How apple cider is made. A simple recipe for making cider at home from apples

Apple wine or cider is very common among the inhabitants of Great Britain, France, Germany and Normandy. It is prepared both independently and in factories. In Russia, this drink has not gained much popularity, although apple cider has a very simple home-made recipe. The fruit, on the basis of which this wine is fermented, is very accessible, as it grows in everyone's garden or vegetable garden.

Cider at home is very soft, easy to drink and with pleasure. Its strength varies from country to country. It depends on the method of preparation and exposure of the base. But in any case, it does not take a lot of money and effort to make apple cider.

The popularity of cider is in its simple preparation. Apple cider is a low-strength drink obtained from the natural fermentation of apples, pears or their juice. Most often, sugar is not added to the drink. It is champagne, has a golden honey color, sometimes with a greenish tinge. It has a light nectar taste, without a sharp hint of alcohol. The drink may not contain alcohol.

Different countries have different percentages of fruit juice in the drink. It cannot be less than 35%, but generally contains from 50 to 90%. Homemade apple cider is made from various kinds of apples, with the occasional addition of water and sugar to taste. A home-made drink may have a cloudy tint, but the taste does not deteriorate in any way.

The nutritional value

Apple wine is very safe and even beneficial in moderation. Due to the fact that the main ingredient is apples, cider contains a large amount of vitamin C. This is 4% percent of the total norm required by an adult organism. It contains the most carbohydrates compared to proteins and fats. In addition, cider contains many trace elements that have a beneficial effect on the digestive tract. The calorie content of wine is not large - about 50 kcal per 100 ml.

Despite the beneficial properties, do not forget that cider is an alcoholic drink. In order not to harm health, it is allowed to use only in small quantities. The best option is 1-2 glasses.

How to make homemade cider?

Homemade apple cider begins with the selection and preparation of raw materials. It is important to select good, not rotten fruits. We make good cider only from quality apples. Unripe fruits should not be used. From them, the drink will be very sour and astringent. Overripe fruits lose their juiciness and are also not suitable for manufacturing. To give a piquant and multifaceted taste, cider is made from several varieties of apples.

Making this drink with your own hands is a rather long process. The raw material is crushed and infused in a closed container for several months. Only in this way the taste is rich and fully revealed. Cider can be brewed with or without sugar. In any case, you will have to be patient to wait for full readiness.

Ingredients

It is not difficult to guess what apple cider is made from. It consists of:

  1. Apples are the main ingredient. For the manufacture of a large volume, from 5 to 10 kilograms of ranetki or antonovka will be required.
  2. Sugar is added in the ratio of 150 grams of sand per 1 kg of fruit. Sweetening the drink is not always required. The sweeter the variety of apples, the less sugar will be needed.
  3. Water is poured in to dilute the apple juice. It is added to taste.
  4. Yeast. Most often, recipes do without them, since on the surface of the peel of apples there are elements that cause the fermentation process in a natural way. But sometimes it may be necessary to add yeast to enhance the process.

An integral part of any recipe are only fruits. Other ingredients are added in exceptional cases and to taste.

Crushing of raw materials

The fruits of the fruits used are crushed before preparing the drink to an almost homogeneous mass. For this, a meat grinder or a food processor is mainly used. With the widespread emergence of household appliances for crushing apples, it has become more convenient to use a blender. Regardless of the method of grinding, apples are brought to a homogeneous gruel along with seeds and peel. This mass can be used to make cider.

Cooking process

At home, we make apple cider in several stages. First, clean dishes must be doused with boiling water and dried for sterilization. After that, they are filled with crushed raw materials for 2/3 of the total volume. This space is left for the formation of foam and carbon dioxide during the fermentation process. It is best to use containers that can be closed tightly after filling with gauze or cloth.

The next step is the preparation of the wort. Bottles are left for 4 days in a warm, dark place. After this period, foam and a characteristic hiss will appear due to gas formation. After insisting, you need to filter the mass through gauze or a sieve to get rid of sediment and pour the juice into a fermentation tank. In this container, the cider will be infused until fully cooked. Put a water seal on the fermentation tank or put on a medical glove. A small hole is pierced in one of the fingers with a needle. It removes carbon dioxide and prevents oxygen from entering.

The jar, trying not to mix the sediment, is placed in a dark room with a warm room, with a temperature of about 20-27 degrees. The mixture will infuse for about 2 months. Readiness is determined by the fall of the glove and the change in color of the liquid to a lighter one.

After that, the liquid must be poured into a container of a smaller volume. It is best to use half-liter bottles that can be closed with a cork. They need to be filled to the very neck and tightly corked. Leave to ripen for 8-10 weeks. During this time, the taste of the drink will be fully revealed.

How to make cider carbonated

Non-carbonated cider is very similar to apple juice or wine. For the formation of gas, it is necessary to withstand the cider after the end of fermentation in a plastic container. The bottles should leave an empty space a few centimeters high. Thanks to this cavity, the gas formed in the drink will remain.

