We had so many apples left, we decided to harvest the rest and see what we could get. Easily picked enough to get another 10 gallons of pressed apple juice! All told, we cleared over 25 gallons worth of juice. Becky froze half for over the winter and I took the other 5 gallons for fermenting.

I learned something about apples with this particular batch. Apples have their own enzymes and will convert their own starches into to sugar over time. No temperature adjustments or mashing like brewing beer. I know this now because these apples sat for a couple weeks before pressing and yielded much more sugar that the first go around. Nearly 10 points more for just lazing around in our warehouse. I had read/heard somewhere that cidery’s let their apples sit for some time after harvesting, and now I know why – free alcohol!

This batch was treated a little differently as I had done more research since the first batch. Pectic enzymes were added for clarification just to see how much a difference it makes. We’ll see.

Again, utilizing SafCider AB-1 yeast, nutrients, and a little pectic enzymes, we’re off to the races with a starting gravity of 1.062. As I mentioned, 10 points higher than the apples that didn’t sit.

Cheers!