To pasteurize or not?

[Captain Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Captain]

I buy a couple of different types of apples (what ever cheapest, some red, some green and, some pears) freeze them whole, on a Sunday when my wife isn't looking for something for me to do, I take them out and dump them in plastic wash basins, and cover with water and give them a wash while they defrost, they will be much softer than they were before, I cut them in half or quarters and cut away any nasty bits, I put about a kg and a half in a bucket at a time and smash them with a brick until they broken up enough, I divide the pulp into two peices of cheese cloths and put aside while I smash some more, when I have four cakes of pulp I put them into my press, which consists of a stainless tray and five planks of 20mm ply board that fit just inside it, I put a cake between each ply board, then I put the stack into a frame I built out of timber then I use the jack from my bakkie which sits on top, presses down on the top board and squeezes out the juice which collects in a bucket underneath, while the pressure is on the first four cakes I smash another four out and do it all again until I have enough, I let that juice rest over night, siphon into what ever fermentor I'm using, check the gravity and pitch whatever ale yeast I have on hand.

[Captain Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Captain]

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/easy...g-pics-193295/

I guess if you were really worried about bugs you could pasturise your juice before fermenting, have not tried but I guess it could help and wouldn't be hard with an urn or big pot, Im not sure how or why you would after fermentation unless it's like the method in the link above which is after carbonation, unless you were planning on force carbing it, but this way definately works.

If I have time this weekend I'll make a 5l batch and take some pics of my process, and post them.

[SimonB Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close SimonB]

Steven, get out to Elgin... some of the farms will sell you raw apple juice.

[skips192 Member Find all posts View Profile Close skips192]

this should work



If you do it before carbonation you'll end up with flat cider unless you force carb

Surely pasteurizing AFTER carbonation will also lead to flat cider unless you are force carbing it after that?

I used the little red ones that you get in the 1kg bags in PnP...worked great, even though it was a lot of peeling and juicing.

Also, I would not treat the hygiene issues for a cider any less than I do for beer. It is not cheap to put a brew together, so why run the risk of having to throw the batch away because it has skunked due to bad hygiene?

Thanks. Looking on you tube and reading a bit a seems pasteurization is optional. ditto for sanitizing presses, fermenters or even the apples them selves before pressing. surely there are all sorts of wild yeast growing on the apple skins? Sure I understand a lot of ciders are brewed using these wild yeast strains but I get the impression that this could be a bit of a hit and miss affair.

[skips192 Member Find all posts View Profile Close skips192]

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/easy...g-pics-193295/

I guess if you were really worried about bugs you could pasturise your juice before fermenting, have not tried but I guess it could help and wouldn't be hard with an urn or big pot, Im not sure how or why you would after fermentation unless it's like the method in the link above which is after carbonation, unless you were planning on force carbing it, but this way definately works.

If I have time this weekend I'll make a 5l batch and take some pics of my process, and post them.

Ah. Thanks for the link, that helps a lot!

[StevenD (Slainthe) Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StevenD (Slainthe)]

Steven, get out to Elgin... some of the farms will sell you raw apple juice.

Hmmmm...sounds like I need to take SWAMBO out for the day sometime soon...

[DieBaas Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DieBaas]

Hmmmm...sounds like I need to take SWAMBO out for the day sometime soon...

Just remember to bring her back

[StevenD (Slainthe) Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StevenD (Slainthe)]

Just remember to bring her back

Rumbled.....

[Captain Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Captain]

Surely pasteurizing AFTER carbonation will also lead to flat cider unless you are force carbing

No, no it won't.

[DieBaas Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close DieBaas]

No, no it won't.

Right again. By the time you pasteurize the CO2 has already been produced by the yeast. Now you just kill the yeast to stop them from eating all the sugar and the potential bottle bomb