How to Make Cider at Home: A Complete UK Guide

There's something deeply satisfying about drinking cider you made yourself — and the good news is, making cider at home is genuinely one of the easiest home brewing projects to get started with. Whether you've got a garden full of apples or you're starting with shop-bought juice, here's everything you need to know.

How Many Apples Do You Need?

As a rough guide, you'll need around 1.5–2kg of apples per litre of cider. For a standard 4.5 litre demijohn batch, that's roughly 7–9kg of apples — a mix of eating, cooking and if you can get them, proper cider apples for the best balance of sweetness, acidity and tannin.

Making Cider Without a Press

Not everyone has access to a cider press, and that's absolutely fine. The easiest press-free method:

• Grate or blend your apples into a rough pulp (a food processor works well for smaller batches).
• Freeze and thaw the pulp first if you can — this breaks down the cell walls and makes juice extraction much easier.
• Strain through a muslin bag, squeezing firmly to extract as much juice as possible.

If that sounds like too much hassle, making cider from shop-bought apple juice is a completely valid shortcut — just make sure it's 100% juice with no preservatives (potassium sorbate in particular will stop your yeast working).

The Basic Process

1. Sanitise everything that will touch your juice — fermenter, airlock, spoon, the lot.
2. Take a hydrometer reading of your juice to know your starting gravity.
3. Add your yeast — a proper cider yeast will give a cleaner, drier result than ale yeast, though ale yeast works in a pinch.
4. Ferment at 18–20°C for 1–2 weeks, until the bubbling slows and your gravity reading stabilises.
5. Rack off the sediment into a clean demijohn and leave to clear for 2–4 weeks.
6. Bottle — still or lightly carbonated, depending on your preference.

Traditional vs Quick Cider

Traditional cider making relies on wild or added cider-specific yeasts and a longer, slower fermentation — often stretching into months for the best character. If you're after something quicker, a modern cider yeast and a more controlled process (as above) can have you drinking your cider within 6-8 weeks of starting.

The Easy Route: Making Cider From a Kit

If pressing and juicing sounds like hard work, a concentrated cider kit gets you the same result with a fraction of the effort. Sterilise your equipment, dissolve the apple juice concentrate in water to 23 litres, pitch the supplied yeast, and ferment at 18–22°C for 7–14 days. Confirm fermentation is complete with a hydrometer, then bottle with carbonation drops and condition for two weeks. The process is identical to beer — the same equipment works for both.

The John Bull Country Cider kit is one of the UK's most popular, producing 32 pints of genuine, full-flavoured apple cider. The Bulldog Cider range is also outstanding — available in apple, pear, mixed berries, toffee apple, and strawberry & lime varieties. Browse the full cider making kit range.

What Equipment Do You Need?

The same basic setup as beer brewing: a 25-litre fermentation vessel (or a demijohn for small batches), an airlock, a hydrometer, a thermometer, steriliser, and bottles or a pressure barrel. If you already brew beer, your existing equipment is fully suitable for cider — no extra kit needed.

How Long Does Home Brew Cider Take?

Kit ciders ferment in 7–14 days; fresh-pressed ciders typically take a little longer. After bottling, condition for at least two weeks at room temperature before chilling. Cider genuinely benefits from cold conditioning — a week in the fridge before drinking noticeably improves clarity and crispness. And if you prefer a sweeter cider, add a non-fermentable sweetener like lactose before bottling — regular sugar would simply referment in the bottle.

What You'll Need

Browse our full range of cider making kits, plus the ingredients and equipment you'll need — yeast and finings, a demijohn and airlock, and a hydrometer to track your progress — use code CIDERGUIDE5 for 5% off your order. If picking, pressing and fermenting from scratch feels like a step too far to begin with, our cider making kits are a great way to get a feel for the process first.

Based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Brewco ships across the UK — visit brewco.uk to browse the full range.