Apple cider

[MFarmall]

Just kind of curious if anyone else makes apple cider this time of year. We made 30 gallon Sunday afternoon, apples just getting right to grind. Have neighbors who bring extra, dropped, apples they have and we grind them up and press their apples so they can have their own cider. Most bring their own jugs, can get them at local grocery for $.25 each.
Figure make another 30-40 gallon next weekend, keeps relatives and neighbors in cider for a little while. We try to freeze 8-10 gallon, nice to have in during the winter and holidays.

[Clan Delaney]

I built a press a few years back, then upgraded it with a homemade grinder last year (got tired of cutting everything small enough to puree in a food processor)

Lemme see, the wife posted some vid of us using it last year...

Here we go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea_iLw2PPfI

I went with a hand cranked model so the kids can get involved. That, and I just couldn't get the image out of my head of something going horribly, horribly wrong if I attached a motor to that grinding wheel. So... playing it safe.

With any luck, we may get access to an entire orchard of free apples this season. If so, we're gonna pack up the grinder and press and make cider on site!

[Dill]

Some friends and I make 20 gallons or so every october. With a very old press. All hand operated. We each have some old apple trees and we grab a pickup load of drops from a local orchard who also provides the jugs.

[MFarmall]

Dill, would your cider press have a manufacturers name on it? Curious if apple press were made regionally or by 1 or 2 companies. Mine was bought by my grandfather in the late 40's-early 50's at a farm sale. It has "Hocking Valley" cast into the cross member for the press screw. The Hocking Valley for our area is about 30-40 miles south of us.

[Dill]

If I remember to look I'll post it up. Most of the old ones I've seen look similar. The one we use, was bought very used in the late 50s also.
It has a grinder and a screw but only room for 1 pressing basket. Some I've seen you can grind and press at the same time.
This year it needs a new crossmember for screw support.

[Clan Delaney]

Went out today to pick apples in an abandoned orchard owned by one of my wife's friends up in Leyden, MA. There were plenty of apples... not so many within easy picking distance of the ground. That's what abandoned means: not pruned to keep them low. Oh, what I'd have done for a ladder. Or a jetpack. I'm not picky (no pun intended). We only had a few hours to pick, but we managed to fill the back of the car.

Now for a quick rinse and we can get down to some grinding and pressing.

And with everything else I already have on my plate, I'm brainstorming a device to make washing the apples easier. Riiiiight.

[TapME]

Clan, the question I have is do you let any cider get a little harder?

[Clan Delaney]

Clan, the question I have is do you let any cider get a little harder?

Sure do. I've been brewing one thing or another long before I added maple sugaring to my repertoire. You just can't make a proper hard cider from anything but freshly squeezed apples. Any time I've ever tried with store bought stuff it either refused to ferment or had god-awful aftertastes.

In fact, at the end of the season I plan to boil down the last of my sap to a concentration for making a maple mead. Maybe I'll try a maple cider mead. So many possibilities!

[Dennis H.]

Hey Clan I have a question about your apple grinder, what is the grinding drum made out of?
Very simple grinder and it looks easy to make just not sure what you made the drum out of?

[Clan Delaney]

Hey Clan I have a question about your apple grinder, what is the grinding drum made out of?
Very simple grinder and it looks easy to make just not sure what you made the drum out of?

The drum is two PVC couplings, glued end to end. I think I used 4". I did this because the couplings are thicker than the actual pipe.

The teeth are stainless steel deck screws, screwed into pre-drilled holes until the last thread disappeared. I laid out the pattern for the teeth on a piece of paper I wrapped around the drum, to ensure an even, repeating pattern.

The drum is filled with epoxy for both weight and stability. The screws would have nothing to hold onto otherwise. Put the screws in fist, then fill with epoxy. If you fill it first, then attach screws, even if you pre-drill, the epoxy with split and crack.

On either end of the drum are 1/2" plywood caps, screwed in place through the drum, not into the epoxy. Again, beware of splitting.

Attach one cap, seal around it, then when it's dry, come back and fill the rest with your epoxy, leaving enough room for the second cap. When I did this, the curing epoxy put out a LOT of heat. Didn't expect that. It's possible that if I'd used regular pipe, it might have melted or warped.

To create an axle, I attached pipe flanges to each cap (being careful to center them as perfectly as possible, don't want the drum to wobble) and then screwed short lengths of pipe into each of those. The handle is just a piece of plywood with another flange that tightens onto the end of one of those pipes.

I've got some pics around here...

Hope that helps!

[Dennis H.]

thanks for the description and pics, Man does that second pic look cool!

I know it won't be this year but maybe next I will have to make one up.
I will also have to find a way to make a cider press then also.

You by chance haven't made a homemade cider have you?

[jrthe3]

clan that is cool what did you use for epoxy

[Clan Delaney]

thanks for the description and pics, Man does that second pic look cool!

I know it won't be this year but maybe next I will have to make one up.
I will also have to find a way to make a cider press then also.

You by chance haven't made a homemade cider have you?

