Jimbo's Apple Thread

Post by **bucksnot** » Sun Feb 24, 2013 9:02 pm

Hay there jimdo I have some scrap gluelamb I got and best part they are free .99 if you pay for shipping they are kinda heavy

Post by **Theo** » Fri Mar 08, 2013 9:32 pm

What do y'all do with the pomace? Apple sauce, hog feed or what?

bcboyz86 · Post by **bcboyz86** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 12:30 am

So I talked to the for farmers, and they said is about $70 for 10 gallons of Apple cider and 2 gallons of cherry juice for my brandy and hard Apple cider(prolly 5 gallons of cider and a half gallons of Chapple brandy (cherry-apple) but it seems a little steep. Its probably the best cider I've had in 26+yrs... But is it ok to ferment if Its already cider and not plain juice?

Post by **Jimbo** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 5:29 am

Its been steep around here too, apple yields have been terrible.

Cider is juice, lost me on your last question? Please clarify

Post by **Bushman** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 6:17 am

Theo wrote:What do y'all do with the pomace? Apple sauce, hog feed or what?

Make grappa?

Post by **Jimbo** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 6:21 am

I've never made grappa but I should have. Dumped hundreds of pounds of pomace in the compost. Next year I'll try it.

Uncle Jemima · Post by **Uncle Jemima** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 7:14 am

I've got a good friend that's a really good carpenter and loves building stuff like this. He also just happens to love doing apple brandy. I'll have to share this link with him. Damn impressive Jim.

bcboyz86 · Post by **bcboyz86** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 7:44 am

I guess what I ment was is it ok if there's spices and stuff in the cider to ferment it, just as long as there's sugar for the yeast to eat it doesn't matter if you spice the juice before ferment or after?

bcboyz86 · Post by **bcboyz86** » Sat Mar 09, 2013 7:45 am

And I think the juice is always that expensive.... But its sooooooo good. Probably why an Escalade is a few thousand more than a suburban... :/

singlemaltluv · Post by **singlemaltluv** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 6:21 pm

Bushman wrote:
Bushman wrote:I am thinking about building another one to leave out at the island so I don't have to keep transporting it back an forth. Here is what I thought I might purchase and build the rest around it.

http://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-sho ... 33497.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
Here is a site that you can buy the parts separately and use it with the harbor freight 12 ton press. With these parts and the press you have around $300 imvested and can use the press in your shop when not pressing pomace.

http://www.fabitnsave.com/product06.htm

Bushman do you have a working link for this?

Post by **Bushman** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 7:42 pm

I went to my bookmarks and for some reason the link has been taken down. I will see what I can find!

Post by **corene1** » Mon Sep 09, 2013 8:04 pm

This thread has really got my brain working. The grinder and press is simple but effective. I live smack dab in the middle of tens of thousands of acres of fruit trees and The fruit sheds will let you have the culls just for a very minimal price. I couldn't really come up with a system to grind and press economically . This looks like a really good build and a good project for this winter. I am thinking that on stone fruits like apricots or peaches you could simply put them in the squeezer and not have to separate the stones from the fruit. Time to start hitting the yard sales and look for parts. Thanks for posting!

singlemaltluv · Post by **singlemaltluv** » Tue Sep 10, 2013 4:06 pm

Bushman wrote:I went to my bookmarks and for some reason the link has been taken down. I will see what I can find!

Thanks

Post by **Jimbo** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:07 pm

Tis apple season once again.

First day pickin apples to break in October. Spent 1 hour 15 climbing one tree, shaking the piss out of as many branches as I could reach. And then boxing the apples.

A quiz..... how many apples do you think fit in this 55 gallon barrel heaped over the top?

goose eye · Post by **goose eye** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:24 pm

Corene you sure you just want to squeeze em.

Jumbo if they mortgage lifter you ain't got a drop in that 55gal barrel

So IM Tole

Post by **Jimbo** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:34 pm

goose eye wrote:Corene you sure you just want to squeeze em.

Jumbo if they mortgage lifter you ain't got a drop in that 55gal barrel

So IM Tole

wassa mortgage lifter goose???

goose eye · Post by **goose eye** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:38 pm

Ben Davis

So IM tole

Post by **Jimbo** » Tue Oct 01, 2013 8:47 pm

Dry and mealy they are not. But thanks for the concern.