Making cider requires creativity. It has its own subtleties and nuances, depending on which each time they get a different taste of the drink. The following tips will help you prepare it:

  • After picking, the fruits should lie down for a while in a dark place to ripen enough.
  • Before cooking, apples do not need to be thoroughly washed with water. So you can remove the natural yeast from the peel of the fruit. It is enough to wipe them with a dry cloth.
  • To achieve a pleasant taste, it is better to combine sour and sweet varieties of apples. The ideal ratio is 1:2.
  • When insisting, you need to monitor the maintenance of the optimum temperature.
  • For storage, it is better to use dark plastic or glass bottles. Darkening the walls of the vessel saves from exposure to ultraviolet rays, which change the taste and quality of the cider.

Popular Recipes

There are many ways to make cider at home. The most popular recipe is apple cider. In addition, wine can be made from apple juice or pears. Recipes from this fundamentally do not change. The drink is obtained by fermentation. Any cider at home can be made by knowing the step-by-step method of quick preparation.

Easy apple cider recipe

The recipe for apple cider does not require additional ingredients and special skills. For 5 liters of drink you will need:

  • 10 kilograms of apples,
  • 1.5 kilograms of sugar.

Grind clean fruits. In three-liter jars washed and scalded with boiling water, put the resulting mixture into three-quarters of the entire volume of the container. Pour about 400 grams of sugar into the container. This takes into account the sweetness of the apple variety. Puree should be sweet enough, not cloying, but not sour. Close the necks of the jars with a cloth and infuse for 4 days, stirring daily.

After that, strain the juice into another container, squeeze out the cake and seal the liquid with a water seal. In this state, the fermentation process should proceed for another 1.5 months. When the drink brightens, filter it and bottle it. In them, insist another 3 months until fully cooked.

This is the easiest way to make apple cider at home. Such a simple recipe is available to everyone and results in a very tasty refreshing drink.

Sugar free apple cider

The process of making cider from apple juice is slightly different from the classic one. It will require only fruit fruits.

It is necessary to squeeze the fresh juice and stand without cooling. Then filter it into a jar and close it with a water seal. In this way, it is infused for about 1.5 months. After fermentation, pour the juice into bottles. This must be done carefully so that the sediment does not get into the juice. Infuse the mixture until fully cooked for about 4 more months.

Cider made from apple juice without sugar will be more acidic and fresher than a drink made from sweetened fruit.

pear cider

This cider tastes different from apple cider. It is more viscous, with honey and pear notes. To prepare it, you need pears and a little sugar.

The fruits are crushed and processed into juice. It is poured into a container and infused covered with a cloth for 3 days. After the formation of foam and a characteristic hiss, sugar is added to the liquid. The juice is mixed, closed with a water seal and infused for 20 days.

The last step is pouring the juice into separate bottles. 1 tablespoon of sugar is added to each and 5 cm of space free from liquid is left. The bottles are tightly closed, and the cider is infused until the process is complete for about two more weeks.

Non-alcoholic cider

Apple lovers who do not support alcohol consumption can also enjoy this drink. Such a cider will have a sweet taste with fruity notes and a quick recipe, due to the lack of a fermentation process.

For cooking you will need:

  • 1 liter apple juice
  • orange,
  • cinnamon sticks,
  • small ginger root
  • 2 liters of sparkling water without additives.

The peeled and sliced ​​orange is placed in a saucepan along with ginger and cinnamon. Pour all the ingredients with juice and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook over low heat for 20-30 minutes. The resulting liquid is filtered and cooled. To serve, mix boiled juice and sparkling water in a glass in half.

Such a drink can be consumed in large quantities. Due to the lack of alcohol, it will not harm health.

How to drink cider

Cider is poured into wine glasses or any tall glasses. Before serving, it is recommended to cool it for two days in a refrigerator or a special cellar. Drink apple wine slowly, enjoying every sip. Appetizers for cider are the same as for champagne: cheeses, seafood, light desserts and fruits. To feel all the notes of taste, it is better not to eat cider.

Useful properties and harm of apple cider

Each drink has positive and negative effects. Cider is almost 100% fruit. They contain many vitamins and other substances that have a beneficial effect on immunity and digestion. Since apples are not thermally processed, all their beneficial properties are transferred to the drink. The main thing to remember is that traditional cider contains alcohol. Abuse not only nullifies all the positive properties, but can also worsen the state of health.

Having all the ingredients at home, it is best to make this aromatic drink yourself than to buy bottles with unknown contents in the store. Factory cider is no match for home-made cider.

Real apple cider, made according to proven recipes at home from apples from the native land, has a pleasant delicate taste and a low degree of alcohol. You will remember apple wine for its refreshing taste and the absence of a hangover, and it will become an important element of a family feast for a long time. Making cider at home is a win-win option for processing a bountiful harvest of apples.

