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== Acquiring apples ==

The apple season in Virginia begins in late June, but the majority of Virginia apples are harvested in September, October and early November. To make the best cider, it is advised to have a mix of sweet, sharp, and bitter flavored apples. Some examples of each of these are:

== Turning Apples to Pulp ==

Before the apples can be pressed, they must be crushed into a pulp called the mash. There are many ways to do this.

The traditional method uses what’s called a “scratter”, which has a toothed rotating drum that crushes and shreds the apple. These are specialized tools, however, and can be expensive to purchase or difficult to construct.

A more recent method, and the one used at Hacksburg, uses an in-sink garbage disposal to create the mash. (The disposal was purchased new and was thoroughly cleaned before use!) We found this method to be cheaper than a purpose built scratter and much easier than other methods. The picture to the left shows the apple pulper in use at last year’s cider making event.

== Smash the pulp to extract cider ==

Now the fun part! To extract the juice from the apple mash, it must be pressed with a large amount of pressure. To do this, we built a cider press out of 2x4 lumber and a 4 ton hydraulic bottle jack.

Be sure to bring thoroughly cleaned containers large enough to hold all of your cider. Unclean containers can effect the flavor of the cider and may contaminate your cider. Popular containers include canning jars, plastic jugs (from milk or juice), and glass jugs and bottles. A good source for new glass containers locally is Eats Natural Foods on North Main Street. They also carry a large selection of supplies useful for making hard cider.

== Enjoy! ==

Raw apple cider should be consumed as soon as possible for best flavor and will keep approximately 10 days to 2 weeks if refrigerated. Your cider can be used to make apple cider vinegar or hard cider, although you may want to change your ratio of apples for the best flavor.