Simple Home Made (Hard) Cider

[@Chesrsmith]

I’ve watched a few of these how to make cider videos and I must say, your method is by far the simplest to follow and un-complicated. Thank you

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thank you so much !

[@mutantryeff]

I am transitioning from brewing beer (primarily lagers) where I have numerous awards. Just in the last three State Fair competitions, I've come away with 4 gold, 3 silver and a bronze. I've started to expand to mead and cider. My current project involved 900 pounds of Golden Bosc pears that I purchased for $200. The skins have nice tannin. I juiced only 35 gallons from about 400 pounds. I gave them away to family, friends, neighbors, or whoever wandered near the other pears. I now have eight experimental pear ciders that are fermenting.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Wow! Perry (pear cider) us a wonderful thing - particularly if you can find one of the old perry varieties of pear

[@mutantryeff]

@@EnglishCountryLife I talked to the pear farmer for a good hour plus. He had made pear cider prior to COVID to sell locally. He had a distinction between hard pear cider and perry. Hard pear cider used sweet pears and perry used perry pears which are more very tart and have higher tannins (in general). He recommended the Golden Bosc as the skinns have good tannins.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@mutantryeff In England all cider is "hard". Unfermented juice is just juice here

[@petemangrum6015]

Limey, Surely like your videos. You don't travel around the block just to get across the street. But you cover the process clear and concice. Thank you.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@petemangrum6015 Thank you!

[@joshjenkinson1929]

My first time juicing apples was done cheaply by using the grater function on a food processor then tipping into a nut milk bag and hand squeezing the juice out. Worked a treat!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@joshjenkinson1929 Oh for sure. I know someone who uses a juicer

[@robrussell5329]

I use a round hand apple slicer to cut each apple into wedges. For the mush, I use a electric sink disposal (purchased new and used only for apples.) That creates a very liquid-y mush, which I then press.. Quick and easy on the arms.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Clever!

[@jacquiehahn4910]

Excellent stuff! I'd probably re-use swing-top beer bottles for a cider with fizz though. Sturdy, and the washer "should" help prevent explosions. On that note, HALF A TEASPOON OF SUGAR PER LITRE, AND NO MORE!!!! And leave somewhere quite cool for secondary ferment, so not too vigorous....unless you fancy picking bits of cider-scented glass out of the woodwork for months.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Absolutely right, and make damned sure its fully fermented first

[@santamanone]

Awesome as always.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thanks mate!

[@pattypan2]

Brilliant as usual. My Nan always used to do this but then she had about four orchards at her disposal. Had not thought about making still cider, then making it into ACV/and/or drinking still cider. That leaves with a lot of options. I have a proper press in the shed from a well known company. Shall have to pay a visit to my local veg shop and see what they have as have never made still cider before. Keep up the good work and the inspiration.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thank you! Lucky you having a well made press to hand, that makes it much simpler to start. If you need any advice or tips when you try it, just shout!

[@geoffanddebshipton6797]

I just received a cider press for my birthday so I’m rewatching this Hugh. Can’t wait to get started when the new season’s apples arrive! Cheers! Deb

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Oh fantastic - you are in for some fun!

[@geoffanddebshipton6797]

@@EnglishCountryLife literally can’t wait!

[@ironbomb6753]

I just saw this video, what a wonderful presentation on cider making. 👍

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thank you so much!

[@Koriam]

This is a cracking wee show!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@Koriam Thank you

[@davidyarros9754]

As always, an amazing video. Love your work. Two years ago I made my own press and will be using it for the first time tomorrow. My wife and I have been foraging for apples for two weeks now and are ready to commence with the scratting and pressing. Wish me luck!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

How exiting! Good luck!

[@benjaminazariah2773]

Instablaster...

[@vizulfun]

many thanks for your videos : from Fife Scotland

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Glad you like them!

[@sotirisxeni6462]

Thankyou for sharing your easy to follow knowledge 😊

[@EnglishCountryLife]

You are most welcome 👍

[@mattcairns832]

Love the alcohol videos! Keep them coming! Currently got some elderflower wine on the go! (Your recipe) 💪

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Will do Matt! Let me know what you think of the wine when you've bottled it? Hugh

[@nicholasjordan1697]

Love your videos always so informative

[@EnglishCountryLife]

That's so kind and means a lot, THANK YOU!