Post by **Halfbaked** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 5:23 am

I would be really upset if 9 1/2 fifths of apple brandy would have fallen out of the tree beside me also. I mean you would have wasted a 1/2 of a fifth and that would be devastated.

bonehead · Post by **bonehead** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 6:53 am

do any of you make cider the french or english way(can't remember which country right now) and settle out most of the cloudy thick part before fermenting. i do it both ways and the french,english way is a totally different product but wasteful. i built a apple grinder out of two inch oak a washingmachine motor a heavy piece of three inch stainless steel round stock and four sets of stainless serated teeth. the wood was thick enough to be able to press in sealed bearings so it is almost indestructable. the heavy weight of the spinning grinding wheel is the ticket to power. the more weight you have spinning the harder it is to stop and can be force fed from the hopper with a plunger. after me and my son built it i showed him how powerful it was with a piece of pine trim 1" by 3" and it ate it up and spit it out and said imagine what it could do to your hand. i was trying to scare him at the time because he was only in junior high school at the time. he graduated colledge last year, i know i am old. he had a sience fair in junior high where he made regular cider and hard cider and set up experiments using volunteres for his experiments, they were over 21 and not in school. it is amazing what different tastes people have. it was interesting and he got a lot of questions from the judges and i thought i was going to get crusified but it wasn't that bad. my son is on an atol 750 miles off of hawii and when he gets back sometime in the end of december or the begining of january i will have him take some detailed pictures of the grinder, antique grape crusher (for colored wine) and the real old wine press i found on long island NY. a long time ago. anyone make applejack in a chect freezer?

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 10:18 am

Jimbo wrote:A quiz..... how many apples do you think fit in this 55 gallon barrel heaped over the top?

261 lbs

Haha. I was close.

My guess:

Thanks for this thread, Jimbo!

Post by **Jimbo** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 11:11 am

Shine, damn, Helluva guess.

Bonehead. I know the french crush, then leave the pomace piled up in a cart to oxidize with a cheesecloth draped over the top for a while before pressing. They think the oxidation adds an important flavor. In my experience, by the time I crush and press, the juice (which is clear inside the apple) is slightly brown and oxidized from the oxygen its exposed to during the process. Is this enough to add whatever frenchie flavor profiles they want? Beats me. But I dont mess around long after grinding before I pitch yeast. Its a race at that point with the wild shit and I really dont need 55 gallons of vinegar. As much as I like a good cider vinegar on my greens. So I crush, press and ferment right away. I do however leave it to ferment for 1 month, for a few reasons. It goes really dry, the flavors mature up some and improve I believe with a little age, and it clarifies nice, so there's very little solids that settle into the bottom of the boiler to potentially burn.

bonehead · Post by **bonehead** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 12:51 pm

the best way i know of to get vinigar is to ferment apples in the same place you ferment beer. there is a little flying insect called a vinigar fly that can do you in also. the french let the juice settle in refriderated tanks and use the top layer of clearer juice to make the real good (expensive) cider. i mostly use it all because i keep all the bigger pieces out with the press bag that i put the apple pumice in before pressing.

Post by **Richard7** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:05 pm

Mr Shine wrote:
Jimbo wrote:A quiz..... how many apples do you think fit in this 55 gallon barrel heaped over the top?

261 lbs
Haha. I was close.

My guess:
260
Thanks for this thread, Jimbo!

I must be confused. I still don't know how many apples that is

Post by **Usge** » Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:43 pm

Nice work guys!!

Post by **Jimbo** » Tue Oct 08, 2013 8:26 am

What does 1550 lbs of apples look like?

Beat last years haul with the help of Midwest Mike and his fiance. We chewed through about half of them or better and made 44 gallons of cider before running out of steam. Ibuprofren is my friend today.

kurgan · Post by **kurgan** » Tue Oct 22, 2013 6:37 pm

Jimbo those are some good looking apples! Sorry to hijack, but there's a bunch of places around here selling theirs as "Deer apples" for bait. I'm guessing they are culls. Ya'll ever use something like these? I'll have to check prices to see if they're even worth it.

Post by **Richard7** » Tue Oct 22, 2013 6:44 pm

If the price is right go for it. If they call them deer apples or even opossum apples, they are apples, a good source of natural sugar.
We all know what sugar is good for!

Post by **Jimbo** » Tue Oct 22, 2013 7:21 pm

Hey Kurgan, Yes probably culls. The apples I use are unsprayed. Theyre not the prettiest. But thats fine with me, I guess I can call my brandy Organic. A few worm holes and spots doenst hurt anything. The only thing to look out for is soft rotten spots. Towards the end of the season especially the apples have a hard time holding up. Especially the ones that ripen earlier, Golden Delicious etc. Either cut off teh rotten spots or pitch those apples, What you dont want is the beginnings of vinegar to toast your whole batch.

kurgan · Post by **kurgan** » Wed Oct 23, 2013 3:25 am

Thanks Jimbo. I'll try to update with what I find in case anybody else wants to know.

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