On
the 22nd of October 2005, the Hannah More Zider team returned
to cider-making action. After joining forces with Berrow
Hill Cider of Bedminster, we took several buckets of innocent
apples (such as the ones pictured on the left) and mashed
them into the most delicious apple-tasting drink ever
produced, using a combination of blood, sweat, tears and
pure physical power (not pictured right).
After
being washed, the Apples are viciously chopped up with a
huge knife so they fit easier into the mouth of our specially
modified Garden Shredder (above). The shredded apple pulp
then comes out the other end of the shredder ready to be
pressed.
We
chose to use a shredder to scrate our apples this year largely
due to it being much cheaper than the scratter we would
have needed to invest in. After a few hacksaw moderations
it proved to be a quick and less strenuous method of turning
the apples to pulp, the picture on the right illustrates
how quickly the apple (and occasional finger) passed through
the machine... until it blew a fuse anyway.
The
apple pulp was then fed into our new 6-litre presses (purchased
from Machine Mart for £88), where the juice was extracted
and filtered through a cloth and funnel into a demijohn
below.
The
baskets of the presses are then emptied of their spent pulp
so they can be filled up again with a fresh load. The presses
were small but effective, their low price meant that we
could buy two for the price of one of the slightly bigger
presses that were on offer from some other companies.
Pictured
in the centre above are a few of the barrels that will store
our cider for fermenting this year, demijohns and containers
will also be used, the barrels are housed in Al Caholic's
specially converted coal bunker/cider store room. Above
right, Gents bunks down to hibernate for the winter with
the cider, ensuring a 24-hour guard is kept on the juice.
Check
out the Cider Forum - to find out how
our cider is progressing throughout it's winter fermentation.
See
how we prepared for Pressing weekend by picking our apples
and sorting our equipment here.
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Cheers.
