...er, well, scrounged concrete slabs in fact. They were to be thrown in the skip and did I want them..? Thanks Max!
Hoppity skippity off we go - it's good to have a proper path to the garage, especially as it's been without since I put it up 10 years ago! (though the roof has started to leak - always something...)
And all's well. There's 5 x 30 litre batches of infant cider to be tended and I'm 4 weeks up on last year, as all I've had to do this year is swap a few of the press boards.
The John Downie (I think...) on the front lawn was heaving this year - most ever - yeilding 257lbs, 40lbs of which missed pressing (that's the trouble with 'em - don't keep long), but an amazing amount for such a small tree and double of what it usually makes. So 2 of those batches above are single variety - both of which are popping away merrily in the kitchen. I can always blend it later.
I've worked out that if I could collect all the apples offered this year I'd have enough for 1000 litres... but I've no idea where I'd put it, or what the hell I'd do with all that cider anyway...
But there's other things to do: radiator's off the van - as it was overheating a little on last use; the 4x4 is awaiting a clutch and I'm trying to build up the running again so as to be up to fitness for next Easter (ish) and that bloomin' Coast to Coast attempt...
Oh and as an afterthought - I don't think that repaired upright on the press is going to last much longer so I'm keeping a north eye for some 4" square timber for the uprights, this time without knots!!
Buy some..? What?...are you mad?
Old fence post anyone?
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Saturday, 10 September 2011
To-Do List...
- 3 things crossed off
been returning from work with trays of apples all week - plenty to go at once again
Finding the 'Dunnington Collector' handy (though needs some refinement) - more on this later...
It has to be noted that the pasteurised cider has not been well received... though the sugar- sweetened non-pasteurised and the Sucralose sweetened has...
more good feedback than bad then
1st pressing tomorrow all being well
been returning from work with trays of apples all week - plenty to go at once again
Finding the 'Dunnington Collector' handy (though needs some refinement) - more on this later...
It has to be noted that the pasteurised cider has not been well received... though the sugar- sweetened non-pasteurised and the Sucralose sweetened has...
more good feedback than bad then
1st pressing tomorrow all being well
Sunday, 31 July 2011
"Louis, Louis..."
There's cider making... and there's bottling. Bottling being an art in itself I'm coming to realise...
The 'Grolsch bottled' last week is not showing much activity despite the max/min thermometer readings showing 21/23 degs...
First up today was to pasteurise a rather lively batch 5 - not that's it's a particularly sweeter batch. Here it is cooling (note the folded wet towel on top!)
This time I switched off the tank at 63.2 degs. - it continued up to 64.9 slowly, and thinking it wasn't going to make the magic number, switched it briefly on again, whereupon after a minute or so it rose to 65 degs.
The idea of the folded wet towel is to dampen any mishaps, as I reckon the tops/necks of the bottles are the most volatile. Temperature in the test bottle is 55.6 after an hour.
A second cage would be handy... and to speed up cooling, a hose with a fine spray would be good too.
The 'Grolsch bottled' last week is not showing much activity despite the max/min thermometer readings showing 21/23 degs...
First up today was to pasteurise a rather lively batch 5 - not that's it's a particularly sweeter batch. Here it is cooling (note the folded wet towel on top!)
This time I switched off the tank at 63.2 degs. - it continued up to 64.9 slowly, and thinking it wasn't going to make the magic number, switched it briefly on again, whereupon after a minute or so it rose to 65 degs.
The idea of the folded wet towel is to dampen any mishaps, as I reckon the tops/necks of the bottles are the most volatile. Temperature in the test bottle is 55.6 after an hour.
A second cage would be handy... and to speed up cooling, a hose with a fine spray would be good too.
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
Monday, 25 July 2011
Batch 18 bottled... and some thoughts
This was the last of the main pressing - the 2x20 litre ex-vegetable oil containers which stayed in the van all winter. No airlocks fitted - just opened the tops occassionally to release the Co2 build-up as the containers (being quite thin HDPE) began to fill out.
First rack was mid Feb - 2nd rack June. Log book entry at 2nd rack: "Doesn't taste of chip fat!"
Has turned out as good , if not better, than some of the more 'cared for' batches with a mix of 45/25/30 (%) sweet, sharp and bitter respectively - a 'using up' batch at that... certainly far far better than most of the 'craft' ciders I've waited at the bar for with their 'bourgeoisie' price tags an' all!
Does make you wonder about being too fussy - also that airlocks aren't a necessity!! My thinking was that it was better as juice than surplus fruit thrown away and if it failed I was only going to lose a few hours labour. Has a certain 'modern peasantry' aspect that has great appeal... pity I can't find more of those 'bourgeoisie' swing top lager bottles going begging lol
***
Some of this has been used as a medium trial adding 9gms (3x Whitworth cubes) of sugar to each bottle (450ml). It has to be noted this took some dissolving... and it may well be better to add sugar to the bulk at this rate. However, checking the bottles this morning shows that all is dissolved anyway.
