UKCleanliness is not optional in fermentation – it is the entire process. Every piece of equipment that touches the juice must be sterilised with a food-safe sanitiser. A single contaminated spoon can ruin 5 litres of cider with acetobacter. Sterilise everything, handle the juice as little as possible.
A blend of apple varieties makes dramatically better cider than a single variety. Use roughly: 50% a neutral base (Golden Delicious, Granny Smith), 30% a sweet dessert apple (Cox, Fuji), and 20% a high-tannin crab apple if you can find one. If you can't blend fresh apples, blending different shop-bought juices works surprisingly well.
Homemade Apple Cider
By Sergei Martynov
Fresh apple juice fermented for one to two weeks with wine or cider yeast, then cleared and bottled. Proper homemade cider tastes nothing like the syrupy commercial versions – it's drier, more complex, with a genuine apple character that varies depending on the fruit. The process is simple: press or buy the juice, add yeast, wait. The patience is the skill.
Key Ingredients
What you'll need
Ingredients
- 5 l
See recipes with fresh apple juicefresh apple juice, unfiltered and unpasteurised (or good-quality cloudy apple juice)
i - 1 packet
See recipes with cider or wine yeastcider or wine yeast (5 g dry, e.g. Lalvin EC-1118 or Mangrove Jack's M02)
i - 1 tspSee recipes with yeast nutrient
yeast nutrient (optional but recommended)
i - 1 tablet
See recipes with campden tabletCampden tablet (sodium metabisulphite, optional – stabilises juice before fermentation)
i - 50 g
See recipes with sugar per litresugar per litre (optional – for a stronger, drier cider)
i - 1 tspSee recipes with sugar per 500 ml bottle
sugar per 500 ml bottle (for sparkling cider, priming sugar)
i
How to make it
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the juice. If pressing fresh apples: wash thoroughly, core (but keep the skins – they carry wild yeasts and tannin), and press or juice in batches. Strain through cheesecloth into a clean sterilised fermentation vessel. If using shop-bought juice: choose cloudy, unfiltered, unpasteurised juice if possible. Avoid anything with potassium sorbate – it prevents fermentation. Ascorbic acid is fine.
- 2
Pitch the yeast. Check the juice temperature: 18 to 22°C is ideal. Sprinkle the dry yeast directly onto the surface of the juice. Add yeast nutrient if using. Fit an airlock filled with water. Within 12 to 24 hours at room temperature you should see the airlock bubbling as fermentation begins.
- 3
Ferment for 1 to 2 weeks. Keep the fermenter at room temperature (18 to 22°C), away from direct sunlight. The vigorous bubbling of the first few days will slow to occasional bubbles. Fermentation is complete when the airlock has stopped bubbling for 48 consecutive hours and the cider begins to clear. Taste it: it should be dry, slightly tart, and smell clean – not vinegary.
- 4
Clear and rack. Siphon the cider off the sediment at the bottom into a clean second container. This is called racking. Leave to clear further for 3 to 5 days. The cider can be consumed at this point as still cider – dry, tart, and apple-forward.
- 5
Bottle for sparkling cider. Add exactly 1 teaspoon of sugar per 500 ml bottle before sealing. This gives the residual yeast enough food to produce carbonation inside the sealed bottle. Use flip-top or crown-cap bottles rated for carbonated drinks. Store at room temperature for 5 to 7 days, then refrigerate for at least 3 days before opening. Homemade cider keeps for 3 to 6 months refrigerated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which apples make the best cider?
The best cider comes from blending varieties: a tart cooking apple for acidity (Bramley, Granny Smith), a sweet dessert apple for body (Cox, Fuji, Gala), and ideally a cider-specific apple or crab apple for tannin. Single-variety cider is possible but usually lacks complexity. If using shop-bought juice, blending two or three different brands gives a noticeably better result.
Do you need special cider yeast – can you use bread yeast?
Cider yeast or wine yeast produces a cleaner, more neutral fermentation that preserves the apple flavour. Bread yeast will ferment the juice but produces significant off-flavours – a sulphurous, bready taste that doesn't clear well. For consistent first batches, use a packet of dry wine or cider yeast.
How to make cider sparkling – bottle conditioning?
After primary fermentation is complete and the cider has cleared, add exactly 1 teaspoon (4 g) of sugar per 500 ml bottle before sealing. The residual yeast consumes the sugar and produces CO₂. Use strong bottles rated for carbonated drinks. Never use ordinary glass jars – the pressure can cause them to explode.
Why is my cider not fermenting?
The most common causes: juice with preservatives (potassium sorbate or sodium benzoate prevent fermentation), temperature too cold (below 15°C yeast becomes dormant), dead yeast (test by mixing with warm water and a pinch of sugar, it should foam in 10 minutes), or too strong a Campden tablet dose (wait 24 hours before adding yeast).
Can cider be made from shop-bought apple juice?
Yes, and it works very well. Use cloudy, unfiltered juice without preservatives. Organic cloudy apple juice is usually the safest choice. Pasteurised juice is fine. Clear filtered juice also works but makes a blander, lighter cider with less character.
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