2013 Cider Pressing
Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2013 8:31 am
Time: 2 pm until everyone leaves
When: Sunday, 20-Oct
What: Free apples & cider
Where: Lee's House (3601 Otis Rd, SE, Cedar Rapids)
You are all invited out to pick apples and press cider two Sundays from now. We're going to start at 2 pm and go until everyone leaves.
We cut down half the trees last spring and about half the remaining trees went dormant this year, so we only have Liberty & Jonathon varieties available (Jonafree, Jonamac, Jonadel, etc). On the plus side, this is the only thing we're doing with the apples this year so there should be a good amount available for everyone.
Last year we seemed to average about 2-3 gallons of cider per bushel of apples, so please plan accordingly and bring your own buckets/containers for the apples. If I recall correctly, a bushel of apples fits in about two 5 gallon buckets, so plan on 1 bucket per 1-1.5 gallons of soft cider you want. I will have a bin to wash the apples and a press. Rick is going to let us use the Apple Destroyer again to macerate the fruit prior to pressing.
I recommend bringing a ladder, if you can, to help reach some of the higher up fruit, since they tend to be nicer. I have a handful of picking poles to help, too.
If you're interested in making hard cider, plan on having a fermenter, some cider or wine yeast, and camden tablets (to sulfite the unpasteurized cider). Joe can get you any of the liquid cider or dry wine yeast you need. If you just want soft cider, I recommend milk jugs. If you leave some head space in the jug, the cider will store very well in the freezer for over a year.
If you plan to attend, please post on this forum so I have a rough idea of what to expect.
When: Sunday, 20-Oct
What: Free apples & cider
Where: Lee's House (3601 Otis Rd, SE, Cedar Rapids)
You are all invited out to pick apples and press cider two Sundays from now. We're going to start at 2 pm and go until everyone leaves.
We cut down half the trees last spring and about half the remaining trees went dormant this year, so we only have Liberty & Jonathon varieties available (Jonafree, Jonamac, Jonadel, etc). On the plus side, this is the only thing we're doing with the apples this year so there should be a good amount available for everyone.
Last year we seemed to average about 2-3 gallons of cider per bushel of apples, so please plan accordingly and bring your own buckets/containers for the apples. If I recall correctly, a bushel of apples fits in about two 5 gallon buckets, so plan on 1 bucket per 1-1.5 gallons of soft cider you want. I will have a bin to wash the apples and a press. Rick is going to let us use the Apple Destroyer again to macerate the fruit prior to pressing.
I recommend bringing a ladder, if you can, to help reach some of the higher up fruit, since they tend to be nicer. I have a handful of picking poles to help, too.
If you're interested in making hard cider, plan on having a fermenter, some cider or wine yeast, and camden tablets (to sulfite the unpasteurized cider). Joe can get you any of the liquid cider or dry wine yeast you need. If you just want soft cider, I recommend milk jugs. If you leave some head space in the jug, the cider will store very well in the freezer for over a year.
If you plan to attend, please post on this forum so I have a rough idea of what to expect.