Myself and dot made some cider a few months ago. it has been bottled and maturing. Today was a nice day so i decided to crack on open and share it with you.
I really truly enjoy watching your videos, I just stumbled upon them and cant get enough. I love off grid living, I have the ONLY house in all of Wisconsin that is 100% off the grid and powered by solar power. We have an orchard with cherry trees, apple trees, peach trees, pear trees, and plum trees. Then we have a garden with tons of raised beds with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cucumbers, peppers of all kinds, and etc. I have a tip for you, add a screen, any screen, to your funnel and help keep more of the chunks that slip through the press, just a thought. Keep up the awesome work!!
Love these videos, much more interesting than someone who simply pays for everything. A hard days graft is honest work and also satisfying when you're finished
I only have access to non cider apples so I will be giving this a try this year . Ordinary apples produce a very bland cider and I have been looking for something to add to improve it , cheers , great vid.
Love this and another video I watched you guys making cider. I noticed you needed a lid each time maybe you could make a lid with a tube or funnel built on top to make the feeding process easier and tidy. Anyway all I've got say I love this and your living lifestyle. New sub from me
At first I read the title as a video which involved a blackberry and an apple iphone... my bad... But then I noticed you used old Grolsch beer bottles and didn't feel bad about it at all... good job Herr Harbour. I hope you planted some Meddler bushes/trees when you did the binge planting... Meddlers make a very nice cider... Related to apple trees. The juice needs a bit extra work because you need the starch in the fruit to convert to ferment-able sugars (amylase - you can get bottles of the enzymes for that - not too expensive at all) and after the usual fermentation procedure you will end up with brilliant meddler cider...
Hi Chris, can you elaborate a little on how you make the cider? I'm from Switzerland and we don't have a big Cider tradition here. Do you add yeast to the apple juice or use the natural occurring ones? How long do you let it sit in the big bottle (with a gas barrier I recon?)? And how do you do the botteling, I read in the comments below that you add a little sugar to it for the carbonization. How much? A teaspoon? I've been following your channel for a long time now, and I have to say, you have my utmost respect for the great work, the great videos and the inspiration you give me! Thank you!
Hey P L, you can ferment with the wild yeasts but it is risky sometimes as it may spoil if enough of the wrong type of yeasts are present, most use a dried yeast and champagne yeast is really popular with cider makers. Primary fermentation is in the barrel until it stops bubbling and secondary fermentation in the bottle with about a teaspoon of sugar. too much sugar could cause the bottle to explode! have fun brewing
Awesome video, would you consider making a video series from start to finish of your Cider process. I would love to know how to do it and what equipment I need to look for? Thanks again
Kris Harbour Natural Building id like to see this, Probably hundreds of videos on cider making already but I’d rather you taught me 🤣 Also could help bring other people to the channel who wouldn’t normally find it.👍🏻 keep up the good work.
Thanks just a suggestion, as mentioned I enjoy your videos and your method of explaining. I am a RU-vid junkie I can find it elsewhere I am sure but would have rather been taught by you. Enjoy your videos!
Hah, Grolsch bottles! I too splurge on a pack of Grolsch now and then, and justify the cost to my wife by saving those wonderful lovely sturdy bottles for my wine/cider, and her medicines, tinctures etc. I've managed to convince her that it actually comes out less expensive than buying the same kind of bottles new.
Charles Arnold - This is just one article about how to make hard apple cider: www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/fermenting/how-to-make-hard-cider-zmaz07onzgoe.
There is natural yeast on the skins of the apples (it's everywhere in the air). The yeast mixes into the pressed juice, and slowly eats the natural sugar and produces alcohol and CO2. Juice you buy from the store is usually pasteurized, meaning it was heated to kill anything in it. If you wanted to make cider yourself from store juice, you would have to add yeast into it, and probably add extra sugar to increase the yield. Just keep in mind that you must use preservative-free juice. I make wine from grape juice, so if you have questions, ask away
Normally if you saw a man in a woolly hat sitting on a camp chair, drinking cider off an old cable drum you'd think "hobo". See Kris drinking cider he made outside the workshop he built, you think "what an absolute legend". Context is everything :) Also, first drink in two months and it's the equivalent of >half a bottle of wine... definitely time to down tools for the day!
