Cider - Bottling it

I've been making cider from a hotch potch of local apples for a few years now. I think the results are slowly improving, but others may choose to disagree.

The fermenting apple juice has been sitting patiently outside our backdoor all winter in an odd assortment of plastic 5 gallon containers. Some beachcombed and some reused old vegetable chain oil containers, whilst other are best left undescribed. With a reasonable (for cider) level of alcohol it never quite froze even at the worst of the temperatures, but all signs of fermentation ceased.



With such low temperatures there is also little chance of it going off. Once temperatures rise again with spring the fermentation continues. I racked the cider at some point (that is syphon it off the sediment) and then leave it again to finish working.

A final transformation can occur, when the malic acid turns to lactic acid, reducing the unpleasant acidity of the cider, so I tend to leave it in the barrels until temperatures are quite warm. It has happened that a cider so acidic that its almost undrinkable has turned out very well by June.

As I don't have a cellar or a cider room to keep it in the barrels I bottle it in order to keep it as long as I can. Mainly into 1 litre plastic bottles (the tonic/bitter lemon type mixer bottles hold pressure well and can be reused time after time very easily).




Occasionally if the cider merits it then I may also use some glass bottles. The two different ciders in the photo were bottled yesterday. The pale cider is made from our own Tom Putts apples in the front garden, whilst the almost brown cider is a combination of bramley, cox and russet from an orchard near Godalming which is slowly being renovated.

The difference in colour is partly down to the apples and partly to the length of time the pomace was left before pressing. Also I used some water and suger with the Tom Putts to fill the barrel. Purists would not approve but I am not above using water, sugar and yeast where needed. I tend to use sugar to increase the alcohol content if the apples are low in sugar and water to keep the barrels topped up. I always ferment to a dry cider, but then add a small amount of suger (1 teaspoon per quart) to prime the bottles as I have found this can improve keeping and sometimes some fizz can make a average cider more palatable. Cheers!