The last time I tried to make cider, I ended up with an ample supply of cider vinegar. That was using a very primitive method though, just chopping them up, adding water and then pulling the mush off the top a few days later to let the natural yeasts get to work. Possibly I added some sugar at that point but I decided to do some research and start with a more sanitised juice.

The trouble is that I don’t have an apple press and I don’t think I know anyone locally who has one I can borrow. What caught my eye was a method from the Internet (several sources), involving boiling the apples to extract the juice. Earlier today I chopped up a big batch of apples, using one large vessel for the good bits and another for the stalks, pips and cores (washed apples with any obviously manky parts chucked in the compost bin). Both were simmered in water until soft (skins and all), which I had to interrupt while I popped to church to sing for a harvest service, and finished off this evening.

For the rest of the evening, I’ve been feeding the results into a cylindrical metal colander, feeding into a juice bag suspended over a large bowl. That gave me several outputs – a pippy mess for the compost (the remnants of the rough pot), a rough purée which will do for things like crumbles and pies (the remnants of the more refined pot), a finer purée for sauces and plenty of cloudy juice.

The purées are now in the fridge and I’ve got the juice in a demijohn with some water, sugar and 3.5g cider yeast. The original gravity came out to about 1.046 and I’m expecting to see some activity going on tomorrow morning. I think I might put it in a bowl just in case it turns out to be vigorous and then I’ll be ready for a good night’s sleep after my extended apple milking session!