GTB
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Cider!Me and a mate bottled up 6 gallons of cider the other day which we made in September 2008. We made the cider using 7 different varieties of apples and nearly 8 fertiliser sack full of apples to produce this 6 gallon.
The cider after its initial fermentation was racked off into a clean fermentation vessel (fv) back in November to mature a bit until we bottled it on Wednesday night. The cider itself is a lovely golden colour and is quite smooth and dry to drink and hopefully by the time summer comes to these shores the cider will have improved a little bit more.
This really is a pure cider with nothing put into the pure apple juice - no sugar, no yeast (that was provided naturally), no sulphites, etc. This is the only way I can get the real colour of the cider into a photo.
As always there is a downside to our late summer endeavours. We originally had 2 fv's but one must have got an air breach some when because it turned to cider vinegar and was totally un-drinkable. It did clean the sink quite well once it went down the plug hole.
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jolou39
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Wow.....I love cider - maybe if I get enough apples this year I may have a go at making a few bottles........
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Local lass
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jouloo if you want apples when the time is right advertise on free cycle you would be amazed just how many people have apples which they chuck.
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GTB
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| Local lass wrote: | | jouloo if you want apples when the time is right advertise on free cycle you would be amazed just how many people have apples which they chuck. |
We are planning to make more cider later this year and will be in need of extra apples so the freecycle idea might be a way of getting extra supplies. We plan to make 4 or 5 barrels worth which will need approx. 30 fertiliser bags worth of apples - nearly half a ton I should imagine. You have to use as many varieties of apple as possible to have a more balanced cider so we will be using anything from Bramley Cookers to Crab Apples.
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Local lass
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free cycle is a fantastic way of getting stuff like that.it will be well worth a go.
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GTB
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Hopefully come September the apple crop will again be bountiful. Maybe Martin will know. 
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Local lass
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by right though gtb you are not making cider you are making scrumpy .cider is made by using one varity of apple scrumpy is made by using many variety .
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Martin Peck
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Beware of scrumpy. As you know down here in Somerset its our favourite tipple. But because they use natural yeasts lots of different types of alcohols are produced. Scrumpy in large quantities can attack & destroy the central nervous system. We have ciderheads who tend to wobble when they walk and cannot hold things well with nervous twitches. BEWARE!!
Martin
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Peter Dolman
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the best cider I used to drink was served up by Dennis Wood the then landlord of the Green Dragon. at 10 old pence (2.5p) it was not the cheapest drink available but 2 pints was enough.
it was served out of a small wooden barrel standing on the bar and its colour was similar to that of dishwater. (if you have a dishwasher then think of a greyish liquid with the odd leaf floating in it)
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Local lass
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go to the brewary in seend cleeve they do waky cider 3 pints and you would be on the floor.
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GTB
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I must say that in this warm weather that cider is going down very nice!! 
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