What is cider

It is customary to call a classic cider a drink that spread in Europe in the 13th-11th centuries. Yeast is not used in its manufacture, and fermentation occurs due to lactic acid bacteria located on the skin of apples. Apple cider can be found in most European pubs, where it reigns supreme alongside beer. The right to be called the birthplace of the drink is disputed by England, Spain and France - in these countries a sequence of actions was born, the output of which is the familiar golden drink.

How to make apple cider

During the existence of apple cider, many of its variations have appeared. It is made from apples of all varieties and sizes, using various fermentation techniques. Depending on the impatience of the winemaker, the production time can vary from a couple of weeks to six months. It is delicious to add other fruits and berries to the cider: sunberry (a berry from the nightshade family), chokeberry, pear, black currant. A drink in which apples are completely replaced by pears is common in English-speaking countries under the name perry.

Any recipe for apple cider at home contains 3 main steps: preparing dishes and apples, fermenting the must, clarification. For preparation, a water seal is used, which provides one-sided removal of carbon dioxide from a vessel with apple juice. Without this necessary component of the fermentation process device, it is possible for the cap to be blown off by carbon dioxide or the alcohol to turn into vinegar prematurely due to the access of oxygen.

The simplest water seal can be bought or made independently from a photo on the Internet. A common substitute for the device is a rubber glove with a pierced finger. Gas bubbles escaping through a water seal or the vertical position of an inflated glove indicate an intensive fermentation process. The absence of bubbles or a drooping glove are signs of the absence of fermentation processes.

apple cider recipes

From apple juice

  • Preparation time: 6 months.
  • Quantity: 27-30 l.
  • Calorie content of the dish: 47 kcal per 100 ml.
  • Purpose: for dinner.
  • Cuisine: French.

The presented drink recipe is common in England and France. The method involves the absence of sugar and yeast in the recipe, a long exposure and a pleasant taste. Apple juice cider will often delight you at a friendly and family table all year round, because it is stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 years. The strength of the drink is 6-10%, and therefore it is able to maintain the mood in a good company.

Ingredients:

  • apples - 75-100 kg

Cooking method:

  1. Prepare juice from fresh apples and let it stand for a day, then remove from the sediment and filter through cheesecloth.
  2. Pour the juice into jars, close with a water seal and put away for 3-5 weeks in a warm place (20-27 ° C).
  3. When fermentation stops, carefully pour the cider into another vessel, being careful not to touch the sediment formed at the bottom.
  4. Leave the drink in tightly closed bottles for another 4 months, then filter it, bottle it and cork it.

From store juice

  • Preparation time: 30 days.
  • Quantity: 2 l.
  • Kitchen: modern.
  • Difficulty of preparation: easy.

The best drinks are made from homemade apples from our own plot. How do you make cider if you're an established city dweller? It will turn out delicious if you use a modern recipe for a drink from ready-made store juices. This cider can be made all year round. To get a delicious carbonated drink, be careful about the choice of juice and yeast.

Ingredients:

  • clarified apple juice - 2 l;
  • dry yeast - 0.5 tsp;
  • sugar - 1.5 tsp

Cooking method:

  1. Yeast is added to 2 liters of juice in the fermentation tank. They must first be prepared by adding a little water and leaving until the first signs of an active rise.
  2. Place a water seal on the neck of the container.
  3. The must ferments for 5-8 days at room temperature. When making cider, avoid too hot days, as excessive fermentation leads to a deterioration in taste.
  4. Drain the fermented juice from the sediment and pour into bottles.
  5. For a fizzy drink, add sugar to the bottles, close tightly and leave for another two weeks at room temperature. Activated yeast will make your delicious drink carbonated.
  6. To stop the fermentation process of apple juice, put the bottles in the refrigerator for 4 days, and after that your homemade cider is ready.

from antonovka

  • Quantity: 5 l.
  • Calorie content of the dish: 52 kcal per 100 ml.
  • Purpose: for lunch, dinner.
  • Cuisine: French.
  • Difficulty of preparation: difficult.

Sweet and sour varieties of apples are best suited for making a drink. Ripe fruits give their marvelous aroma to cider as much as possible. The suggested recipe for apple cider uses a small amount of summer sourdough berries, which give the original characteristic smell. The addition of sugar creates a strong fermentation, and the alcohol is stronger.

Ingredients:

  • freshly squeezed apple juice - 4 l;
  • hot water - 1 l;
  • sugar - 4 cups.

For sourdough:

  • raspberries - 1 cup;
  • water - 100 ml;
  • sugar - 2 tsp

Cooking method

  1. First you need to make a starter. To do this, mash unwashed raspberries, add about half a glass of warm water and 2 teaspoons of sugar, cover with gauze and leave in a warm place until foam appears.
  2. Mix freshly squeezed juice with a warm sugar solution (a glass of sugar and 1 liter of water). Add the starter to the bottle and leave for 2-3 days under a gauze napkin, without closing.
  3. The jar must be closed with a water seal to better control the fermentation process, and put in a warm place.
  4. After 3 days, you need to add another 3 cups of sugar, and then wait for the end of fermentation - about 20 days.
  5. The next step is to drain the sediment and keep the drink for another 2 weeks in a warm place, then pour it into liter bottles and send it to a cold room or refrigerator.
  6. After 5 months, the fragrant traditional French drink is ready!

