Cider or wine press

[Furby]

Has anyone made one???

Was thinking of buying one, but they look pretty simple and you can buy some of the parts.
Just getting a little sick of the fresh "Pasteurized" cider, and would like to make some of the good stuff.

Any tips or pointers or recipies ( ;D) would be appreciated. ;)

[Brad_S.]

Furby,

I agree, nothing tastes like the unadulturated stuff. I bought an old press at auction for about 25 bucks, but it has a grape crusher. I need to get a grinder before I can enjoy. Too bad because our apple trees (unattended for years) are bowed over with apples this year.
Somewhere I once saw plans for making a press using your shop press, but I would never be able to find it again if I tried. :P Couldn't be too hard to figure something workable out.

[Jeff]

Actually we have had some real good times making cider without the need of our own press. Most cider mills around here will press your cider from your apples for a whole lot less then you can buy it, especially if you have your own containers. The best cider we ever made was from driving around one afternoon collecting apples in the back of the truck from roadside trees. In the southern half of our county there are quite a few volunteer apple trres growing on the road sides. there is nothing better then cider that is pressed from apples from a bunch of different trees.

[CHARLIE]

Do y'all try and get the worms out first or just squish 'em up with the apples? ;D

[etat]

Charlie, don't ya know them worms contain a lots a protean.  Sides that a few crushed up worms'll give yer cider that extra kick!










Actually I'm just kidding! 8) 8) 8)

[redpowerd]

this is the last thing furby needs :D :D

[redpowerd]

actually my uncle has some crap on pressin apples and corn, mabie it can help ya. im starting on growing a little barley and germating some real dark hopps for the next bottle making. wont be for a while

ill ask him about the apple squeezer, make him happy ;D

[Paschale]

Redpowered comment about growing some hops makes me wonder about making hard cider?  Anybody every try it?

I've heard stories about "Apple Jack."  I guess the old loggers would put a big ole oak barrel outdoors and just let it ferment.  When it got cold, they'd skim all the ice off every morning, until there was no more ice.    I guess that was Apple Jack.   ;)  Anyone heard that kind of story before?

I think it'd be fun to try making some hard cider, but I suppose you'd need to use the unpasteurzed kind.  

I actually have a gallon jug from last year, that I left sitting out to see what would happen.  It's probably just vinegar now.   That makes me think of some family friends who are/were real natural food nuts.  They had this big ole glass jug filled with what they called, "Big Momma" or something.  It was home made apple cider vinegar.  They bought some "starter" from some organic farm, and just let that baby sit there.  I swear the thing was alive!  It was kinda gross, but they swore by it.  If they got something wrong with them, they'd tap that bottle and take a swig.   :-/

[beenthere]

Apple Jack is good, but takes some care (like wine making) to get it consistently right. Probably directions somewhere on the net. I remember some big headaches from drinking it.

The 'glob' that forms when turning to vinegar is referred to as "mother". Not sure why, but I suspect that is where the 'big Momma' tag came from.  

[Buzz-sawyer]

Pascale
Had a thread on hard cider bout a year ago , beerguy and I and some others discussed it , I made some and it was EXCELLENT, I used 69 cent apple concentrate from grocery store, a sterile plastic milk jug with a small hole drilled in the lid and a piece of plastic tube inserted in it.... bout 2 foot long,  run into a jar of water...total costs (including bread yeast packet) was bout 3 bucks for everything....turned out REALLY nice I have a bunch of different recipieces too 8) 8) ;) I want to try champagne yeast this year.........

[Paschale]

Buzz, I like the sound of your hard cider!   8)  Do you still have those recipes handy?

[Buzz-sawyer]

Ill send it to ya pascale ;)

[junkyard]

Furby
I used a meat grinder to grind the apples. For the press a frame with a tray on the bottem. Racks 3/4 by 1/4 by 12 inces spaced a 1/4 apart criss crossed kinda like so # only square , lay a rack on the tray then a piece of canvas about three feet square,  about an inch and a half thick layer of ground apples (pomace) fold the canvas over the pomace, another rack, canvas, pomace till you get a pile that starts to tip. then acouple of 2by's to make a head. Insert sissor jack on top and squeeze. good apples yeils about 3to 4 gallons to the bushel. Oh keep it clean plastic sheeting on the tray and a way to drain tray into a kettle.
                   Have fun junkyard

[Tom]

It's been a lot of years but even us "good" boys tamper a little.

I was at Camp Ridgecrest for Boys, a Baptist boys camp in N.C., and we would buy cider from a truck that parked close to I-40 when we would go on field trips.  It was 50¢ per gallon.

One time, whether we were bored or being mischevious I don't know, we took a gallon back to the cabin, took the top off of the jug and tied several layers of cotton cloth over the top.  I think it was a clean T-shirt or maybe some underwear.   After a couple of weeks of hanging in a tree behind the cabin it was stout enough to inebriate about 14 fine Southern Baptist, young men of 16.  We kept it quiet though.  Lord only knows what would have happened if we'd been found out. :D

[Buzz-sawyer]

My, My, My
One part baptist youth group, then add one part hard cider....mix well who knows what you'll get! ??? :D :D :D

[Ed_K]

 We always use champane yeast  8).

[Timber_Framer]

Champagne yeast is the way to if you want to make sure you have a higher alcohol content because the champagne yeast is stronger. You can make cider with bread or ale yeasts but the fermentation will stop at 4% or 5% with bread yeast and maybe 7% or 8% with ale yeast because the alcohol kills off the yeast. However with champagne yeast it is possible to achieve 14% alcohol due to it's design to withstand the higher alcohol produced by the higher sugar content in wine, champagne, mead or cider.
I brew about 30 gallons of beer, 6 gallons of mead and about 20 gallons of wine a year and next year our trees should produce enough to brew some cider and I will be using the champagne yeast.