Looking to make a batch of "old soiler". Got the apples. Just need the tools and know how. Let's here your tales of apple beer production.

4 litres of supermarket apple juice shaken in a large plastic bottle. Add some beer yeast. Wait 7 days. Bottle.

Might not be the most subtle of ciders but it's easy. Google "Turbo cider".

Isn't the first thing thing; Make appt with doctor, then proceed to make cider?

Good luck 😐
http://www.instructables.com/id/Home_Brew_Hard_Cider_from_Scratch/

Turbo cider – genius.

Still want to use the apples in the garden though.

You'll need to measure specific gravity (sugar content) and pH and adjust them accordingly to get it right. I'd suggest using campden tablets to sterilise before fermentation and then the addition of beer or wine yeast (depending how strong you want it). Semi kill it before bottling – the trick is to get fizz without explosions!

explosions ??????? 😯

Fermentation creates gas (CO2). If it can't get out the pressure builds. Eventually it can be enough to explode glass bottles.

Turbo cider? Your not using my toilet afterwards! 😆

Best way to extract the juice is to make a mini cider press using wood/mdf, some long bolts and hessian, then chop up the apples, make up a 'cheese' and squash the hell out of it!

It's usually enough to let it naturally ferment as well, as there's enough natural yeasts in there, but you could add sugar/yeast if you wanted to.

Then, once you have the cider you can then make some apple jack by freezing it, removing the lump of ice and repeating until it won't freeze any further… such a simple distillation technique… 😀

Apple Jack ? I'm intrigued. Is it apple spirit ? That could be a contender.

I don't think that explosions are much of a problem unless you forget to store the 'juice' without some kind of a fermentation trap. The main problem with DIY cider is extracting the juice. Generally, you need to crush the apples and then put them in a press to extract the juice.

You can crush the apples in a food blender, (takes ages), with a length of untreated 4×4 or similar, or with something cobbled together from a big hammer drill and a pug mixer.

To press the apples you can either make your own cider press….

http://www.ukcider.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Homemade_Cider_Press

or rent one from a charity, that's what we did……

http://www.orchardlink.org.uk/

If you've only got a small quantity of apples then you could probably just put them through a fruit juicer.

If you're going to all the trouble mentioned above to make cider then it is worth adding sugar if necessary to bring the specific gravity up to a reasonable level. That way you'll get a strong cider with a decent flavour, that'll probably taste better sooner!

Plenty of info on making scrumpy on the net.

I've still got several gallons of last years pressing maturing in the cellar. In fact, I might just crack open a cask this evening to help me cope with this atrocious MTB unfriendly weather 🙂

Use cider yeast, have made very drinkable cider with tesco value apple juice.

Once it's finished fermenting (use a hydrometer to check that the gravity has been stable for a couple of days) bottle into plastic PET bottles (won't explode) with 5% fresh apple juice, this will result in a secondary fermentation and fizz, adjust the amount to get more or less fizz, I find a bit of 'conditioning' helps it keep longer.

Process is pretty much the same for your own apples, except you need to extract the juice, you'll need a way to pulp the apples and then a way to press the juice out.

Once you have this you can either let it ferment naturally, a bit random but essential for that rustic cloudy funky bordering on vinegar scrumpy taste or as has been suggested use a crushed campden tablet (sodium metabisulfite) to kill the wild yeast and then add some from the local homebrew shop.

I'm in the process of making a press out of oak, wouldn't use mdf or ply, not sure you want the acidic juice extracting crap out of them.

Just to second that milling/crushing the apples is important prior to pressing them. Our neighbours have a proper old mill/press in the back of their house – mill is a circular stone trough with a big heavy stone wheel set in it with bars for pushing it round. Used to be pulled by donkey, now by 2-legged donkey neighbour (me). You end up with brown apple sludge that goes into the press, lovely. Makes for a fun autumn day every year, fuelled by the last of the previous year's brew.
Quality seems to be fairly random – some is great, some only good for cooking/hedgefeeding.

bit expensive but …

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/heavy-duty-fruit-press

Dr Gonzo plus apple beer = Instant cancellation of the following day's planned ride 😯

How dare you

Haha! rumbled! Let me know when 'old soiler' is ready for a tasting session. Got those pads btw.

nice one, see you tom.