From ranetki

  • Preparation time: 2 months.
  • Quantity: 1, 3 l.
  • Calorie content of the dish: 50 kcal per 100 ml.
  • Purpose: for lunch, dinner.
  • Cuisine: domestic.
  • Difficulty of preparation: medium.

The classic technology of making a drink allows you to process sweet and sour apples. How to make an apple drink from semi-wild ranetki, which often grow in summer cottages? Small apples are great for making a traditional cider with a rich apple flavor. Bones from them, if desired, can be removed or left - they give the drink astringency.

Ingredients:

  • rubbed ranetki through a meat grinder - 1 l;
  • sugar - 1 tbsp;
  • water - 0.5 l.

Cooking method:

  1. Grind the prepared ranetki with a meat grinder, add water. Leave the must to ferment for 3-4 days in a warm place.
  2. Stir the mixture regularly (every 6 hours) until active fermentation begins.
  3. After the pulp floats, separate the apple pomace and add sugar.
  4. Drain the future wine into a glass container, leaving enough space for fermentation.
  5. After the end of fermentation, drain the liquid from the thick sediment at the bottom into glass bottles, which are corked and sent to a cold place.
  6. After 2 months, the wine can be consumed.

dry cider

  • Preparation time: 7 months.
  • Quantity: 3 l.
  • Calorie content of the dish: 50 kcal per 100 ml.
  • Purpose: for lunch, dinner.
  • Cuisine: French.
  • Difficulty of preparation: simple.

How to prepare a dry variety of low-alcohol drink? It is necessary not to add sugar to it and carry out the fermentation process to the end, and then wait 6 months before ripening. As a result, the most patient will receive apple champagne on the table at the end of spring according to the classic recipe, which looks exactly like in the photo, and is delicious at home.

Ingredients:

  • sour apples - 10 kg.

Cooking method

  1. Peel the collected 10 kilograms of apples and leave in a dark place, spreading out in one layer, for a week.
  2. Grind the fruit into a puree. Squeeze out the juice and leave it alone until fermentation begins.
  3. When sediment falls to the bottom and gas evolution begins, pour the drink into a bowl, cork with a lid and keep cool for six months.

Video

Apple cider is essentially homemade apple wine. The drink can be made both quiet and effervescent, self-carbonated, both with and without sugar.

If you decide to cook such a homemade apple cider yourself, then our recipes will certainly help you with this. Based on the above recommendations, you will no doubt get an excellent result and a wonderful taste of the workpiece.

How to make cider from apple juice at home - recipe

Ingredients:

  • - How much do you have;
  • granulated sugar - 200-245 g per liter of juice.

Cooking

First you need to properly squeeze apple juice. To do this, you should not wash, so as not to rid them of the natural yeast that is indispensable for fermentation, located on the surface of the fruit. If the fruit is too dirty, wipe off the dirt with a clean cotton cloth. Now we cut the fruits into several shares and pass through the juicer. Many rid apples of seeds with a core first, but in fact this can not be done. If there is no juicer, then you can simply grind the fruit chunks in a blender container or with a meat grinder, and then squeeze the juice with gauze or with a press.

Now the resulting juice must be sweetened. The amount of sugar may vary depending on the sweetness of the apples themselves and, accordingly, the juice from them. Initially, we pour not the entire portion of sugar, but only one hundred grams per liter. Thoroughly mix the cider base until all sugar crystals are dissolved, pour into a fermentation bottle and install a water seal, or put on a medical glove with a needle pierced with one finger on the neck. If fermentation has not started within the first five days, as evidenced by the absence of air bubbles in the container with water from the water seal or a sagging glove, add wine yeast to the juice with sugar, taking into account the recommendations on the package.

At the end of the first fermentation, and this will happen about two weeks from its beginning, we remove the future cider from the sediment, add the rest of the sugar to taste and put it on fermentation again under a water seal or glove. At the end of fermentation, we drain the finished cider with a hose, without touching the sediment, bottle it and place it in a cool place for aging and storage. Ideally, the cider should be allowed to brew for three to five months.

To get a carbonated drink in a plastic eggplant or a glass bottle with thick walls, pour a little sugar on the bottom and only then pour the finished cider, not reaching the neck by five centimeters. We cork the containers and place them in a horizontal position in a cool place. Sugar poured on the bottom will cause additional fermentation, which will cause gas to be released, which, if necessary, will need to be lowered a little so that the bottles do not burst. The degree of density of containers is easier to control if they are plastic, so we use glass containers with caution in this case.

Among low-alcohol drinks, cider is a very special product, low strength, and unique "appleness" make it closer to juice than to ordinary alcoholic beverages. Pleasant fruity taste and refreshing bubbles make it relevant for consumption on hot summer days, as well as wonderful additions to poultry and pork dishes.

