Reddit reviews The New Cider Maker's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Craft Producers
We found 12 Reddit comments about The New Cider Maker's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Craft Producers. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Ships from Vermont
> Any help would be appreciated, even a book or website with information.
The sidebar...
As for a book, The New Cider Maker's Handbook
No offense to Drew, but IMO the absolute best book on cidermaking ever written:
https://www.amazon.com/New-Cider-Makers-Handbook-Comprehensive/dp/1603584730/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=cider+book&qid=1557872381&s=gateway&sr=8-1
You'll probably have a better idea of what else you want to/should read after you read this book.
http://www.amazon.com/New-Cider-Makers-Handbook-Comprehensive/dp/1603584730/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453954095&sr=1-1&keywords=cider+makers+handbook
By far recommended above all others out there.
What growing zone are you? Slovenia ranges from 6b-9a + probably has microclimates. This is the same as England but perhaps with more sun and less rain?
Buy:
The New Cider Maker's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Craft Producers
https://www.amazon.com/New-Cider-Makers-Handbook-Comprehensive/dp/1603584730/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1541706360&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=cider+makers&dpPl=1&dpID=61Zf0oSwl-L&ref=plSrch
There is an excellent section on apple choices.
If you want faster production buy pre-grafted, well feathered bare root trees on the rootstock of your choice. This is usually hard to find.
If you can lose 3 years then but the rootstock of your choice and buy the scion wood/bud wood of the varieties you want and graft them yourself.
Focus on the bitter-sweets and the bitter-sharps. You can probably buy the sweets and sharps locally and then just blend.
The New Cider Maker's Handbook is an amazing resource. It may be overkill if you are just starting out. It covers the cider making process but also covers apple growing as well.
My wife and I purchased an orchard last year and hope to start a small cidery in the future. This book has been an incredible amount of help. It is basically a textbook for cider making.
http://www.ciderworkshop.com/links.html
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/cider-workshop
and the book, or should I say The Book https://www.amazon.com/New-Cider-Makers-Handbook-Comprehensive/dp/1603584730 by Claude Jolicoeur
The book written by Andrew Lew is also worth mentioning
https://www.amazon.com/Craft-Cider-Making-Andrew-Lea/dp/1785000152/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CVG59HK1FJPH45NP3A6N
Both guys are active at mentioned google forum.
The New Cider Maker's Handbook is a good start.
https://www.amazon.com/New-Cider-Makers-Handbook-Comprehensive/dp/1603584730/
I think it's too niche to have something like How to Brew... I've heard good things about The New Cider Maker's Handbook though.
I would be interested to see what comes out without pitching any additional yeast. Wild yeast can make some great cider, but being wild it will be unpredictable. If you do plan on just using the wild yeast make sure you add some yeast nutrients. Apple juice is very poor in nutrients that yeast needs to thrive. I recommend Wyeast brand nutriants but any nutriants made for wine will work well with cider. For wild yeast add 24 hours after pressing or if your pitching you want to add it 24 hours prior.
You also want to make sure you are monitoring your free SO2 levels. You can buy test kits online. Accuvin is pretty accurate and a kit will run you $35. Keeping SO2 levels will discourage any bad bacteria from infecting your cider and give your yeast a good chance at achieving an optimal fermentation.
Once your cider goes dry, rack it into a sterile vessel. Make sure you fill it to the top to keep oxygen off of the cider. This will discourage acetic acid bacteria from turning your cider to vinegar. Stopper the vessel with an air trap. I like to fill traps with a little white spirts as it's sterile vs. tap water. Give it a taste and if it's tasting good, give it a few months to mature. Rack as needed it you see a build up of particulates on the bottom.
If you need more technical information there is a great book called the New Cidermakers Handbook that covers the art and science of making great cider.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1603584730?pc_redir=1411309332&robot_redir=1
I hope it works out! Make sure to report back on how it tastes.
I came here to recommend the same book! Here's a link to it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Cider-Makers-Handbook-Comprehensive/dp/1603584730/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1P8SN20X1P4XJRWMP1SD
I have this:
https://www.amazon.ca/New-Cider-Makers-Handbook-Comprehensive/dp/1603584730
And this:
https://www.amazon.ca/Craft-Cider-Making-Andrew-Lea/dp/1904871984
The basic keys to avoid bad batches (I found out by making bad batches) are:
-Keep primary fermentation temps low, like 12-15 deg. celcius
I didn't use any splenda, so mine is very dry, pretty tart... but no vinegar or off-flavors....
Honestly, I didn't even check the spec. gravity when I racked... But I think cleanliness and temps are way more important than most other factors.