Vintner journal: going to press
We have apples this year!
Zeke picking a Northwestern Greening.
We also have friends who have an apple chopper and press they were willing to lend us.
The wheelbarrow contains about 2/3 of the NW Greenings. We used all the Harralsons from one of our four trees, which was about twice the amount of apples shown here.
Yesterday brought sunshine in what has been a long stretch of rain and we used all that time to process about 8 bushels (or 80 gallons) of apples.
Things learned: the grinder liked apples cut in half better than in quarters; the chute I made from aluminum flashing and a 1x4 helped direct apples from the grinder to the bucket; adjusting our 3 foot high table to 2 feet high was good for the press but low for grinding; it worked well to line the bucket with the apple bag rather than transfer ground apples to the bag as it sat in the press; it is important to level the apples before pressing; and this is at least a two-person job.
Michael has been dreaming of making hard cider for years. We are rather excited to begin making that dream a reality.
A split round block sits on top of the apple bag.
Blocks are added as the screw mechanism presses that round block down, releasing juice from the ground apples.
Having the press clamped to a table allowed us to place a 5 gallon bucket, which held a colander dressed with cheesecloth, under the spout.
We made about 8.5 gallons of juice in 4 hours. We hope to be more efficient in the future.
The final task was to crush and add Camden tablets to the juice to kill any natural yeast. Sometimes the natural yeast tastes good. Sometimes it doesn’t. Using known yeast provides a more reliable result.
Michael started brewing with a wine project while I was in Colorado playing in yeast with the Grand Girl.
Pizza dough. Yum.
Michael harvested the rhubarb…it needed a haircut!
Chopped, sugar added, and bagged.
Pink!
The bubbler on the top let’s you know the yeast is working, releasing the gas without exposing the brew to outside air (or yeast).
Transferring to a bucket without the rhubarb in it. Very pink!
Both the rhubarb and the cider should be drinkable in about 3 months. Expect updates around Christmas!
May we all be this pleased.