Industrially prepared cider has disadvantages: it contains preservatives and flavors, and is also saturated with carbon dioxide, which is of little use to the human body. A long shelf life makes it possible to doubt the presence of useful substances in such a drink.

But there is an alternative - you can make cider yourself! Consider in this article the methods of making classic apple cider, as well as its various modifications.

Cider is a product not only tasty, but also healthy. Of course, subject to the culture of drinking, albeit weak, but still alcohol. The drink contains useful for the body:

  • vitamins C, B12, B6, B1;
  • potassium, magnesium;
  • pectin;
  • iron, calcium;
  • antioxidants;
  • natural yeast cultures.

Small doses of cider are an excellent prevention of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, disorders of the digestive tract, anemia. Apple drink improves metabolic processes in the body, helps to reduce the level of "bad" cholesterol, removes toxins, allows the walls of blood vessels to remain soft and elastic.

The preparation of such a drink does not require a large number of ingredients and skills. Ripe apples with a sweet taste or slight sourness are suitable for it.

Ingredients:

  • 5 kg of apples;
  • 0.5-0.7 kg of sugar.

In those countries where cider is a traditional drink, special varieties of apples have been developed that are ideal for making a drink. They contain a greater amount of tannin and other components necessary to obtain high-quality cider. For cooking in our conditions, in the absence of such fruits, it is best to take apple platter from different varieties: tart, sweet, sour.

Even “wild birds” will do, it makes no sense to buy selected apples for making cider, everything that is at hand is taken.

The main selection condition- ripeness, apples should not have wormholes or rot, all "doubtful" places are cut off before chopping. On average, ½ part of cider comes out of 1 part of apples of good ripeness.

Cooking:


Advice. Standard cider has a strength of 7-12%, which is comparable to beer or low-alcohol cocktails. If you need to make it stronger, you can add a little cognac to the drink, this will not only change the degree up and give the cider new nuances of taste, but also protect the storage of the drink from spoilage.

  • After the end of the fermentation process, the fermented juice must be drained from the cans into a common container and filtered twice through paper or fabric filters.
  • After that, the cider needs only to stand in a cool and dark place for three months. Perhaps, after that, a small sediment of the wort will appear in the bottle - it is not necessary to strain it.

If the apples are very sour, you need to increase the amount of sugar or add water to the recipe in the amount of 1/10 of the total volume of puree obtained from apples.

How to make a drink from apple juice?

Sugar-free cider will appeal to those who monitor the amount of sugar in the diet, as well as the owners of fruit-bearing apple trees (in this case, you do not need to purchase ingredients for home production and the drink will be really free).

Ingredients:

  • 10 kg of apples;
  • 1 liter of water.

Cooking:

  1. Apples are processed in the same way as in the preparation of classic cider.
  2. Using an electric juicer or by forcing an apple chopped on a fine grater through gauze, juice is obtained, which is kept for a day in a dark and warm place.
  3. With the help of a special tube, the upper part without sediment is drained into the fermentation tank. Water is added.
  4. At temperatures above 20 degrees, the liquid must be aged for 2 months.
  5. When fermentation stops, the procedure with transfusion of juice without sediment is repeated, for the next 3-4 months it should be in a cool room (at a temperature of about 10 degrees)
  6. At the end of this period, the cider is ready for use. It can be stored in tightly closed containers in the basement or refrigerator for up to three years. If after three years no sediment has formed, and the drink itself has not acquired an unpleasant odor, it remains usable.

Advice! For juice cider, sweet varieties of apples are best suited: Candy, Medunitsa, Fuji, Bolotovskoe, Venyaminovskoe, Golden and Antonovka Dessert.

With added honey

A fragrant drink made from apples and honey is often called sbitny.

Many people love it for its versatility: when cold, the drink smells like honey and is pleasantly refreshing, when warm, it pleases with a rich aroma of spicy apple and is drunk more easily than similar mulled wine.

Ingredients:

  • 8 kg of apples;
  • 2 liters of honey;
  • 6 liters of water.

Cooking:

  1. Each apple is cut into 4 slices.
  2. Sliced ​​apples are folded into a clean cotton bag (you can use a pillowcase).
  3. The bag is placed in a pan, covered with a wooden board on top (it is better to cut it to fit the size of the pan, but ordinary kitchen ones are also suitable for cutting food). A heavy load is placed on the plank, which can crush the apples in the bag with its mass. Usually 15 kg is sufficient, it is convenient to use water containers.
  4. In a separate container, honey is thoroughly mixed with water.
  5. The prepared honey syrup is poured into a pan with apples, which is then covered with a cloth. The container should be in a dark, warm place for 1.5-2 months.
  6. The liquid is drained and the remaining apple pulp is refilled with new syrup. The liquid obtained at the first stage should stand in a cellar or other cool place for a month (while the fermentation process is in progress in the second portion).
  7. After 2 months, the liquid is filtered from the pulp. It must be kept in a cool room for a month, after which the cider from different stages of preparation can be mixed and poured into tightly closed bottles for final aging in a room with a temperature of up to 15 degrees for 9 months.

