How to make cider: a simple recipe to try at home

Before you start, drill 30 small holes in the bottom of the straining bucket. It should be the same diameter as, or slighter larger at the rim than your brewing bucket, so that it can slot into the brewing bucket leaving plenty of room for the juice to flow through.

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Pick and clean your apples

Check for ripeness by cupping each one in your hand and twisting gently. If it comes away easily, then it’s ripe. A good indicator of ripeness is if a number of apples have already fallen. Do not use bruised, windfall apples for making juice. Discard any that show signs of rot.

PLEASE NOTE: If you’re using the juicer outdoors, it is essential that you use electrical safety trips. Also, the juicing machine must not come into contact with rain or indeed any water.

Clean your kit

Wash your hands and sterilise all the equipment that will be in contact with the fresh apple juice. I use a solution of four Campden tablets per gallon of water to soak all the parts and buckets for a couple of hours before use. You can also buy sterilizing powder from home brewing suppliers and high street stores such as Wilkinson.

Set up your juicer and strainer

Rinse off then assemble the juicer parts. Attach the hose to the juicer’s spout using the spring clip and feed it into the straining bag, then place the bag in the straining bucket (with holes). Place the straining bucket in the open brewing bucket. Set up your straining and brewing buckets on a stool or box so you can fit your demijohn underneath the tap.

Juice and strain

Feed your apples into the juicer. When the pulp container fills up, empty it and discard the pulp. After every 12kg (26lb) or so of fruit, dismantle the juicer and clean the pulp off the mesh. The juicing part takes no time, but the straining needs a while to run its course. I obtain the last five percent of the expected 65 percent by weight of juice by wringing out the straining bag. Do not allow the pulp into your fermentation as it will taint the cider.

Pitch the yeast

While the last juice is draining, pitch the yeast into a measuring jug containing fresh, clear apple juice held at room temperature. This will allow the dried yeast to rehydrate and kick-start the fermentation. A 5g packet is enough for 5 gallons of juice. After half an hour, stir the jug to disperse the yeast thoroughly, then pour it into your demijohns. Fill these up nearly to the top with apple juice and attach the airlocks. Bubbles should appear in the airlock in about an hour.

Ferment

Keep fermentation vessel(s) in a warm place (15-20°C) – after 3-4 weeks you should have a clear cider. Check it with a hydrometer . The reading needs to be one or less. If higher, keep fermenting. When the cider is finished, and knowing the original gravity of the starting apple juice, measure the final gravity and read the alcohol content from an alcohol by volume (ABV) chart. 5% ABV is the target minimum.

Bottle your brew

Siphon your cider into sterilised beer bottles that will take a crown cap (or a swing-top cap, shown above). If you want a still, hard cider, just bottle what you’ve got as it is. If you want a sparkling cider, then add a half a teaspoon of white sugar to a pint bottle, then fill it with your cider and cap. After a few more weeks, a secondary fermentation should be complete and you’ll have some fizz.

Enjoy your cider!

Your cider is drinkable once it has cleared. However, leaving your brew to age in a cool outhouse, garage or shed over the winter will improve it. Ideally, you should aim to be drinking last year’s cider as you’re making this year’s batch.

Serve your cider chilled and take care when opening, particularly if you’ve overdone the priming sugar. You can adjust the sweetness when serving by adding sugar cane syrup.