[@susanpiper4041]

Just found your channel - and just in time as we are in the process of moving to a smallholding in Norfolk that has a small orchard 😀. Fingers crossed we’ll have moved in plenty of time to make good use of the apples that are there. Lovely clear, simple instructions. Thank you for that. Can’t wait to have a go. Looking forward to other lessons I can learn from you.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi Susan and welcome to the channel! You won't be so very far away from our place (we are just over the Wash in Lincolnshire). So exiting to have a new adventure! If we can help in any way, please shout! There are a bunch of us smallholders who chat over on Twitter (including some Norfolk ones). If you want to chat there we are @engcountrylife (Hugh) & @TheFloofLady (Fiona)

[@susanpiper4041]

Morning High. Thank you for the offer of help when needed - I’m sure I’ll be asking lots of questions. I’ve spent the time (years) waiting to get a smallholding doing as much research as I can. Thank goodness for KZbin and people like you who post easy to follow lessons. Can’t wait to put it all in practise.

[@danharvey7717]

Just found this. Great video. Simple but fairly comprehensive. Slow easy steps and additional info. Thanks I hope to make some ‘uncomplicated cider’ this year. Now subscribed 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thanks Dan - Welcome 😁

[@janfisher3303]

Really enjoy your tutorial, thank you.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@janfisher3303 Thank you Jan

[@tonymatthews445]

Love it, thanks for sharimg

[@EnglishCountryLife]

You are so welcome!

[@lisabarber1843]

Hi there, love your videos on here. Wish me luck and I'll be back to tell you how my cider making went! Thank you. Would love to see more videos. Garden tips and making things that's grown...

[@lisabarber1843]

Your video is the best by far. Re cider making.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thank you!

[@rahma8604]

Thank you 🌷🌷🌷

[@EnglishCountryLife]

You're welcome 😊

[@robertjones-yo4ql]

WELL DONE

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thank you!

[@captainspongeboy]

So good. Thanks

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@captainspongeboy Glad you enjoyed it 😁

[@maureenlenicka4743]

Will make cider next year. Have lots of apples in WA state USA

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Shame to waste them!

[@jacknielsen6819]

Great to see someone who can show you clearly how to do things. I have a holiday home/small holding place in Latvia, we have land and small orchard. Looking forward to using the ideas from here.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thanks Jack that means a lot! I've just filmed the second part of this showing clearing & bottling. I hope to post it on Friday.

[@jacknielsen6819]

I just seen the Balls book to preserving, on eBay, which I just ordered. Also looking for a presure cooker like the one you have. Yours looks well used !! If you are able to send me a link where I could buy one. I prefer one which I can use to hear up on gas (this is cheaper than electric in Latvia).

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi Jack. Search on "All American Pressure Canner" on Ebay, that's the brand that we use www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=all+american+pressure+canner&_trksid=p2380057.m4084.l1311.R2.TR10.TRC0.A0.H0.Xall+americ.TRS0&_sacat=0

[@UnitedKingdomMountainMan]

fantastic explanation

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thank you 🍎🍏

[@saradolphin3242]

Nice and Simple

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Me or the cider? 😁

[@cidermeister9440]

Nicely done.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@jacknielsen6819]

It's great to know you can make malt vinegar out of cider. I'm amazed, we an make all this stuff just with a bit of time. We all just running around in a barrow to make ends meet. Crazy world we live in.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Just that Jack, if we can make most of what we need, its possible to spend more time doing and less time earning!

[@owencampbell138]

Excellent. Well done

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thanks Owen

[@Fox-in-sox]

Just stumbled upon your site. Very interesting and thanks for posting.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thanks Matthew!

[@Fox-in-sox]

How do you think Kiwifruit would do as a cider?

[@alixcain1875]

Enjoy these videos so much

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thanks Alix

[@markrhodes5474]

Fantastic old English way of life Cider making

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Strangely relaxing too

[@markroth5129]

Enjoy hard cider 🍺, great video

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thanks 👍

[@hungry8052]

Nice video

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@hungry8052 Thanks!

[@jacknielsen6819]

Oh I just saw who you both are. Yes city life is crazy.. I have 're small holding in Latvia (long story), but it's mortar free. Small orchard, need planting of plum trees, black/red currant. Small kitchen garden which want to expand.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Sounds great!

[@JacksonG.F.]

great video

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Juniperlaneestatesales]

I love your shows

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thank you so much 🥰

[@peterkarns671]

Absolutely excellent videos.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

That's really kind Peter, thank you!