Interesting to know! The whole cycle of making apple-honey drink takes about a year and 2 months. From the autumn harvest of apples, you can get a wonderful low-alcohol drink with a delicate taste for the next winter holidays.

Cider with raisins

Such a drink is prepared in two ways, the taste of drinks is identical when using the same varieties of apples and proportions, so when choosing, you should rely on how simple it is.

Method 1

It will take 20 kg. apple platter of sour and sweet varieties, 50 gr. raisins. Fruits are wiped with a clean rag and sent to ripen for 2-5 days. When they become soft, chop or grate on a coarse grater. It is important to remember that you should not grind them too much, as apples give off juice much worse. It is squeezed separately from sour varieties and from sweet ones, the juice is kept in a cool place in enameled or glassware.

After three days, a precipitate will fall in containers with juice, now you can strain the liquids through several layers of gauze or a dense cloth and combine. Cider is poured into bottles, adding 5-10 pieces to each. raisin.

Method 2

Skip 2 kg. apples through a juicer, throw in the cake, and place the collected liquid in the refrigerator for 3-4 days until a precipitate forms, then carefully drain. Raisins 20-30 gr. pour

boiling water for 3-5 minutes, add steamed berries to the drink when it is poured into a storage container.

Easy dried fruit recipe

This drink has an original taste and a pleasant aroma of spicy dried fruits.

Ingredients:

  • 1 kg of dried fruits;
  • 3 kg of sugar;
  • 10 liters of water;
  • 150 g yeast.

Cooking:

  1. Dry apples are poured with five liters of water heated to a temperature of 90 degrees. The wort obtained from soaked and increased in volume apples stands for an hour.
  2. In a separate container, sugar syrup is prepared by thoroughly mixing the sugar in the remaining water. Syrup and wort are combined in a large saucepan.
  3. Yeast must be introduced into the resulting mixture, which has cooled to a temperature of 37 degrees.
  4. Cider should ferment at room temperature in a container covered with a cloth for a month or until the end of the foam.
  5. The liquid must be drained and filtered through a paper or gauze filter. After that, the cider is left in a cool room for another month.
  6. The drink that has finally stopped fermenting can be poured into tightly twisted containers and stored in a cellar or refrigerator for up to two years.

Advice! If the liquid infused with dried fruits does not begin to ferment, you can add a handful of raisins to it, which will speed up this process and give the drink an interesting grape flavor.

With wine yeast

To make this cider, you will need whole apple juice and diluted 3% wine yeast:

  • A glass of any berries (raspberries, strawberries, etc.) is taken, they cannot be washed. To the berries add ½ cup of water and 1-2 tablespoons of granulated sugar.
  • All the ingredients are mixed, it is desirable to crush the berries a little, for three days the mixture is removed in a warm place + 20-23 ° C and stirred daily. The dishes in which the wiring is prepared must be with a lid.
  • The cider container is thoroughly washed, sterilized, the juice is boiled and cooled to room temperature, now you can add yeast wiring to it, cover it with a water seal or a glove and let it ferment for 3-4 days.

If the cider turns out to be too dark, it can be clarified, for this milk with a minimum fat content is used. It is put in the refrigerator for a day, then a layer of cream is removed from it. For each liter of cider you will need 1 teaspoon of milk, it is poured into an alcoholic drink, stirred well and allowed to stand at room temperature for 3-6 days. During this time, the cider will acquire a lighter shade and it will be possible to pass it through the filter.

How to prepare a non-alcoholic analogue?

This version of cider can be consumed by children, pregnant women and people involved in sports activities. Also, drivers of vehicles can safely use it - you can not expect intoxication from it.

It is not worth preparing non-alcoholic cider in large portions at once - due to the lack of ethanol in the composition, the shelf life is reduced to several days.

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 liters of apple juice;
  • several oranges;
  • cinnamon stick;
  • a piece of ginger root about 3 centimeters;
  • cloves to taste.

Cooking:

  1. Apple juice over low heat is heated to a temperature of 90 degrees.
  2. Oranges are cut into slices, ginger - into thin slices. All ingredients are added to the pot.
  3. The cider is boiled for 5 minutes, after which it is covered with a lid.
  4. After an hour, you can start tasting.

Advice! Other fruits can be added to the drink to taste: pear, grapes or a few slices of melon.

Learning to use correctly

Cider is usually served chilled to a temperature of about 10 degrees. They drink it from special tall glasses, expanding at the top. To obtain a delicious and soft foam, cider is poured into an inclined glass in a thin stream from a height of about 20 centimeters.

The taste of cider depends on what kind of apples were used to make it., but the fermentation time affects the strength of the drink, the longer this process takes place, the more “stunning” the result will be.