What would be good is a 'controlled environment' for these sweeter ciders - a 'warm box' with a constant temperature of 15-21 degrees to give the yeast best chance to get to work on that sugar. As is, the bottles will warm up in the day and cool at night...
hmm, thinking reptarium - single light bulb - must have good thermostatic control though as too warm would be bad...
First rack was mid Feb - 2nd rack June. Log book entry at 2nd rack: "Doesn't taste of chip fat!"
Has turned out as good , if not better, than some of the more 'cared for' batches with a mix of 45/25/30 (%) sweet, sharp and bitter respectively - a 'using up' batch at that... certainly far far better than most of the 'craft' ciders I've waited at the bar for with their 'bourgeoisie' price tags an' all!
Does make you wonder about being too fussy - also that airlocks aren't a necessity!! My thinking was that it was better as juice than surplus fruit thrown away and if it failed I was only going to lose a few hours labour. Has a certain 'modern peasantry' aspect that has great appeal... pity I can't find more of those 'bourgeoisie' swing top lager bottles going begging lol
***
Some of this has been used as a medium trial adding 9gms (3x Whitworth cubes) of sugar to each bottle (450ml). It has to be noted this took some dissolving... and it may well be better to add sugar to the bulk at this rate. However, checking the bottles this morning shows that all is dissolved anyway.
What would be good is a 'controlled environment' for these sweeter ciders - a 'warm box' with a constant temperature of 15-21 degrees to give the yeast best chance to get to work on that sugar. As is, the bottles will warm up in the day and cool at night...
hmm, thinking reptarium - single light bulb - must have good thermostatic control though as too warm would be bad...
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Oh Theo; Theo, Theo... what did you start..?
Huh, just been outbid on eBay on 24 Grolsch bottles, yet again...
...what's the point..? for as much again I could buy them new from Morrisons FULL OF LAGER!
(very nice lager at that)
Investment potential ..?
Should I be having more fun opening my bottles though: check out the
swing-top challenge!
just checked out the 'Making of' (re the bottles) - 40,000 are coming off the production line PER HOUR! You would think that more of them would end up in bottle banks...
...what's the point..? for as much again I could buy them new from Morrisons FULL OF LAGER!
(very nice lager at that)
Investment potential ..?
Should I be having more fun opening my bottles though: check out the
swing-top challenge!
just checked out the 'Making of' (re the bottles) - 40,000 are coming off the production line PER HOUR! You would think that more of them would end up in bottle banks...
'Ground Control to Major Tom'
'Am I sitting in a tin can..?'
"No, it's alu-minium..."
the 'Space Oddity' in this case being the area beneath the cage to allow the water to circulate freely.
It's occurred to me this morning that the piece of wood first used probably won't work... As I remove the cage - it'll float. So I need to attach some feet to the base.
No doubt utilising tie wraps...
(sometime later...)
upper corners of scrap mushroom tray:
drilled to accept tie wraps:
1st in position:
all four feet attached:
Much stronger that it looks!
The feet now raise the base to give about an 1" clearance - handles still enclosed by lid (more down to luck than good measurement, but there you go)
:)
All we need now is some conditioned cider containing a little more sugar than normal...
By my calculations 1 gram of sugar raises the SG of 1 pint of cider by (wait for it...)
.00088
so if the cider is at 1.002 to start with, I'll need to add 9 grams to a pint (ugh!) for an SG of 1.010 to get a medium dry - hopefully this'll be enough keep 'em sweet...
though I'll have to point out it'll be unsuitable for diabetics
afterthought: some of that sugar will need to ferment out of course to get the 'condition' and so it will be 9gms sugar + whatever it takes to develop the condition to get to finished gravity of 1.010
...beginning to think that the cidermaking is the easy part!!
"No, it's alu-minium..."
the 'Space Oddity' in this case being the area beneath the cage to allow the water to circulate freely.
It's occurred to me this morning that the piece of wood first used probably won't work... As I remove the cage - it'll float. So I need to attach some feet to the base.
No doubt utilising tie wraps...
(sometime later...)
upper corners of scrap mushroom tray:
drilled to accept tie wraps:
1st in position:
all four feet attached:
Much stronger that it looks!
The feet now raise the base to give about an 1" clearance - handles still enclosed by lid (more down to luck than good measurement, but there you go)
:)
All we need now is some conditioned cider containing a little more sugar than normal...
By my calculations 1 gram of sugar raises the SG of 1 pint of cider by (wait for it...)
.00088
so if the cider is at 1.002 to start with, I'll need to add 9 grams to a pint (ugh!) for an SG of 1.010 to get a medium dry - hopefully this'll be enough keep 'em sweet...
though I'll have to point out it'll be unsuitable for diabetics
afterthought: some of that sugar will need to ferment out of course to get the 'condition' and so it will be 9gms sugar + whatever it takes to develop the condition to get to finished gravity of 1.010
...beginning to think that the cidermaking is the easy part!!
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