Well, that went well...

Started at 3pm... nearly there on Batch1! Phew... Just got to take the original gravity and fit an airlock. Tastes nice 'n sweet so I reckon the gravity will be 50+.
All containers rinsed out now but will tackle the pressing boards tomorrow...
The pulper behaved itself anyway. Took 3 pressings though to get 30litres (2+2.5+2) that's gallons though.. but the 30l fermenter is full up to the outer rim - just right if it gets a bit over-active, otherwise froth can bubble up into the airlock...
bathtime methinks

1st pressing this weekend...

Well I've followed the sharps with 30lbs of crabs - mainly bitter sweets - and same of sweet, so 90lbs is scratted ready for pulping. Still doing mine the Jo Deal* way (blending the apples) as it's more convenient for the smaller producer. If I keep coming home with lettuce trays of different varieties I can plan ahead...
I've scrubbed down all the press boards - just 12mm exterior ply - ready. Though this set-up can be problematic if I try and make too big a stack 'cheesewise' - on applying pressure with the jack the stack can begin to skew. This slows the whole process. I could do with adding a square (as in true) top plate to keep the whole stack of cheeses parallel to each other. Ideally I would like to get 6 gals in one pressing, but 3 seems to be the most my set-up can handle at present. My general rule of thumb seems to be: scrounge it or buy it cheaply, which, of course rules out anything with a hint of professionalism to it... ie. a shark mill or proper cider press!
Which brings me to: New press cloths cut tonight - curtain lining (most likely poly cotton) - free offcuts from local curtain maker.

*still in print: here though the cover is different on mine, but I did buy it in the 70's!!

It's that time of year again!

As the car is running okay this year... shhh... I've been getting apples together. Having condensed up the rubbish in the garage (and I have been to the tip a few times!) I now have space to set up the scratter and press. This very night has seen me scrat 30lbs of sharps (when you get a handful of the well-chopped-up stuff and squeeze and it stings round your cuticles you know it's sharp enough!) The 'lightweightmick' scratter is a big improvement over cutting and pulping of earlier years, though it does tend to whip some big bits through about the size of scallops. If I had a good enough press I could press the scratted apples as they are but to get a good porridge consistency they still need to be run through the pulper first.
Hopefully this year I'll have more time to put some cider making videos together.

Out and About...

..this year has taken me to Norfolk. The Norfolk Cider Company sounds rather grand... but isn't, and not worth seeking out - however, Uncle Stuarts (a brewery) nearby made up for the confusion. But the cider guy was a very opinionated kind of person and over-stepped the mark by producing a Camra guide to authenticate the awful muck he was dispensing...
A very different story at Whin Hill though. Here you can even sit out and sample the fare. Some very nice cider here, though I do think they need to invest in some stronger bottles for the slightly sparkling, as one of mine burst...
Otherwise I've been down the quiz night a few times at The Old Poet's Corner, Ashover. Hmm, well I've yet to sample something decent here, though Ben Crossman's wasn't too bad... all a bit too sweet aka 'medium' to be 'proper' though - maybe it's for the ladies there. There is a festival there in October so maybe some half-decent cider will turn up...

Not much left...

Well, car mending and trying to run from one side of the country to the other have finally come to fruition in the harsh reality of having just one glass of home-made cider left... boo hoo... tis a sad day. I got as much out of the last barrel as possible, including quite a bit of crud, and allowed it to settle out before racking the last few pints at the weekend. Had I not been so tied up at the back-end of last year I'd have some new stuff ready now... but there you go - can't do so many things.
I did make a few (very poor) vids of the home-made scratter in action when making the last few batches. It's had two years of use, and this mk1 version does tend to clog as the apple pieces tend to stick to the bottom plate (plywood) - but it does clear easily and made the task of apple chopping much quicker and takes to pieces easily for cleaning. Even with de-clogging it would scrat around 90lbs (5 gals worth) in under an hour ready for futher pulping to maximise juice extraction.

apple scratter 1

apple scratter 2 (this gets suddenly loud when the drill is switched on!)

Draper drill powered (variable speed) - also from Wilkinson's for about £15 (currently £20 - Nov'10)

Cider? No!

Can't believe what's being passed off as cider these days...
The local (Elm Tree, Elmton) has two hand pumps - Westons 'Old Rosie' and 'Traditional'... what the hell? I used to think that bottled 'Old Rosie' was quite reasonable, but the draught version is quite undrinkable... (mind you the bar didn't pull them, but said 'not be a minute' and disappeared from the bar...
I'm thinking, after a similar experience at The Arkwright Arms, that if they go out back to fetch it, it's not going to be worth drinking... (as was the case with Woodthorpe Hall's and Hucknall's)
Though the Roger Wilkins was worth it at Arkwright...

ALERT: Cider LOW!

Well, have only got around 4 gallons left of last year's now... it's a terrible feeling...
I have apples enough for maybe 10 gallons this year but sadly no time... Highlight this year was finding 3 bottles of '07 vintage that I'd forgotten about... ah, happy days.