Cider experts unanimously declare that the most delicious drink is immediately poured into a glass. Therefore, you need to drink it quickly enough, while the specific soft foam has not yet settled. Cider foam is a separate facet of cider culture. So, for example, in Asturias (Spain) cider is poured in a special way. The bottle is held on an arm extended above the head, and a drink is poured from it in a thin stream onto the wall of the glass, which is held with the other hand at the waist. It is believed that at the same time it is enriched with oxygen as much as possible and acquires the right taste.

The Spaniards know how to make cider and know how to drink it properly. In this country, he is called the "jealous bride." Light and fresh apple alcohol categorically does not tolerate the company of any of its fellows. A person who decides to mix it with other drinks will get a sudden, deep intoxication, which will flow into the worst hangover. Only different types of cider can be mixed without damage to reputation and health.

Advice! In hot weather, cider can be a good aperitif before a hearty meal.

There are dishes that maximize the taste of the drink:

  • hard and soft cheeses;
  • meat cutting;
  • fish, steamed or in a creamy sauce;
  • grilled products: marinated chicken or pork, baked mushrooms and vegetables;
  • from desserts, light pastries, various muffins and biscuits with berry filling are ideal;
  • a real knight's move is serving apple cider with charlotte or strudel.

It is also worth considering that main dishes are more suitable for sweeter cider, and sweet desserts are more suitable for a drink from sour varieties of apples.

Making cider is not the easiest process, but using the recipes and tips given in the article, you can easily become a real apple winemaking guru. Among the variety of recipes, everyone can easily find one that will suit their taste.

It is worth remembering that with the right combination of cider with its accompanying dishes, you can achieve ideal combinations of taste, revealing the full versatility of this drink.

Watch the video recipe for making apple cider:

For many in our country, cider is associated with the Wolf - a hooligan from the favorite Soviet cartoon "Just you wait." It is not known why the animators decided to use this particular noble drink, but the hard-to-open bottle and the carbonation of its contents were remembered by both children and adults. In fact, cider dates back to the time of the Roman Empire and has always been exclusively a festive table drink.

In medieval France, cider was more popular than wine, and in the northern provinces of Brittany and Normandy continues to maintain its position to this day. The drink is valued and respected in Germany, Spain, England. Nothing prevents us from joining the European culture and making apple cider at home. The harm from such a product is minimal, but the benefits far exceed industrial designs.

General technological principles

Cider is usually understood as an alcoholic drink made from apples, carbonated and sweetish in taste. This is a traditional cider recipe, but not the only one. There are not only sweet and semi-sweet varieties, but also dry ones. Instead of apples, you can use pears, quince and other fruits. There is non-carbonated (quiet) cider and even non-alcoholic. Here are the main stages of home winemaking using apple cider as an example.

Fruit preparation

To understand how to make apple cider really tasty, let's deal with the composition. Industrial cider production uses specially bred "cider" varieties of apples, for example, Yarlington Mill, Black Kingston, Bitter Tremlet. They contain a sufficient amount of tannins and acids, creating a rich natural taste of natural cider.

To achieve the same effect from orchard apples, different varieties are mixed. You will need sour, sweet and tart varieties. It is customary to use late autumn varieties for apple wine. The apples are picked by hand and left to ripen in the cellar for 1-2 months.

The fruits that have lain down and poured with juice must be carefully sorted out from leaves and cuttings. To keep natural yeast on the surface of the peel, it is not necessary to wash the apples. Unless they are store bought. Particularly soiled can be wiped with a cloth. The benefits of using a natural yeast culture far outweigh the potential harm from remaining dirt.

Now the apples need to be chopped. At home, this is done using a food processor, blender, meat grinder, chaff, crusher and any other handy tool. Choose a method based on the volumes to be processed.

Juicing

According to the experience of practicing winemakers, 10 kg of apples yield 7–8 liters of apple juice, and from it - 5 liters of finished cider. Store-bought cider is not recommended. Pasteurization used in factories does not leave strains of microorganisms necessary for fermentation. Baker's, dry and even wine yeast are not able to become a full-fledged replacement. They give a specific beer smell that hides the fruity aroma.

Compilation of must. Universal Recipe

Three ingredients are commonly used to make must: apple juice, water, and sugar. Water is needed to neutralize the excess acidity of apples. For very sweet apples, it may not be necessary. The amount of sugar and the need for water are determined by the initial sweetness of the apples. Let's make a summary table of must composition for different varieties of apples.

For 10 liters of wort you will need:

Active and silent fermentation

To maintain the sterility of the mash at the very beginning of fermentation, it is necessary to install a water seal. It will ensure timely removal of gases and prevent souring. Popular options among the people: a latex glove and a sealed hose, the end of which is immersed in water. Anyone who has already prepared mash for moonshine will not have any difficulties with their manufacture.

