New to Brewnosers and Cape Breton

[Airnova]

I am a pure greenhorn to brewing. I just purchased a whole fermenting kit and filtration system. My first batch I want to make cider. Any tips would greatly be appreciated. I am curious what yeast would work best. I prefer a flat cider over carbonated. I am getting some crab apples and a whole bunch of sweet. I will juice the apples myself. I am trying to find an orchard in Cape breton. Haven't had any luck. Maybe one of you kind folks can point me in a direction? Can't wait to show the fruits of my labour. Happy labour day!

[joe_r_harvie]

Welcome to Brewnosers. It shouldn't be too hard to find apples on an old abandoned farm or roadside in Cape Breton. Whereabouts are you? I have some yellow transparents, crabapple and another variety just outside of Baddeck.

[Airnova]

I am in Scotchtown. Thanks for the prompt reply. I have found crab apples but some sweet apples would be fantastic.

[chalmers]

Welcome aboard! I don't have a lot of cider experience, but I believe you could use a clean-fermenting beer or wine yeast. Some folks will bump up the gravity with some sugar for a bit more oomph, as there may not be enough fermentable sugar from home-pressure apples alone. Good luck!

[Airnova]

I was thinking of adding a cup of sugar per gallon. I seen somewhere that an ale yeast would yeild a clear colour and not a whole lot of carbonation. Thanks for your input.

[chalmers]

Sure thing! Do you have a hydrometer? Would be a sound investment so you can gauge the ABV of your beer.

The carbonation of the final product will have more to do with how much residual (unfermented) sugar is left at the time of packaging. Assuming you are bottling, you'll want the cider to have stopped fermenting and the yeast have flocculated (dropped to the bottom of the fermentation vessel), so that there's not much more action happening in the bottle (ie, can't escape). Filtering will remove even more. A little sugar and yeast in your cider at the time of bottling probably won't be bad, so that the yeast can eat any oxygen that may be introduced at packaging, and keep oxidization (staling) to a minimum.

[Airnova]

I do have one of those and an electric pump with filters. I will be using flip top bottles, i was going to use wine bottles but I think until I dial in how things work, i'll wait and save myself a huge clean up.

[jason.loxton]

Welcome to the forums and to Cape Breton. (I am in Sydney myself.) As a general rule, I'd recommend going the kit route, whether you're making beer, wine, or cider, the first few times, to master the basics of the process, e.g., sanitation, avoiding oxidation, etc., before adding more complicated variables to the process. I am not an expert on apple cider, I only made a single batch myself, but I'd recommend that you do some reading before making an attempt to save yourself some heartache--and possibly a headache!

A few things to remember if you're starting from apples is that you need to either pasteurize or add camden tablets (the latter 24 hours before pitching your yeast) to deal with the wild yeasts and other microorganisms living on the apples. You may also wish to add the enzyme pectinase to reduce pectin haze.

Honestly, I would consider sourcing pre-pressed juice or working from a kit before you go straight to apples. That's a lot of upfront work when there's a good chance your initial foray won't yield the results you hope for.

I haven't read them, but there are a lot of books on cider making, which are affordable and well-reviewed, on Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_ ... der+making" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Airnova]

Thanks for your input. I received these apples for free so if it goes south I won't be overly dissapointed. The folks at Brewers Direct said they would help me as much as possible if situations arise. I was told to never throw it out before consulting them. I do have another question, my basement is always 15degress or higher. I was given a heating belt with the set, will I need to use this? Or is my room tempature sufficent enough?

[spears104]

Hi Steve. Welcome! I am also in Cape Breton, in Port Hawkesbury.

15 C is great for making beer or cider, as fermentation is exothermic and will result in actual fermentation temperature being 2-3 degrees higher than room temp. Fermentation in the high teens will give a nice clean fermentation with little yeast character in the final product. Beer yeast such as Nottingham or champagne wine yeast (EC-1118) can handle these cooler temperatures and still give you good attenuation. I would not use the heat belt unless you absolutely have to.

Cheers!

Jason

[Airnova]

Thanks for responding. Its sitting at 22 degrees. I seen it starting to bubble. Let the good times roll

[chalmers]

Now the hardest part... the waiting!