I made the press two years before the grinder! I have some pics of that construction as well. I'll get them up on Flickr or someplace so you can browse them.


jrthe3 - I don't remember the brand name, but I could find it. It was a smallish can of epoxy designed for making repairs to all things fiberglass. It was a typical two-part deal. Mix together, then apply. Got it at Home Depot.


Right now, tho... I gotta get to work.

[Haynes Forest Products]

When its time to bottle the brew have you ever run it thru a filter press? One more reason to get one.

[TapME]

Clan, We use to have a drink of cider when we done bring in the hay for the day. Boy it sure made me relax and sleep better in the nite. Made us want to do more haying the next day. I can't tell you how old we were the atf may want to ask some questions. I have a source for fresh pressed cider here and it ages very well if you know what I mean.

[Clan Delaney]

When its time to bottle the brew have you ever run it thru a filter press? One more reason to get one.

No, no I have not. But now I am intrigued. Tell me more about this... filter press.

[Clan Delaney]

Clan, We use to have a drink of cider when we done bring in the hay for the day. Boy it sure made me relax and sleep better in the nite. Made us want to do more haying the next day. I can't tell you how old we were the atf may want to ask some questions. I have a source for fresh pressed cider here and it ages very well if you know what I mean.

The cider I brew isn't much different from beer, in the making anyway. Throw some yeast in the cider and let it go. Some years back we had our hands on some seriously hard cider made by a friend... made in a bona-fide charred oak barrel. Filled it with cider pressed from apples gathered from all over creation, all kinds of spices and stuff added in: currants, raisins, whole cloves, then sealed and left in a basement until everyone forgot about it.

It sounded like a good idea. Lemme tell you though, the contents of the two bottles of it that found their way into my possession were only good for two things: powering a single stroke engine and de-greasing tools.

[Haynes Forest Products]

Clan
Its the same one you will be buying some day for the syrup. They use the same ones for beer,vinigur.orange juice,apple cider,grape juice. Let it settle pour or suck off the top using the transfer side of the pump into a tank in goes the filteraid and its nice and clear. Plus it doesnt have to be hot even though that would pasturize it.

[White Barn Farm]

I got a catalog from a company called Lehman's last week that had cider presses and parts to make your own press. They had filter bags, grinders and screws.
They are on the web at Lehman's .com

[MFarmall]

I like the idea of filtering the cider, but my dad and uncle always said you need a "little" sediment and a "little" protein in your cider to make it really good. Still run it through cloth filters twice though. Going to be firing up the press this weekend, with apples have ready and to pick up yet looks like will have another 30-40 gallon. Hope the neighbors aren't tired of cider yet.

[Clan Delaney]

Had some friends over today and processed all the apples we collected 2 weeks back. Here's the stats for all the nerds (or engineers):

It took about 4 hours to grind and press 197 pounds of apples. In the end we were left with 109 pounds of scraps. So, we pressed 44.6% of the weight of the apples out in cider, which comes to just over 10.5 gallons. Not bad for an afternoon. That's plenty enough for brewing, and socking away some for spiced cider at the holidays.

I think I could have had a better yield if the apples had been ground into finer pieces. I'll have to see about tweaking that grinding drum for next year.

[MFarmall]

Clan, nice setup for the cider, running the cider out the bottom of the bucket with tube looks like be easier than ours. As far as smaller pieces, ours has a steel plate that can be adjusted close to the wheel to reduce the gap that the apples are ground through. Not sure of the space you have between the heads of the screws and your frame, but if you can reduce the clearance some it gives the wheel more time to grind on the apples. Will try to get a picture of the plate in the frame put on here.
Finished up our apples Thursday evening. Not sure how many pounds of apples but made 20 gallon. Seems the apples were a little drier, usually get 2 1/2-3 gallon a pressing, got 1-1 1/2 gallon with these.
Mel

[Gary R]

I checked out the press I have. It is made by Baccellieri Bros. & Co., Phila. PA. We got this from my father in-law years ago. I have yet to use it. It does have a crusher but it's made for grapes. We're finally settled down and won't be moving. We've got 11 apple trees planted and a couple just started to bear this year. In a couple of years, I hope to have some pressing parties:) .

We did make apple wine this year again. I used my meat grinder. It worked very well. It's a #32 size so I did have to half the apples and force them in. I might think about making a chopper then run them through the grape crusher.

Happy drinking!

[Justin Turco]

Clan,

What is that you have twisted the screws into on your chopper? My father made our apple chopper when I was a kid. It looks similar but we power it with an electric motor. We use sheetrock screws twisted into a round block of wood much like the cylinder in yours. I never thought to use those stainless screws. They are much tougher. Nice Job!

We run our mash through the chopper 2 or 3 times to really grind it up fine. We filter the cider with a cone shaped maple syrup "prefilter". The felt filters seemed to clog up and were overkill (you don't want to filter out all the good stuff anyway.) We freeze our cider and it lasts real good.

