Traditional Cider Recipe
There are many guides to making cider from apples out there. They all differ slightly, depending on the recipe but the principles are the same. Here I'll give you an idea of what's involved if you have a tree heaving with apples in the garden and fancy making your own cider from scratch this year. This Traditional Cider Recipe is a bit rough and ready compared with the more elaborate you'll read about. But since I have drunk many gallons of homemade cider using this method, I know it works.
Why make Cider?
Basically because it's inexpensive to make, it's simple, it's a very rewarding thing to do and, once you've tasted your own cider, you'll want to make it again and again.
Do I need a press to turn my apples into juice?
You need a way to extract juice from apples to make cider, unless you buy the juice ready pressed or pay to have your apples pressed. I had my apples pressed the first year I did this because I didn't want to invest in a press. The apple pressing cost more than I anticipated (so worth checking before going down that road) but was still cheaper than buying a press. The difference of course is that you can use the press again year after year.
Above is a press like the one I use, it's an 18 litre press. They work extremely well. Worth mentioning that, if you're in the market for a fruit press, make sure it comes complete with straining bags that fit it as this one does. But a press is not essential.
What are the alternatives to using a Cider Press?
You may have a juicer in the back of the cupboard, or someone else might. Just ensure it can cope with the volume of juice you plan to produce. Or you could bash the apples with a fence post then strain the juice. You don't extract as much juice that way as using a press or juicer, but it does a job.
Or you might be able to borrow/hire a press from someone else.
Equipment for Cider Making
If you have no equipment at all as you read this, you could purchase a cider making kit. There are many available online, and the kind you need depends on what volume of juice you think you'll have. The kit below is a 25 litre cider kit with a Cider Journal containing recipes. The kit also has PET bottles with caps. These are ideal for when you want to make sparkling cider as the carbonation can build up in bottles and you can manage the pressure more easily with PET than plastic.
Do I have to use Cider Yeast?
No you don't have to. You can use sparkling wine yeast (as I have often done) or all purpose yeast to make cider.
And, as you may already know, you don't actually have to use commercial yeast at all in cidermaking. I have made batches of 'wild' cider, which leaves nature's yeasts on the skins and in the juice to ferment naturally. The problem with relying on wild yeasts the first time is that, without experience of making cider previously, you don't know what to expect. Wild yeast fermentations can be extremely volatile, and the outcome can be unpredictable. That's one of the reasons commercial yeasts became popular. The modern process is to sterilise the apple juice to kill all the natural yeasts in it, then add commercial yeast once the sterilising is finished. That means you are only dealing with the fermentation of the commercial yeast you've added which gives a far more predictable outcome. That reduces the risk of the fermentation going wrong and all the apple juice going to waste. I generally split my apple juice batches for that reason and make some wild cider and some using commercial yeast. So if one doesn't turn out the way I expected, I still have the other batch.
How many Apples do I need?
If you're making one demijohn of cider, that requires 4.5 litres (1 gallon) of liquid. As a rule of thumb you need about of 9 kg (20 lbs) of apples to produce 4.5 litres of juice. Bear in mind that, if you're smashing apples with a fence post rather than using an apple press, you may need a few more. In general the less sophisticated the method of juice extraction, the less juice you will be able to extract and so the more apples you will need.
Will my Cider taste the same every time I make it?
Like making wine from scratch, cider batches never tend to turn out quite the same each time, even if you follow the recipe exactly as you did last time. That could be for a number of reasons including the sugar content of the juice, or what the temperature was when you were making it. Using Campden Tablets to sterilise your juice and then adding yeast rather than relying on the natural yeasts reduces the likelihood of the cider tasting dramatically different when you're using the same or similar juice.
Traditional Cider Recipe
Makes 4.5 litres/6 bottles
You will need
4.5 litres of apple juice (if you are using shop-bought juice, be sure to use juice with no preservatives as preservatives are designed to prevent fermentation. Also ensure it is 100% juice, rather than 'juice drink').
1 teaspoon of cider yeast, or as recommended on your yeast packet for 4.5-5 litres of cider
a little bottled/spring/filtered/boiled water (which may be needed once you’ve racked off the cider from the sediment to refill any gap in the volume)
A 2nd Campden tablet & fermentation stopper (optional - see recipe)
Plus some granulated sugar if you want sparkling cider - see recipe.
You will also need
a 5 litre fermenting bucket
a standard 4.5 litre demijohn (with bored cap if PET demijohn, rubber bung with a glass demijohn)
an airlock
an LCD stick-on thermometer to monitor temperature (optional)
a clean tea towel, a homebrew syphon and a funnel
6 bottles, caps or corks if needed (you won’t need them if you use flip top bottles)
Method
Sterilise all equipment that will be used.
Pour the apple juice into the 5 litre bucket.
Crush and add the Campden tablet to sterilise your juice, stir.
Cover the bucket with the clean tea towel and leave for 24 hours. You are leaving it for that period of time to ensure any gases emitted from the Campden tablet have definitely dissipated because, just as Campden kills unwanted natural yeasts, so it also kills yeast you add later. So no tight fitting lids, just the clean tea towel which will protect your juice from fruit flies whilst letting gases out.
Add the cider yeast and stir.
Cover with the tea towel again and stir once a day for 5 days. This is the first fermentation. Doing this in the bucket avoids the mess of foaming juice in your demijohn in the first couple of days as can happen with a particularly feisty fermentation.
After 5 days or once the fermentation has calmed down, pour the cider into the demijohn up to shoulder level.
Check the liquid level in the demijohn. If it doesn’t come up to the ‘shoulder’ level of the demijohn, add some cold boiled/bottled water or more apple juice if you have some. Avoid leaving too much space as this risks your cider becoming oxidised.
Leave in a warmish place and fermentation will re-start.
Place the demijohn out of sunlight, at room temperature.
Leave to ferment out and clear for at least 3 months.
When you are confident fermentation has stopped and the cider is clear, prepare to bottle. Optional: add a crushed Campden tablet and fermentation stopper to be certain. (I try to avoid adding anything so I leave for quite a lot longer than 3 months until I'm certain fermentation has finished.)
Rack the cider into sterilised bottles, leaving the sediment behind. Add a teaspoon of sugar per bottle if you want sparkling cider (do not use flip top bottles if you're going for carbonated cider. Either use PET plastic bottles with screw caps, or I use recycled beer bottles and cap them with a capper.)
Seal the bottles and label them.
Leave the cider to mature for at least 3 months. The longer you can leave it, the better it will taste.
It is said that if you make Cider in October, it will be alcohol by Christmas, bearable by Easter and drinkable by summer. The longer you can bear to leave it, the better it will taste.
Want to delve deeper into Cider Making?
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