Apples!

[Bushman]

No rest for the wicked, going out to the islands this weekend to process 2 apple orchards making apple cider for fermenting. This year for the first time I will also keep the pomace as I plan on making grappa. I have 60 gallon jugs to collect the cider and garbage cans and bags to bring the pomace home in. Guess I am going to be busy for a few weeks.

[junkyard dawg]

Ha!

Good luck!

Let me know if ya need a hand! that sounds like a lot of fun.

[cranky]

It is a great apple year and I very much enjoy reading your posts and will be following this one closely. I have been picking apples since July 15th but only a few buckets a week as time allows, wish I could do like you and do it all at once but I need to get around to building a grinder and new press.

[moosemilk]

It's been a very slow apple year here. I was fortunate enough, however, to have come into some apples my mother acquired for me from a friend. She knew I wanted to make some apple brandy. Not much, and I'll be substituting with apple juice, but it'll be something at least. Nice to have family on board!

[Bushman]

One of the orchards got hit with catapillers so it's production was low but the upper orchard was good. Really am enjoying working with the pomace as it is fermenting now. More work than just fermenting the cider.

[Bushman]

One of the 4 fermenting buckets, day 14 with the pomace. SG at 1.015

[moosemilk]

This whole apple thing is new to me, and I've been reading everything I can every spare moment. The pomice, is that the same idea as doing an AG and fermenting on the grain? I was going to just use cider, but would there be an advantage or would it be unwise to keep the apple mush in the ferment?

[Bushman]

This whole apple thing is new to me, and I've been reading everything I can every spare moment. The pomice, is that the same idea as doing an AG and fermenting on the grain? I was going to just use cider, but would there be an advantage or would it be unwise to keep the apple mush in the ferment?

I have always done cider in the past but the cider is very good, pomace is what is left after the pressing (seeds, stems, peel, etc). When people didn't have a lot of money they wasted nothing. Grappa is the term used when fermenting the pomace. It will probably from what I have read come out a bit lighter than the cider. it's a free extra fermentation from what would have been the waste. If you google search "Punching Down the Cap" it goes into detail how the process works.

[moosemilk]

Great,thanks! I will definitely look into that for grappa and get the most use. My house smells deliciously of apples right now as my wife is making the cider.

[stevenun]

I tried apple cider last year from some leftover Arkansas blacks and granny smiths. Fermented for a week and ran it. Didn't have much apple flavor in the end. I wound up at around 130 proof after making cuts, and decided just to use apple juice to proof down to around 80. Still not much apple flavor. I'm thinking of trying again with cider, since it's that time of year.

[S-Cackalacky]

The wife and I took a Sunday drive today. Drove by some recently picked orchards and saw copious amounts of windfalls laying on the ground. Makes me sick that I have no way to process such bounty.

[Bushman]

The wife and I took a Sunday drive today. Drove by some recently picked orchards and saw copious amounts of windfalls laying on the ground. Makes me sick that I have no way to process such bounty.

My other thread gave you a way for just over $300.00 and the equipment can be used year around as a tool.

[cranky]

We had a big storm last night and I expected that to be the end of apple season here but apparently the wind wasn't as bad as I thought because when I stopped by the trees I've been picking lately it didn't seem to have lost much of anything. I couldn't help myself and had to pick some more. They are very ripe and I had to be very careful with my basket because the slightest bump knocked them off into the blackberries but it looks like I will be getting several more gallons of cider before they are gone. I've been hacking my way through the blackberries around them and hopefully next year I will have it cleared enough to lay out tarps and try to shake the trees, then get that same setup you did Bushman and press everything at once at least from those trees. I also know where a very early white apple is in the middle of a plum thicket. I'm going to try to hack my way into that one this winter. That will stretch the season out even more since the whites are ready in early July so I have about 6 months to get everything in order and maybe next year that guy in Winlock will have those thousand pound bins for $100 again but the flavor of the free range apples seems much better than commercial so I don't really know about that but that setup would sure make it easy to do.

[S-Cackalacky]

The wife and I took a Sunday drive today. Drove by some recently picked orchards and saw copious amounts of windfalls laying on the ground. Makes me sick that I have no way to process such bounty.

My other thread gave you a way for just over $300.00 and the equipment can be used year around as a tool.

Easier said than done on a fixed income. And, as of Jan. 1st, the wife's net pay will be cut in half thanks to the AFFORDABLE care act. So yeah, $300 is like winning the lottery around this house. I was thinkin' of maybe askin' Santa for a mop bucket.

[Bushman]

Easier said than done on a fixed income. And, as of Jan. 1st, the wife's net pay will be cut in half thanks to the AFFORDABLE care act. So yeah, $300 is like winning the lottery around this house. I was thinkin' of maybe askin' Santa for a mop bucket.

