Slightly O/T: Apples for Cider

[timmy]

Hi all,

I'm looking to make a from-scratch dry cider. Has anyone got suggestions as to the best apples to use? And roughly how many would I need to make up , say, 20 litres?

Cheers,

Tim

[DarkFaerytale]

just did a google, try this site

http://www.leeners.com/cider.html

[timmy]

Thanks for the link, but it mentions a lot of apples that are probably not readily available here.

I would imagine that Jonathans or golden delicious would probably be the best.....

Might have to grab a couple of kilos and give it a shot

There's quite a lot of orchards down my way SE Melb, and you commonly see roadside signs offering boxes of apples for quite cheap. Thought it might be a better drop than shelling out for a kit.

Cheers,

Tim

[111222333]

you do have to be a bit careful with ciders, like wine, they need a pH correction usually. most ciders produced in the world use quite tart apples, nothing like the apples we eat. even the most tart dersert apples, like granny smith, are not usually enough on there own. as the honourable dogger did, do a search, there is plenty of info on the net, and even though the apples donot sound firmiliar, they are there coz they give the best results.

[Chris]

Easy answer is: Any good juice apples. Also, you'll need to add tartaric acid, and maybe a little citric.

[rwh]

What's the ideal pH?

[111222333]

What's the ideal pH?

i can't find the soucre, but i believe its about 5.5-5.8, which is a small addition of ascorbic acid to sweet apples and one or two campdem tablets to sharp apples. i think the name of the book was homemade country wines - circa 1960. had all things from elderberry champagne (marvalous) to ciders and traditional ales