> Quick question.. Doing 4 gallons of preservative free cider. Fermenting nicely with some QA 23. Does cider benefit from extended aging? I'd like to degas and bottle for Thanksgiving gifts



I have zero direct experience because I am still in the fermentation stage, but from what I have read it seems that cider/wine takes forever to clear so that may or may not affect your bottle timing. I plan to taste it often along the way and if it tastes good I may bottle one carboy cloudy for holiday drinking and leave the other two to clear/age longer.


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## varano14 (Nov 12, 2021)

Racked all three buckets into carboys last night.

The initial bucket that I started fermentation on a few days early fermented to completely dry. There was still a lot of gas in it but the taste seemed alright, very crisp, but very little apple taste. Reminded me of a dry white. I imagine I may back sweeten with frozen apple concentrate but I will let things go for awhile and see. I prefer dry wines but I do want some apple taste.

The fermentation of the other two buckets slowed down greatly right around 1.030-1.035. The first bucket fermented vigorously basically right up until it was done. Not sure what the deal was with these two but I decided to get them under airlock and let them keep doing their thing. I also added some yeast nutrient and energizer for good measure. This morning the airlocks were bubbling along at a good pace so I think everything is okay just may take longer.


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 12, 2021)

I'm getting into this late (on vacation). We finished our apples before we left and got several gallons (sons spirited away about 10 gallons for his own brew). I saw some discussion on presses early up. I can tell you that the one I use for grapes is not stout enough to do a thorough job of getting the juice out. Works great for grapes, but the best type for apples and pears in one that has a heavy steel frame and uses a hydraulic bottle jack to press with. And a stainless tub is a must, IMHO. I have a friend that has this setup, and we press apples and pears there. He also has board that he layers in as he fills the tub. They have grooves that allow the juice to get out from the middle. The pulp is fairly dry after going thru this press.


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## OrchardRoad (Nov 12, 2021)

I've got 5 gallons of spiced cyser in primary with Wyeast cider yeast and I put some brown sugar in mine too. I saw a video where some folks put dried apples in the secondary to round out and give a more "baked apple" type flavor. My neighbor still has a lot of apples on his tree so I'll grab some this weekend and throw them in the dehydrator- experimentation is so much fun!


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## OrchardRoad (Nov 12, 2021)

varano14 said:


> That is sorta the smell, will it hurt to at the nutrient this late? Probably a week into the ferment already. If it is too late will the smell effect the wine or will the ferment just slow down?


feed it and see if under less stress the fermentation picks up


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## varano14 (Nov 15, 2021)

Dennis Griffith said:


> I'm getting into this late (on vacation). We finished our apples before we left and got several gallons (sons spirited away about 10 gallons for his own brew). I saw some discussion on presses early up. I can tell you that the one I use for grapes is not stout enough to do a thorough job of getting the juice out. Works great for grapes, but the best type for apples and pears in one that has a heavy steel frame and uses a hydraulic bottle jack to press with. And a stainless tub is a must, IMHO. I have a friend that has this setup, and we press apples and pears there. He also has board that he layers in as he fills the tub. They have grooves that allow the juice to get out from the middle. The pulp is fairly dry after going thru this press.



Using the hydraulic press what was your apple to cider rate. I got 19 gallons of cider from about 400lbs of apple (The other 100 was turned into apple sauce and butter). So it took me about 21 lbs of apple to get 1 gallon of cider. I realize that the apple type probably affects this to some extent.


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## Dennis Griffith (Nov 15, 2021)

Good question as we didn't weight the apples. We has a bumper crop and it was all we could do this year to get it done prior to a Disney trip my wife planned. I usually have enough bushel baskets, but we had to resort to wheel barrels, 5 gallon buckets, 20 gallon muck buckets (clean ones, of course). It took us two days to process the apples (into the night). My wife earned her trip, I must say. There was 5 of us working. There is now plenty of cider, hard cider, apple butter, and apple pie for a while. My brother said it was the best cider he had tasted. As for pressing them, I felt we couldn't get enough juice out and the pulp was still to moist using my wine press. So we adjourned to my friends house to press with his commercial job. It is a 20 ton hydraulic press. As for estimates, I'd say his got maybe 50% more juice out than my wine press, which has always worked well for grapes. I just thought I'd use our press this year, but the son and I are already looking at a hydraulic press for next year.


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## varano14 (Nov 15, 2021)

Dennis Griffith said:


> .



Seems everyone had a bumper crop of apples this year. That is part why I ended up taking this on. The friends who had the trees had already given away as many as anyone wanted to everyone they knew. They asked about wine and I said sure its possible but having none of the equipment was hesitant to take it on. But after some pestering and a glass or two of wine I said what the heck I'll take as many as you want to give me and figure it out. The rest is mostly contained in this thread. I took 10 crates full which is as many crates as they had. the one we weighted came in at like 52lbs. I would say there was easily 10 times that many apples still on the trees, not counting the perfectly fine ones on the ground. Some trees gave up two crates and looked untouched. They said anything left behind would rot so I hated leaving it but 500lbs was already way more then I was set up to handle.

Plans for next year include buying an actual crusher and recruiting the donors of the apples to help. I think with another two or three people I could easily do 2-3 times as much on a Saturday as the manual crushing took awhile.

Can confirm it was the best cider I have ever had.


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## Vinegaroon (Nov 15, 2021)

varano14 said:


> Seems everyone had a bumper crop of apples this year. That is part why I ended up taking this on. The friends who had the trees had already given away as many as anyone wanted to everyone they knew. They asked about wine and I said sure its possible but having none of the equipment was hesitant to take it on. But after some pestering and a glass or two of wine I said what the heck I'll take as many as you want to give me and figure it out. The rest is mostly contained in this thread. I took 10 crates full which is as many crates as they had. the one we weighted came in at like 52lbs. I would say there was easily 10 times that many apples still on the trees, not counting the perfectly fine ones on the ground. Some trees gave up two crates and looked untouched. They said anything left behind would rot so I hated leaving it but 500lbs was already way more then I was set up to handle.
> 
> Plans for next year include buying an actual crusher and recruiting the donors of the apples to help. I think with another two or three people I could easily do 2-3 times as much on a Saturday as the manual crushing took awhile.
> 
> Can confirm it was the best cider I have ever had.


“The quantity of juice varies with the type and quality of apples, but a bushel will produce somewhere between *2 to 4 gallons* of juice. On average, 5 bushels will yield about 15 gallons of fresh cider (apple juice).” I use a small basket press and typically get closer to 4 than 2 gallons per bushel (42lbs+-). But it takes time, as in I stand there and let it trickle. It seems like you did pretty well for short timelines and improvised equipment. I quoted the above from Hubbell Family Farm.


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## G259 (Nov 15, 2021)

mikewatkins727 said:


> @Arne that's *500 pounds* of apples, where is he going to put them for freezing?


Look for a wholesale freezer outlet selling grocery or some other items, they may let you keep them in a corner somewhere, if they know that it is a 1-off deal, and you won't be asking them ALL the time. Offer to bring them some wine when it's done!


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