Keeving: In depth cider making guide - Part 1 

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it :)

Thanks :) Should hopefully be ready for the Cowbridge food and drink festival in May, I imagine that will be the first outing.

Thanks! I hope it is of use, keeved cider is lovely :)

You left a lot of air in the containers 1/3 of the container above the chapeau brun. Was that deliberate? Does the gel increase the mass/volume of the liquid?

@@dfulton12477 In the ibc's? Yes the gel does rise above the liquid. It was touching the top of the container when I racked it off. Ideally I would have liked the ibcs at the end to be full to the top but I am suffering from a lack of fruit problem! Two of the ciders in the big metal tanks at the back have pretty much finished fermenting now so I will be putting both of those ibc's into one of them once I have emptied it.

Thanks :) I was flat out during covid trying to keep everything going so had no time for filming, hopefully will be able to do more in future now.

Thanks :)

Thanks, glad you liked it, I hope it is of use :)

They are used for the secondary fermentation and for storage. They are quite an investment but I bought them for some reasons. My barn is pretty small as you can see. I used to use IBC's and IBC's with the tops cut off with giant storage bags inside for long term storage. I used to have them two high and filled one side of the barn to the ceiling. To remove them from the barn when empty I had to dead lift them up on top of the other IBC's drag them along the top and gently lower them by the door and drag them outside for cleaning. It was frankly exhausting when I was 20, now I'm over 40 it's too much for me and I injured my shoulder over lockdown moving one as I couldn't get help and I realised things had to change. As the tanks are fixed and I have a CIP system I don't have to spend my days dragging IBC's around and mucking about with IBC liner bags. So it is a lot less work for me and frankly much quicker saving me time. Also oxygen is the enemy of cider makers and even though I was using IBC liner bags with an oxygen barrier layer there was still a shelf life on the cider as oxygen will slowly dissolve through the liner bags. The metal tanks are completely sealed against oxygen and with a zero pressure co2 system to add co2 whenever you rack off your cider so it will last a lot longer. Finally the liner bags are single use plastic and get really mucky. Cleaning them out after use, splitting them down and bagging up the plastic for recycling is a really foul job, glad to see the back of it!😅

@Llanblethian Orchards Cider Makers Thanks for the detailed and useful explanation. The addition of the Co2 to increase its life is a totally new topic to me. I will have to look into that in more detail. I currently produce around 500l per year and normally consume or sell it before it is 12 months old (since it was pressed). One thing I have learned more recently is that the flavour gets better the longer I leave it. As you suggest, though, I suspect that if I stored it much longer than I do currently, I would no doubt run into the issue of oxygen spoilage. Out of interest, what is your opinion on the optimum time from pressing to it being consumed? Also, how long would you comfortably be able to store your cider for, using the steel tanks and co2 that you describe? Thanks.

@@bigcol2233 the optimum time from pressing to consumption can vary depending upon what you are intending to be honest. Over time the tannins will mellow out in a cider. Some of the acidity could be reduced by the malolactic fermentation. Different bacteria can alter the character of a cider and can change the flavour drastically. The apple flavour can be greatly reduced over time as well. So if you are intending a fruity apply cider with a great aroma you would be serving it pretty young in my opinion, 3-4 months after the end of fermentation perhaps? Whereas if you were intending a traditional oak aged dry cider with a complex flavour with the characteristic 'old horse / farmyard' character you may be ageing it in oak barrels for over a year. Sorry to be vague, I make several different styles of cider and each one is made it's own way. I don't have space to store for multiple years in truth so everything is made and sold the same year. Some is sold in the Spring as fruity 'cider nouveau' as it were made out of sharper fruitier apple varieties and older drier ciders are sold later in the Autumn after they have matured some made out of more bittersweet apple blends

@@llanblethianorchards Thank you once again

How about a part 2😍🍎🍏🍾🥂😍