We use champagne yeast when making our wine. It has a neutral flavor profile but kicks up the alcohol percentage. But we add granulated sugar if the specific gravity is too low.
Hey man - so you're still doing this stuff - amazing man! Any ideas where i can pick up some decent land for some off gridding? You told me about the one planet initiative a while back... Any way to pick out some decent spots there or anywhere else? Cheers mate
In Australia, NSW, they are a pest, and I was forced to eradicate them. As they were growing on a long pile of excavated granite from expanding the local highway, was difficult. Loved harvesting them when I was young. Now buying blackberry marmalade.
Great video! At some point you need to build yourself a nice hobbit throne to sit on, next to your outdoor hobbit fireside, sipping your tasty hobbit cider! Do you add yeast and rack it at all before bottling, or did you just use the wild natural yeast on the surface if the fruit?
Get some elderberries in their next season all so for some tannings those look like Bramley apples. The acidity is perfect for cider just lacking in tannings Crab apples or some elder berries would help with that if you cant get hold of some genuine cider apples.
Look up the types of apples and crab apples that go into making a good cider. There are apples for all purposes, pies, whole baked, juice, cider, brandy, cakes, and a really good eating apple.
Hi Kris, we love what your up to and always find your vids inspire us to crack on and do more on our land 👍 was thinking about juicing etc, watched you vids and have now lined up all the equipment to get on the cider brewing any day.. couple of questions to ask though if poss where you didn't show the bottling part.... Did you add any sugar into bottles or yeast or anything before that???... I'm keen to do it totally natural, which I think you can do from what I can work out, have found a few vids out there that look that way, but most seem to add other stuff in... Did you add anything or just let nature do its thing? Loving the blackberry addition btw ... gutted ours have been and gone real early this year... I do have som frozen ones, but not sure quite half a bucket! 😂 Thanks for all that you put out, so many awesome ideas ✌️🌿
Hi, Yeah add some sugar to the bottle if you want some fizz once the fermentation has stopped. I actually add it to the main batch and mix it in then bottle that way its even. I dont add anything else at all. just natural cider.
that looks delicious, ive been wanting to make cider but dunno where to go after the pressing, do you just let it sit? and for how long, do you add anything else to it before you drink it and now the big questions did it get you pissed and give you a hangover? ;o)
Hey mate, it seems to be holding the water out at the moment. cant wait to get the wood stove in and get the building dried out and warm :) Hope you are well.
Mmmmmmmm , the hint of sun , a crisp fresh cider, washes the days toils, can smell the luxury of that brew from here Kris , was shouting at vid hold some mulch back and bake some apple/ blackberry pies , a dollop of ice cream or clotted cream added would top it off.Next try making some Mead?
I've just made 5 gallons of cider which I split into two batches: one with an adjunct of berry and the other with an adjunct of blackcurrant. The untreated hard cider is 8.7%. FWIW the amount of adjunct I added was quite small at 4%. I DIDN'T want either adjunct to overpower the apple (dominant) flavor. I used Belle Saison yeast and racked THREE times (1st. was after two weeks of primary fermentation @ 1.00 after an OG of 1.066.). At bottling (FG .994) I added 4g Tanin and 5 Oz of priming sugar. I'll know how it turns out. in about 4 weeks.
There's a cider sold in the south west called Cripple Crock, its slogan is "get yer crutches, this be a toe curler" Cider isn't always supposed to be sweet, scrumpy, what he made is usually strong, dry and flat as a rule, often very dry, so it can make you wince at the first sip!! It's awesome!!!
The grinder works great! I can see adding a gear to that bar instead of the drill, and powering it with pedal power (off grid solar so minimizing electrical use), either with a chain or a belt. Same setup you can attach to a used washer with a dead motor (ie free washer), and wash your clothes by pedaling for a few minutes.
