Been a bit of a delay in writing this - just think of it as time for the cider to mature! But to recap, back in Part 1 you made up a 'wort' of apple juice, added yeast and left it sitting at room temperature.
The next step only needs to be done if you used home-juiced fruit, which will leave small bits of fruit in the mix which need to be filtered out. It's easy to do - around two weeks after topping up the fermentor sterilise a large pan (or two smaller pans), a sieve and a funnel with boiling water. Then just strain the juice into the saucepan
There will be some murky looking yeast at the bottom of the fermentor - leave that in there, this is known as 'trub' and is yeast that still has an important job to do
Then tip the juice back into the fermentor - it'll cloud up again but that's fine, it'll clear up again soon enough
Replace the breathable 'lid' and put the fermentor back in its safe place for anywhere between 3 weeks and a couple of months.
Once the fermentor has been left to sit for at least a month or so after filling (regardless of fresh or bottled juice) then it's bottling time! Give it a taste when you're doing this too, it'll be flat and sharp. You could drink it as it is, but bottling will give it some fizz and help it clear further.
The bottles that you use are up to you. When I brew beer I tend to use Coopers PET homebrew bottles, but the easiest & cheapest way of doing this to to keep some "soda pop" bottles handy. Take the labels off if you want to be all lah-de-dah and if you drink tea with your little finger stuck out. However - and this is important - make sure that the bottle is designed to hold pressurised liquid. Don't use juice bottles, and don't be tempted by those classy glass swing-top bottles you can get from homeware shops as the walls are too thin and they can explode.
Once you've got your bottles sterilise them with very hot water from the tap - don't use boiling water as it will deform the plastic. Also sterilise the bottle lids, a saucepan, a funnel and a spoon
Once you've done that let the spoon and funnel air-dry and then use them to add 'priming sugar' to each bottle. Add about one heaped teaspoon of caster sugar per 500ml of bottle space, so eg a 1.25l bottle should have 2 heaped and one level teaspoon of sugar added. What happens here is the yeast in the cider 'eats' the fresh sugar and produces carbon dioxide. Because the bottle is sealed the C02 has nowhere to go and so the pressure forces the C02 into the liquid. This adds fizz to the drink in the same way as a soda stream does.
Gently pour the cider into the bottles, leaving about 20mm headspace at the top of each bottle, but do not empty the fermentor - stop pouring into bottles when there is an inch or so of cider still to go .
You can see why I was christened the 'evil drinking leprechaun'
Tip the final inch of the cider into the saucepan - it will look murky and milky like so
Top up each of the bottles with some of the yeast solution - this is a way of making sure that there is yeast in each bottle to fizz it up.
If possible fill the bottles close to the top - if a bottle is only half full, look around for a smaller bottle and transfer it. Or add in some fresh juice to top it up.
Make sure you put the lids on the bottles tightly, and after this you just need to leave it for a couple of weeks at room temperature to condition in the bottle. If you're using clear bottles then you'll need to put them somewhere dark to keep the sunlight out. Don't transfer it to the fridge during this time as you'll stop the yeast doing its thing.
After a couple of weeks the cider will be good to go! Make sure you chill the bottles in the fridge for at least 24hrs before opening, and be careful when you open them because they can easily fizz over. The cider will be very sharp and dry, so if that's not to your taste just mix in some freshly juiced apple juice to sweeten it up. Or maybe some strawberry, or melon? See what works for you, and let me know!
The next step only needs to be done if you used home-juiced fruit, which will leave small bits of fruit in the mix which need to be filtered out. It's easy to do - around two weeks after topping up the fermentor sterilise a large pan (or two smaller pans), a sieve and a funnel with boiling water. Then just strain the juice into the saucepan
Once the fermentor has been left to sit for at least a month or so after filling (regardless of fresh or bottled juice) then it's bottling time! Give it a taste when you're doing this too, it'll be flat and sharp. You could drink it as it is, but bottling will give it some fizz and help it clear further.
The bottles that you use are up to you. When I brew beer I tend to use Coopers PET homebrew bottles, but the easiest & cheapest way of doing this to to keep some "soda pop" bottles handy. Take the labels off if you want to be all lah-de-dah and if you drink tea with your little finger stuck out. However - and this is important - make sure that the bottle is designed to hold pressurised liquid. Don't use juice bottles, and don't be tempted by those classy glass swing-top bottles you can get from homeware shops as the walls are too thin and they can explode.
Once you've got your bottles sterilise them with very hot water from the tap - don't use boiling water as it will deform the plastic. Also sterilise the bottle lids, a saucepan, a funnel and a spoon
Gently pour the cider into the bottles, leaving about 20mm headspace at the top of each bottle, but do not empty the fermentor - stop pouring into bottles when there is an inch or so of cider still to go .
Make sure you put the lids on the bottles tightly, and after this you just need to leave it for a couple of weeks at room temperature to condition in the bottle. If you're using clear bottles then you'll need to put them somewhere dark to keep the sunlight out. Don't transfer it to the fridge during this time as you'll stop the yeast doing its thing.
After a couple of weeks the cider will be good to go! Make sure you chill the bottles in the fridge for at least 24hrs before opening, and be careful when you open them because they can easily fizz over. The cider will be very sharp and dry, so if that's not to your taste just mix in some freshly juiced apple juice to sweeten it up. Or maybe some strawberry, or melon? See what works for you, and let me know!
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