The behavior of the water seal is one of the indicators of the readiness of apple mash at home. Combining this point with other features, we get the following algorithm:

  • A layer of sediment has formed at the bottom of the fermentation tank.
  • The taste of mash from sweet became bitter.
  • The characteristic sour smell is gone.
  • Gas evolution and foaming have stopped: the water seal hose does not let bubbles into the water, and the glove has deflated and fallen off.

simple recipe

This apple cider recipe is suitable for making a rich aromatic drink with a strength of at least 12 degrees. Here, fermentation of juice with pomace, characteristic of wine production, is used. This allows you to increase the secretion of juice.

Cooking method:

  1. We put the crushed apples together with juice, oilcake and pulp in a container suitable for fermentation. We fill no more than 3/4, leaving room for bubbling and foaming.
  2. We cover the container with a dense breathable cloth or multilayer gauze and put it in a warm place away from direct sunlight.
  3. Within 3-4 days, periodically shake the container and knock down the hat that appears on the surface. About the beginning of active fermentation, we will be informed by a characteristic sour smell, the formation of gas and the appearance of foam.
  4. The fermented cake is carefully squeezed through a sieve, cheesecloth or press. The resulting apple juice is poured into a clean bottle for long fermentation.
  5. Wort may require water and sugar to make. We add them to taste or look at how many are shown in the pivot table from the previous paragraph. Sugar dissolves in a small amount of warm water or apple juice.
  6. Now you can put a water seal on the bottle and clean it in a dark room with a constant temperature of 22–27 ° C.
  7. The duration of fermentation can be 1-2 months. It depends on the amount and activity of natural yeast remaining on the peel of apples. Temperature control is important.
  8. We drain the mash that has won back from the sediment into a clean container. This dry, unsweetened drink is not a cider, but not yet. To lighten it, put it again in a dark, cool place under a water seal for 3-4 months.
  9. During this time, periodically drain the drink from the precipitate. After the first filtration, add sugar. It won't go away anymore, so sweeten it to your taste. The absence of sediment in the cider and its transparency indicate the readiness of the drink.
  10. It remains to bottle everything, be sure to sign the year of harvest, after which, hide in the refrigerator.

We safely store tightly corked bottles for up to three years. Improper storage can be harmful to human health.

sugar free juice recipe

This method of making cider from apples has been practiced in wineries for centuries. By tradition, cider should have a low strength and consist only of apple juice. Although the legislation of European countries establishes different norms. The content of natural juice, and at the same time the usefulness of the whole product, varies from 35% in England to 100% in France.

Cooking method:

  1. Squeeze apple juice. It is best to use a professional juicer. Unlike the previous case, we get rid of the cake.
  2. Strained juice is covered with gauze for 2-3 days to activate natural fermentation. To make the process go faster, do not forget about observing the temperature regime: 22–27 ° C.
  3. We filter the fermented juice and pour it into a clean container. We install a water seal and return the wort to its former warm, darkened place. We monitor the activity of the release of gases from the shutter.
  4. About a month after the removal of gases, we drain the mash from the sediment using a tube. As in the previous recipe for apple cider, the active fermentation phase is replaced by a quiet one.
  5. The mash drained from the sediment is again put under the shutter. Let the drink brew and lighten up. Drain and strain as soon as a precipitate forms.

The finished cider from the juice is characterized by a soft transparency and a warm matte color. It's time to bottle and put in the fridge.

How to make a drink carbonated?

Non-carbonated homemade cider is very similar to apple wine. But most are used to seeing it sparkling and playing like champagne. To add insidious and heady bubbles to a drink, all you need is sugar.

It is enough to simply carbonate apple cider at home. After the stage of quiet fermentation, pour sugar into the bottles prepared for bottling. Required amount: 10 grams per 1 liter - for strong gassing, 5 grams per 1 liter - for weak.

Pour the filtered apple drink on top, leaving 5-7 cm to the cork of free space. We cork the bottles tightly and put them away for 3-5 days in a warm, dark place. This is necessary to restart the fermentation that sugar will cause.

It is very important to control the process and prevent excess gases. To do this, pour the entire batch or a small part into a plastic container and monitor the increase in its volume. To reduce the concentration of gases, you can slightly open the cork and bleed off the excess. Stopping fermentation and at the same time further carbonation is simple: put the cider in the refrigerator.

  • To prepare apple cider without sugar, but not to lose in strength, it is recommended to use natural flower honey.
  • You can brew non-alcoholic cider. It will not cause harm and vitamins will be better preserved. You will need apple juice, orange pulp, spices and soda. The cooking method is similar to sbiten.
  • If there is no time to wait, we will teach you how to make apple cider in a week. In the first recipe, after 4-5 days of fermentation of juice on cake under a glove, the wort after filtering must be bottled and refrigerated. After 3-4 days of exposure, the drink can be filtered and consumed. It will not be possible to achieve a high fortress, but a bright apple flavor will appear.
  • The cake left over from the juice squeeze in the second recipe can be used to make apple moonshine.

Top tip: stay sensible while tasting. Cider is a drinkable, invigorating and refreshing drink. With moderate use, it causes little harm, acceptable for an alcoholic product, and does not cause a morning hangover.

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