[@puckuk1984]

Thanks for yet another awesome, clear, straightforward video. My partner and I tried to make cider last year, and we bought the haynes manual and boy did we make a meal of it. The racking was the most fiddly, but we have got an auto siphon so it should be easier. Testing the acidity level and the gravity just makes it too complicated to start off, so i think we will leave it this time. If anyone has any suggestions for how we can make sure its acidic enough without actually testing the acidity, id be grateful. As for the gravity, thats just to tell you how alcoholic it is, well for the next few years we will see how many glasses it takes before i cant walk in a straight line any more. Now we're just waiting for the autumn and we'll be off to the pick your own orchard.....Keep making great videos E.C.L.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thanks so much James. You are absolutely right, it doesn't have to be complex. Press some apples. Let ferment. Done.

[@chrisp4170]

Get some cooking apples like Bramley in the mix and it should be acidic enough.

[@dhammabums830]

Loved this, more please :)

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thank you, I will certainly do more!

[@drmajharrison]

Could I use crab apples? A friend has loads in his garden! Otherwise we will make jelly instead...

[@EnglishCountryLife]

You can certainly include some in the mix but not more than 25%. They are brilliant for making pectin though.

[@MarkDaw3254]

Making cider for the first time this year, we are not sure what types of apples we have though. We just got an allotment with 2 trees which are definitely different types and some more from a friends garden so I guess we will have to experiment 👍 I will be using your vid as a guide.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@MarkDaw3254 Honestly, I've made loads from random assortments. It's always different but always good.

[@_brutucas]

Another brilliant and informative video, thank you. We've watched through many of your country wine videos already. Are you still based in Devon or further afield?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

We're in Lincolnshire farming country now Ben - a really lovely spot!

[@johnniepassmore5341]

Hello With the left over apple solids from the press... can u deed that to chickens ect.. luv your videos many thanks 😊

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi Johnnie, in the UK you can't feed kitchen waste to livestock so it's important that no-one sees you do that 😉

[@johnniepassmore5341]

@@EnglishCountryLife oh of course contamination.. but what if the process is all done outside😏

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@johnniepassmore5341 That's a thought...

[@karenw9996]

Question: How were you able to do this outside without flies, bees & wasps swarming? The moment my first apple ripens on the tree that entire area of my yard is swarming with yellow jackets, any windfall apples are eaten up by yellow jackets - they're everywhere! Thanks.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Hi Karen! Yes we can do it outside, thankfully we don't have too many wasps here

[@ApiaryManager]

I love your simple no-nonsense approach! I thought you missed an opportunity though: how do you know your apples are ready to harvest? I've had loads of apples that could have done with a bit longer in the sun.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

That's a good point. I'll try to remember to cover it this year!

[@kimhalsey9260]

Hugh - how would you reduce the ABV and still maintain the flavour? 6.9 or 7% is great but IF you want a lighter drinking refreshing cider? Suggestion for an instructional video.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

That's an interesting thought Kim. It's actually quite hard to stop active fermentation - although stabilizing to prevent it restarting is easy enough...I'll have a think!

[@geoffrundel3343]

Thanks when I made my 1st batch I thought you had to add water maybe they do in the distillery's because you look at how many appales you need to make a pint so when I look at an appale tree I say hoy many gallons or pints will it make?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Of course that depends on the tree. The big trick is to wait until the apples are fully ripe as they then give up more juice.

[@peterkovac6586]

Ths for video, How to make sparkling cider? You add sugar directly to DJohns, bottles or pressured barrels?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@peterkovac6586 Add a LITTLE sugar to the bottle or barrel when bottling. About 1/4tsp per pint

[@robrussell5329]

I buy 10 bushels of apples from a rural orchard at a great price. That makes about 25 gal of pressed juice. 20 gal gets fermented. That makes about 180 - 200 (12 oz) bottles of cider, with a final cost of about $. 65 per bottle.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

No room for your own trees?

[@peterperigoe9231]

I liked this, perhaps a follow on video on Brix S.G. and pH? and how to use etc. I have 7 different cider apple varieties I avoided Kinston Black as it its prone to breaking in high winds, so not suited to my site. I have a Vigo scratter but I'm not as fit as I was and upgraded to a 'Vares' electric scratter, this was a game changer in terms of through put effort and 20% better yield. I take a slightly different method of picking, i let 30% of the apples fall, and pick them daily, and store, (a brix refractometer is on my wish list about £40.00) i then pick or shake the rest. If the seeds are completely black they are ripe. I use a barometer to check S.G. and if 1050 or better (I usually get 1060) it will ferment producing 6.5ABV + anything lower it may not self preserve. I have a pH meter and check for sufficient acidity other wise impurities may form. I use extra Bramley apples for acid correction.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Always good to hear other peoples methods - I wanted to keep this one simple and accessible 😉. When you talk about Specific Gravity do you mean a hydrometer rather than barometer?