I hear ya, I might think of getting a hold of stainless Dud, and use his plans from the link below with a wider gap to use as a scratter. Maybe pick up the scrap material for the build and buy a motor off craigslist.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =2&t=51781

[kurgan]

it's definitely that time of year again. I'm trying to figure out how to squeeze 20 bushels into the bed of my pickup (8 foot bed) and still be able pull the fifth wheel trailer. My best calculation is that I have about 47,000 cubic inches between the cab and hitch, then there's some room on either side of the hitch and some room behind it. All this while trying to get the wife ok with the idea. Decisions, decisions....

[Bushman]

it's definitely that time of year again. I'm trying to figure out how to squeeze 20 bushels into the bed of my pickup (8 foot bed) and still be able pull the fifth wheel trailer. My best calculation is that I have about 47,000 cubic inches between the cab and hitch, then there's some room on either side of the hitch and some room behind it. All this while trying to get the wife ok with the idea. Decisions, decisions....

Nothing else matters till you get the wifes OK

[S-Cackalacky]

Easier said than done on a fixed income. And, as of Jan. 1st, the wife's net pay will be cut in half thanks to the AFFORDABLE care act. So yeah, $300 is like winning the lottery around this house. I was thinkin' of maybe askin' Santa for a mop bucket.

I hear ya, I might think of getting a hold of stainless Dud, and use his plans from the link below with a wider gap to use as a scratter. Maybe pick up the scrap material for the build and buy a motor off craigslist.
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =2&t=51781

I was looking real close at that thread too. Would be kind of a neat trick if you could make it dual purpose - scratter and grinder. I have an old A/C fan motor that I replaced last spring and was thinking about trying to rehab it to make a grinder. Might be something to tinker with over the winter season.

[Bushman]

I was looking real close at that thread too. Would be kind of a neat trick if you could make it dual purpose - scratter and grinder. I have an old A/C fan motor that I replaced last spring and was thinking about trying to rehab it to make a grinder. Might be something to tinker with over the winter season.

I have a Monster Mill 2 and they said it would not work for both but it has rollers, I am thinking with blades it might be adjustable enough to fit both applications.

[moosemilk]

Bushman...you forgot to warn me apple foams! lol. Luckily left lots of head space as I recall fruits like to foam. Until now had only done grains and rum, not nearly as much. Just posting this here as well for anybody else who doesn't read it elsewhere.

And my entire house smells absolutely delicious! Sweet smell of apples mingling with booners and an AG with rye malt. But the apples...the cider bubbling smells just heavenly! Thanks for the tips, bushman. Got a grappa going nicely as well with the pomace. Intend to use that to make apple pie.

[Bushman]

Bushman...you forgot to warn me apple foams! lol. Luckily left lots of head space as I recall fruits like to foam. Until now had only done grains and rum, not nearly as much. Just posting this here as well for anybody else who doesn't read it elsewhere.

And my entire house smells absolutely delicious! Sweet smell of apples mingling with booners and an AG with rye malt. But the apples...the cider bubbling smells just heavenly! Thanks for the tips, bushman. Got a grappa going nicely as well with the pomace. Intend to use that to make apple pie.

OK, I am warning you with grappa and depending on how mashed your apples are don't forget to punch down the cap 2-3 times a day.

[Bushman]

Ran the fermented pomace two days ago and was pleased after cuts how much fruit flavor came through as I was expecting it to be much lighter! I was planning on using this for makng different liqueurs but now I am not so sure.

[NZChris]

If you make sparkling hard cider, you can use the pomace likker to top up after disgorging.

There might be some blends of pomace likker and apple juice that are worth finding if Her Indoors likes a sweet drink.

[cranky]

Damn now I'm going to have to try it next year if I actually manage to get the bigger press made. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go your method Bushman.

[Red Rim]

Before you guys dump your backset out from that apple cider, you should try at least one batch as a sugar wash using your apple backset. Check your pH, invert your sugar and go for it. I have been pleasantly surprised at how smooth mine came out for being a sugar wash. Perhaps it was because it was a turtle slow ferment but nonetheless it is good.

[NZChris]

Backset plus pomace.....

[Red Rim]

Now that's a great idea! Get the flavor in two directions.

[kurgan]

Got my apples! About 20 bushels of stayman. I'll most likely start my own thread with details.

[moosemilk]

Just ran my first apple brandy yesterday. Only had enough for a five gallon run, but wow am I pleased already! I am leaving air a bit, but it is already fantastic. Wife loves it too and it's not even blended or aged. I'll probably end up with about a 1-1.5L to keep. Figure I'll put a liter aside to age for next Christmas, and the half liter I'll put a bit of cinnamon in and have a sip with the wife this Christmas eve after kids go to bed. Looking forward to it!

My apple grappa is still bubbling away slowly but getting there. Can't wait for that...although not looking forward to running with this below zero weather...time to get an electric rig...already in works lol.

[Bushman]

Congratulations, I am also happy with what have produced thus far this year.