Back on it..!

...and amazed that the old plywood scratter hasn't fallen to bits after all the years! Managed to get around 90% of the John Downies pressed - the juice has a lovely red glow... and so far got 60 litres off 1 tree with approx 2 tubs (scratted) left over need to get some more apples going now... making 1.045

Progress on the Press

Since making the steel press frame with the steel dragged out of the hedge bottom in 2012, I'd made do with a wooden top beam in not getting around to finishing it properly... and in fact thought I hadn't got enough steel left over for a sliding top beam anyway...
But once I'd put the new clutch in the 4x4 Panda parked up in front of the garage I found I'd cut the steel ready and tucked it safely away underneath the car! I needed some big (free if possible) springs to complete the job.
Well, today I finally got round to tacking the bits together to trial the slide-fit beam. While the springs obtained would return the jack, I didn't think them strong enough to lift the weight of the 12t jack AND the beam...

First spring test then:

Trying to get some tacks to hold...

and in position, with springs mounted temporarily for testing

Snagging a little on right hand side

Drip drip...

Improving the tray set-up:

A washing machine drip tray offered an affordable solution - problem was the raised centre section and what to do with it..? If I left the press squash it, it would most likely crack... so:

 ...armed with some cash I paid my local Direct Plastics a call. I got some sheet for an infill...

 carefully cut base infill

...same again on top side

Hole carefully drilled

to take Vit C tube

being carefull it's a tight snug fit

and finished job

and in use with newly aquired plastic food tray bases (though I could only obtain 5 so still need plywood racks...)

So, a big improvement over the plywood tray and necessary with the bigger food tray bases as racks

Work in Progress...

First Bag-in-Box trial filling using gravity feed - those Black and Decker drill stands are like gold on eBay! The simply-made 'tap grabber' works surprisingly well too, though took a few trials to get right.

Been using a stand to hold bag on a tray on scales directly under barrel prior to this which gives accurate fill weight. This, as yet, doesn't, and it's not easy to judge fill amount by eye - can be 100-200 ml out either way. Best solution will be a flow meter or less expensive mid-point holding tank with visible level indication.

 

Instead of using the pillar to swing from tap grab to fill, I've gone for a swivelling plate that holds both functions. Took a few trials to get both lined up over the tap gland. Trial here using water of course...

Good review...? or piss take..?

Ha ha, either way I like it:

Text received -
"This is the BEST cider to date. Full flavour. Good body. Crisp aftertaste on back of pallet, and a very Good colour (nearest you can get to a Good) urine sample. 9.5 out of 10.
Your official taster.
MC"

I think he likes it lol...

Route 66

Here we go again...

.

Sweet as you like...



10 litre Swan urn cost a fiver - base was cracked - an easy fix - will hold 1 x 3 litre or 5 litre bag. Bent mushroom tray trivet keeps bag off bottom - working well!

Aye aye...

It started with the refilling of a 'Christmad' wine box...

...and while this very basic tool worked with this wine box it wasn't up to fitting the tap the the ones supplied by Jigsaw Packaging... which are a much snugger fit... snugger and bugger... anyway not to be out done and to save on the expense of the 'correct' tool:





Out with the welder then - four knives from Tesco welded together and then to a pair of scissors from Wilko's (crap - 1st pair broke on 1st trial and 2nd pair broke in store...) Here with stronger handle then welded onto 1st pair... works okay, though needs positioning twice to get tap fully home (which may not be a good thing 'cos I haven't worked out how to get 'em out again yet. With the box in above video it's possible to prise out the old tap - not so with the Jigsaw type... oh, and as it 'appens, there's apples to be pressed after all...

Not a Oner...

Nope, no apples pressed at all yet, not a single apple - did find a new roadside crab recently though - it's now on my Google apple tree map.
Still chance yet though...
New clutch now installed in 4x4 Panda - might get away with old battery yet, but will need 2 new tyres. No horn either and wiper spinde worn - as they do on old Pandas. Need to make a gap-filling bush to secure arm.
Took a med and a dry to local family bonfire bash recently - gave 25 litres to Tony (Landrover Tony) - he says it's improving with age (...he's had it since August lol)
and that's about it... for now...

"Meester Fawlty no like me"

Think I may be being a little hard on myself as I took a barrel to a fancy dress party last Saturday night which went down okay. I left it outside and noted that people kept nipping out for a refill.
I went as Manuel... she went as Mrs Fawlty... Apparantly the pics are surfacing on Facebook...

Coals to Newcastle!

Can't cope won't cope!
All batches tried so far this year are not up to par - thin and yucky. Hardly worth bottling. Definitely not up to my usual standard... with a bit of apple juice it's like bought stuff!
This is the folly of making more than you can handle - biting and chewing and all that...
It hasn't helped putting off cider jobs for other activities, but there's only so many hours in a day.
On the plus side the 25 litres I gave Tony were well received - he's taking it it to Dorset to a steam fair. I told him he could always mix it with the local stuff!
Hopefully the later batches will be better...

The merry chink ...

Some late bottling tonight - not just late in the day, but just plain late - batch 12, 2011...
A customer had been to the Isle of Wight and brought me some Godshill cider, (Lazy Lob) so I thought it a good idea to drink and bottle - thing is, I had to add some of mine to give it some flavour...
I've made myself a 'bottling aid' and will try and get a pic up as time permits - plenty to bottle yet...