[@peterperigoe9231]

@@EnglishCountryLife Yes, that was a slip up!

[@DuncanEdwards1]

Good stuff. I make about 400 pints a year. I bought a press and an industrial scratter about 20yrs ago, it was a good investment! Before that I was doing it with a juicer and demi johns.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

400 pints is a good amount. Your own orchard?

[@DuncanEdwards1]

@@EnglishCountryLife allotment and a reasonable garden. About 25 trees 😆

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@DuncanEdwards1 Excellent!

[@avs117]

Just saw your videos and subscribed yesterday…your videos are very simple to follow and I love how you give alternates for most things One question - I didn’t understand this in your video, what kind of yeast did you use to ferment? Regular (bread) yeast or a wine / brewing yeast? Thanks for all the great videos again!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

With cider, you don't actually need to add yeast as there is natural yeast on apples, but I add a little general purpose wine yeast. Welcome to the channel!

[@avs117]

@@EnglishCountryLife perfect. On a separate note - I don’t even drink alcohol of any kind, but my wife and others in the family love wine; so I am in the process of procuring all the stuff you laid out in your home wine making video and I hope to start a batch of Strawberry wine soon! And all because your videos have gotten me excited about this challenge!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@avs117 If you don't drink alcohol, do look at the series on making vinegar - it saves us a fortune!

[@Allan-j6e]

I think a look at the finished product would be good. Also,how do you confirm that fermentation is complete?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@Allan-j6e Fermentation is complete when no gas passes through the airlock

[@kirkstmaritz]

Can you show us a traditional Pear cider

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I'd love to but as yet our pear trees aren't cropping enough ....soon though!

[@davidhall529]

I’ve had five demi johns on the go for about three days. Four of them are bubbling away, nothing from the other. Any suggestions or should i give it more time?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@davidhall529 I would add some yeast starter culture to the one that isn't bubbling

[@davidhall529]

Mad my cider and popped it in the demi John yesterday. It’s very frothy today, almost up to the neck of the demi john. I thought I’d left plenty of room but maybe I didn’t. Is there anything I can do to prevent it frothing up into the airlock?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Only to split it into a couple of demijohns for the first day or two!

[@davidhall529]

Thanks Hugh.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

@@davidhall529 Any time David, it'll settle down in 48 hours. It's amazing how vigorous it is initially isn't it?

[@johnboy1236]

Hi, when you take it from the demijohns and bottle it , how long before you can drink it from being bottled? Many thanks , John

[@EnglishCountryLife]

I bottle with 1/2 tsp of sugar per litre, leave in a warm place for a week to ferment out and give a little sparkle. Then leave in a cool place for a month to fully clear. I will do a part 2 video when I get a minute!

[@drmajharrison]

No sugar added?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

None needed, just pressed juice

[@danielwilson5102]

I suppose if you were lazy you could use a juicer machine to skip all the hard work?

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Absolutely for smaller quantities juicers work well.

[@jason46742]

Better than river cottage!!

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thank you so much!

[@robinwhitman8840]

This might be more our style Mikey✌👣🎶🐾

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Simple & delicious!

[@bellabordeau2356]

Cider is acoholic en France and all over the world as well, except in America.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Strange how words change isn't it?

[@CharityBenz-w2y]

I agree with the comment below. The power of less and simplicity.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Thank you!

[@paulhoad9010]

I know the exact type of farmhouse scrumpy you mean. The kind of stuff where you expect to find a wasp in the bottle.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Which was preferable to a rat 😁

[@robrussell5329]

Fresh pressed juice... UK: "juice." U.S.: "cider." Fermented product... UK: "cider." U.S.: "hard cider."

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Yup, all cider has alcohol, that's what makes it cider

[@robrussell5329]

The early America pioneers used fallen apples for making cider and picked apples for juice and eating/cooking. They wasted nothing. These days, fallen apples can only legally be used for animal consumption. "2nds" (ugly apples) are used for juice/cider/cooking with the prettier ones going to market for sale.

[@EnglishCountryLife]

Wow, we still press the windfalls, it's wasteful not to