*For use with a press or juice extractor.
Start with plenty of (washed) apples.
Cut them in quarters and core them, quickly.
Put them through your press or extractor to separate the juice from the pulp.
Clean with Bottlewash, then sterilise your 5 litre jar with sodium metabisulphite solution.
Pour approximately 4.5 litres of (strained) apple juice into the jar. (NB: If you want a “clear” cider then treat the juice with 1 teaspoon of Pectolase Enzyme and 1 crushed Campden tablet and wait 12-24 hours before adding the yeast).
Shake the mix to aerate it then, sprinkle in 1 Packet of Lalvin EC1118 (Champagne) Yeast.
Fit the airlock (with a little water in the U-bend) into the bung which is fitted firmly into the opening of the glass jar.
The water in the airlock needs to remain uneven at all times to indicate that the airlock and bung is airtight.
Allow to ferment under airlock until finished.
Shake the jar until no more bubbles are pushed out. (This can be cross checked with a hydrometer reading.
A dry finished cider should read around 1.000 on the hydrometer.)
When finished, clean and sterilise 6 x 750ml amber pet beer bottles.
Syphon the cider off into the bottles.
Add 1 heaped teaspoon of Chelsea White Sugar per 750ml bottle then cap tightly. You can also use Carbonation drops.
Wait for at least 2 weeks until bottles are firm to squeeze before sampling. A well matured cider should be 2-3 months old in the bottle.