Craft Cider Making

by Andrew G.H. Lea

This new edition of the best-selling Craft Cider Making is fully revised and updated. Packed with essential advice and information, it gives step-by-step instruction for small scale cider making. It retains the best of traditional practice but also draws on modern understanding of orcharding and fermentation science. Written by an award-winning cider maker, it guides beginners into the rewarding world of cider making and helps those with more experience expand their skills to enjoy the craft more fully. |Guide to cider apples, as well as advice on growing and caring for them.Introduction to equipment and processes.Instructions on how to make still, dry cider; sparkling, sweetened, blended and keeved versions; and unfermented apple juice, cider vinegar and perry.Advice on troubleshooting.Primarily for makers working on a small scale, ranging from a couple of apple trees to several acres of orchard and hoping to make between ten and ten thousand litres.

Genres: Brewing, Nonfiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Andrew Lea, Ph.D., is a retired food biochemist, specializing in the chemistry of apples and cider. He spent more than a decade working at the Long Ashton Research Station near Bristol (UK). He is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science and Technology.

Reviews

[Allen Crump · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great starter book for anyone looking to get into making cider. While I’d recommend getting the newer third edition (some bits are a little dated in this printing), this book will get you through your first few batches and also help you find more resources to keep learning and developing.

[Justin K. Rivers · Rating 4 out of 5]

An essential addition to the library of a more advanced cidermaker.

It's not a beginner's book and there are no recipes. I recommend the Ben Watson book and the Annie Proulx book instead if you are just starting out.

Andrew Lea worked at the Long Ashton research station and is clearly versed in food chemistry. This book discusses some of the more nuanced and technical aspects of cider production, with references to larger scale production techniques, which for me was particularly useful.

It is also UK-centric, so it does not discuss North American apple growing issues, nor does it detail many apple varieties.

If you are interested in growing apples as well, I recommend reading Michael Phillips' books "The Apple Grower" and "The Holistic Orchard".

[Alex Filatau · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's good. Really good. Has all the necessary instructions and tables. On the negative side for me - it's oriented mostly for "real amount" cider making, at least 5 gallons and so on. Well, all the steps and tips are working for first time cider maker "1 gallon top" as well, but there would be more practical recommendations on internet then in this book for this case.
So, if my 1st gallon is good, I feel like scanning this book again to find path for increasing the batches.