Who has cider fermenting?

[dnjan]

I've made cider the past four years.
This year I picked about 50 lbs. of plums and let them ferment from the wild yeast on the skins.
Then I used about a half a litre of the fermenting plum juice to start the apple juice fermenting.
I'll wait until it gets cold (February) to let it clarify and then I'll add priming sugar and bottle.

This is my first year of wild yeast, so it will be interesting to see how it turns out.

 

[Braz]

I ferment 20 gallons of apple cider each year but after it ferments out I distill it into apple brandy. I use Lalvin EC-1118 yeast which is aggressive enough to overpower the natural yeast. Cheating, I know, but I also add some sugar to boost the ABV of the cider to around 10%. A few months in an oak barrel yields a lovely sip.

 

[Mr. Pickett]

Cannot wait to hear how the fermenting process goes (with possible photos? )

 

[dnjan]

Still waiting for the motivation to bottle about 10 gallons.
they have been in the garage for over a month (took them out there when the weather got cold to help with the clarification), and now they are just taking up space on my workbench. (typically, in Seattle, it wouldn't get cold enough for the cider to freeze in the garage).

Maybe next week ...

 

[Stanley Doble]

If it freezes you can make applejack.... skim the ice off the top all winter and what is left is applejack. Or if you live in Maine or a very cold climate let the keg freeze solid then bore a hole and drain out the unfrozen center. This is called frozen heart applejack, aka cider oil, essence of lockjaw or a lug of blue fishhooks.

 

[dnjan]

Nope - doesn't get that cold here ...

 

[Phineas Lamour]

No cider here. We are about to bottle cab sauv, and this weekend wr will be brewing an Irish stout.

 

[dnjan]

Finally bottled last year's ciders - I like the 40% plum - 60% apple best.
This year I have about 5-1/2 gallons of plum fermenting, and am waiting for the apples to ripen.

 

[Mr. Pickett]

We'll require photos - just saying!

 

[dnjan]

Photos of a carboy with a fermentation lock, covered with an old t-shirt would not be interesting.

How about the apples that are waiting to be picked

For scale, they are about 2 to 2-1/2 inches diameter. I have no clue what the species is - the tree was here when we bought the house almost 30 years ago.