Ferment Apple Juice
The result of fermented apple juice is cider, which requires the natural yeast in apples to be present for the fermentation process. Cider is simply fresh pressed apples but cider takes on different meanings depending on where you are in the world. For Americans, cider is a sweet, non-alcoholic apple juice enjoyed during the fall and winter months but for many other countries, cider is a fermented alcoholic apple juice drink. You can learn how to ferment apple juice at home to achieve sweet apple cider.
Steps
- Choose apples to use for making the fresh cider. You can use any type of apple and even use a combination of different apples. If you pick the apples right off the tree, let the apples age for 1 week.
- Clean the apples under cool running water, washing them thoroughly.
- Core the apples and quarter them. Use an apple corer to make this process quicker and easier.
- Place the apple quarters into a blender, food processor or food chopper and process until smooth.
- Put the apple pulp into a porous fabric bag, such as a muslin sack or jelly bag, and squeeze out the juice into a bowl. Pour the liquid into glass bottles using a funnel, for ease.
- Fill the bottles to just below the rim and use a cotton plug. A cotton plug will pop out if too much pressure builds during the fermentation process, whereas a regular cap could make the bottle explode. Pressure builds when the bubbles from the carbon dioxide in the apple juice rise to the top of the bottle.
- Store the bottled juice at 72 degrees Fahrenheit (22 degrees Celsius) for 3 to 4 days. Sediment will begin to form on the bottom of the bottles as a result of the fermentation process.
- Strain the cider with a plastic strainer to separate the liquid and sediment. Discard the sediment, as this is not palatable.
- Pasteurize the fresh cider to prevent food born illnesses by heating it to 160 to 170 degrees Fahrenheit (71 to 77 degrees Celsius) in a stainless steel pot. Skim the foam that forms on top due to the heat and discard.
- Fill heated glass bottles with the pasteurized cider and refrigerate. Drink the fresh cider within a week. Freeze the fresh cider in glass or plastic freezer containers,for up to 1 year; after cooling the liquid down in the refrigerator.
- Finished.
Tips
- For best results, use freshly pressed juice from apples that were not previously pasteurized, before putting the juice through the fermentation process; fermenting pasteurized juice results in lower quality cider.
- Use a fruit or cider press for large quantities of apples.
- Use a clean pillowcase in place of the muslin sack to juice the apples.
Warnings
- Do not use bruised or spoiled parts of apples, which will cause the juice to ferment too fast, or under ripe apples, which will leave the cider tasting flat.
- Do not store cider in aluminum, iron or copper, as the cider will react negatively with these metals.
- Do not use apples that have fallen from the tree, if you are picking fresh apples.
Things You'll Need
- Apples
- Apple Corer
- Blender
- Porous Fabric Bag
- Glass Bottles
- Cotton Stoppers
- Funnel
- Strainer
- Stainless Steel Pot
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