My great grandfather's farm had a small building dedicated to his chopper and press. The chopper was run by a "one lung" engine with a big flywheel on it.
"Ka...Chung! click click click....Ka...Chung! click click click....Ka...Chung!" It ground the apples right into the hopper on the press.
Wish I could've seen it. Wish it was still in the family.

[Clan Delaney]

Clan,

What is that you have twisted the screws into on your chopper? My father made our apple chopper when I was a kid. It looks similar but we power it with an electric motor. We use sheetrock screws twisted into a round block of wood much like the cylinder in yours. I never thought to use those stainless screws. They are much tougher. Nice Job!

We run our mash through the chopper 2 or 3 times to really grind it up fine. We filter the cider with a cone shaped maple syrup "prefilter". The felt filters seemed to clog up and were overkill (you don't want to filter out all the good stuff anyway.) We freeze our cider and it lasts real good.

My great grandfather's farm had a small building dedicated to his chopper and press. The chopper was run by a "one lung" engine with a big flywheel on it.
"Ka...Chung! click click click....Ka...Chung! click click click....Ka...Chung!" It ground the apples right into the hopper on the press.
Wish I could've seen it. Wish it was still in the family.

The cylinder is two pieces of PVC pipe couplings (3inch, 4inch, I can't remember) glued end to end for the length I wanted. The stainless screws weren't so much for their toughness as their stainlessness. Didn't need dozens of rusty screws. We freeze our cider as well... lets us take it out for the upcoming holidays and have it be just as good.

[TapME]

The hard cider that we had at grandpas was strong. the first half of a glass was strong but buy the time we were in the last half it was sweet and strong. My middle son makes a cider brew that taste just like woodchucks. It's great and can't get enough of it. Nice job on the cider jigs and press, wish I could be there to sample some.

[TapME]

what kind of apples do you use to make your cider?
a) apple drops
b) picked apples
c) apples from any old tree
and what is the state law as far as to what you can use for cider. Here in Maine if it falls to the ground it cannot be used for anything. Thanks for the response

[Clan Delaney]

what kind of apples do you use to make your cider?
a) apple drops
b) picked apples
c) apples from any old tree
and what is the state law as far as to what you can use for cider. Here in Maine if it falls to the ground it cannot be used for anything. Thanks for the response

I've used both dropped and picked, in both cases because that's what was available and free. So far I've steered clear of what might be considered "crab apples". Basically though, if you bite into it and it's sweet, I'd say go for it.

As for the drops, I'm no expert in legal anything, but I'd be willing to bet that any law Maine has about using drop apples is connected to the eventual sale of whatever might be made from them. If you want to take the time to gather ground apples and wash them before turning them into cider, and you're making it for your own consumption, then I don't think any state will (or should) have a problem with that.

The time we used drop apples we washed them all in a very mild solution of dish soap by scrubbing them individually with a brush, then onto a very thorough rinsing. Before all that though, we were picky about what we took off the ground, free or not. Take just what looks to have fallen recently, that have little to no dirt caked on them, and haven't been obviously invaded by bugs.

[Justin Turco]

We throw all of our apples right into a plastic watering tank that we gather sap in. Fill it with water and slosh things around. At times we have added a "small" amount of bleach to the water. Then rinse them once and go to it.

We always felt that a blend of apples makes a nice tart but sweet cider. (gotta have a few little wild apples in there)

[danno]

I've been following this thread - have to try this next year with the apple trees out back. Clan, how do you keep the apple from clogging the cider tube coming out of the 5 gallon bucket? I'm assuming the apple goes all the way to the bottom of the bucket - or do you have some supported screen an inch or so above the bottom of the pail?

[Clan Delaney]

I've been following this thread - have to try this next year with the apple trees out back. Clan, how do you keep the apple from clogging the cider tube coming out of the 5 gallon bucket? I'm assuming the apple goes all the way to the bottom of the bucket - or do you have some supported screen an inch or so above the bottom of the pail?

The setup is a bucket inside a bucket. The inner bucket has slots cut down it's entire length to allow juice to drain down. The dead space between the two on the bottom is filled with 2 circular blocks of wood, so the press doesn't push through the bottom of the inner bucket. And the mash gets wrapped in burlap.

I've decided this is overkill, and I have plans to simplify next year. I want to be able to press HUGE quantities of mash at once.

I try and post some pics of the setup soon.

[tapperdan1]

we pressed this to this point over 600 gallon and thats just the hard cider. keep in mind that we just doing this for fun. please we also press a little for other peaple. when i get the chanse to i will up load pics of my press. she a dandy.

[MFarmall]

Clan, not sure if these pictures will show how our press has adjustment to grind coarse or finer. The pivot point for the plate is about 2" above the top of the grinding wheel. There is a long 3/8" bolt with wing nut to adjust it in or out. Could probably use a piece of wood instead of steel and get the same results. The basket is about the same diameter as a 5 gallon bucket with oak slats inside of 2 steel hoops. Could be made any size that would work.
Mel

[Haynes Forest Products]

Item No 120348923297