Devon Oliver lending a hand

The Godshill Cider bottle in 'filling position' shown here.
Basically a wooden frame supporting 3 bottling tubes that are hinged and spring loaded. The bottle sits on a tilting 'cradle'  with a wire hoop (stainless steel from old wiper blades).
As the fill nears the top of the neck, the cradle is flipped forward, thus dropping the bottle around 10cm which closes the filling tube valve. Timing is a bit tricky as the fill level speeds up on reaching the neck...
Bottling time should in theory be much reduced though in not having to wait for each bottle to fill individually.
System is gravity fed with a 3 way John Guest 'splitter'...
Of course I need to get the barrel higher than the bottling position - a dead lift of 30 kilos no easy feat at my age! I need a hoist... or pump into some form of holding tank.
On the 'drop' a bit of cider is thrown out the top as well - hence the basic bottle catcher suspension - currently a plasterboard rawl plug and a bit of pipe insulation, which could be softer...
The bottles don't all fill at the same rate and can be dropped one at a time. I did experiment at getting them all to fill at the same time as 'fluid dynamics' is a bit beyond my expertise - even as a window cleaner lol.
I'll try and rig up the camera and do a video.

Heath Robinson or ingenius, ha ha..? - there's plenty of room for improvement!

The Dude abides ...

- indeed he does - just in case you were wondering. None the less, cider needs to be racked - be sure the Dude is on the case. Bit of a nightmare though ... just 4*30 litre left to rack

Pie in the Sky...

This thrush thinks so -

I was surprised to see these sweet apples still on the tree, finding them quite inaccesible back in November when I collected most of the fruit from its neighbour. The surrounding undergrowth was quite impassable. Being able to reach one I sampled it back home - the very tough skin may be the reason they've lasted so long. Good to see they are not going to waste anyway.

All done...

Hey! I got 16-18* litres out of the last pressing - very good from 20.5 k of apples. The majority were crab/wilds that seemed very dry too. The apples were tough little devils and I had to change the drill on the pulper as it developed problems and the revs began to fall. So combined with the over-press from the last two batches it made 20 litres bringing the total pressed to 855 litres.
(*I had 2-4 litres already in the 20 litre container - thinking on, I should have filled another container to the same level with water and measured it. There must have been more already in there than 2 litre surely)
Anyway that's it for another year - just need to get the final 4 batches fermenting and work out what the hell I'm going to with it all!

Looking ahead!

Never mind 'heave ho'... but at least I did manage to get the last full batch pressed leaving the pulping and pressing of the final 15 litres for tomorrow.
Pressing with the new 12 ton jack is yeilding around a litre more juice from the same amount of pulp - so I've got an extra 2 litres to add to the last 15.
25 and 26 both fermenting now and will need airlocks fitting tomorrow
Let's hope 2013 is a better year for apples ...though if it is I'll need to do some serious thinking....
cheers and all the best to all wherever you may be!

New Year's Heave?

All remaining apples now scratted ready for a last big push tomorrow (unless something else crops up...) - oh, read: later today. The left-overs made 20.5 k or 15 litres worth which are largely bitter sweet, so will be an interesting taste when the time comes.
The motor caravan has become store for the unfermented batches (as well as the pre MC1 batch*) and I've got a small oil-filled radiator on to help coax 25 and 26 to start.
27 and 28 still in garage. A bit of head scratching to find somewhere to put these then there's tomorrow's...

Mario Kart time...

... been watching this pint of John Downie, poured for the daughter's boyfriend, and it's still got a 'head' after 20 mins (now 1/2 hr) which is a tad unusual for cider.
Not very good at it myself - I keep going over the edge - but the cider is good!
Earlier the other Ampleforth Abbey cider was sampled - not good - medium... I should have left it at the Abbey and got 2 of the contract bottled instead. Mind you, it has all gone now...

It's a bit 'spritzy' and the sleeve provided tends to suggest they've lost a few..?
Too sweet for me... Lec (D's boyfriend) is more used to commercial cider and found it more acceptable...

chaos here, but look - JD still got ring of 'head'...

Five Go~old Rings!

Q: How does Santa get a 12 tonne jack down the chimney?

A: It's a mystery - we haven't even got a chimney (more's the pity, as an open fire would be nice...)

Extraction rate goes up - the 20 litre container (top pic) has been hastily prepared to accomodate the extra juice (approx. 1 - 1.5 L?)
Batch 28 then makes 1.045, with next batch scratted ready and remaining fruit weighed - sufficient for just 15 litres (+?) - on target then for 850 litres.

Idleness sets in...

Just a few days off and the simplest of tasks become almost insurmountable - it's all down to the 'up there for thinking'...
Sweets and sharps prepared today for the last full batch, wearily it has to be admitted, and it's a good job I denied the moorhens some of their seasonal treats in the run up to the holidays as the 2 kilos gathered may just tip the balance to get 850 litres. I'm supposed to have quite a lot of some questionable swt/shps to the tune of 8.5k but in fact will be lucky if there's 2k left. The thing is remembering to adjust the figures for the remaining stock on every batch preparation...
There's also a few extra bits of fancy gear kicking around to try out...

'tis Indeed...

the season to be merry

apple midst holly
and not a single berry

good wishes to all!

(please remember to live responsibly)