Will old apples still carry viable wild yeast?

[philistine]

Hey all,
Just picked up a batch of apple juice straight out of the press from a local orchard with the intention of doing a natural/wild ferment cider in a wooden barrel.
I've used juice from this orchard and successfully made wild ferment ciders a few times now - but never this late in the year.
The apples they were pressing have obviously been in cold storage since picking season and now Im juts wondering if there would have still been enough viable yeast left on the apples to make it work....?
Any got any ideas?
Its not an open ferment, so basically, im relying on yeast that was on the fruit itself and whatever else got picked up through the press

 

[Danscraftbeer]

I'm interested but not experienced in the wild ferments other than to turn it into Vinegar. My passion for brewing includes making Cider Vinegar but for making it an enjoyable consumable beverage then I tip my hat in respect to anyone who can do that. So I'd say yes to the OP question but I'd think best Ciders would be made with the best Apples.
(watch thread)

 

[philistine]

wild cider is surprisingly easy to pull off and even though Ive only done it a handful of times, its turned out really well every time!
Seriously, just pick a bunch apples and pears (mix up a few varieties) and juice em. A crush and press is obvioulsy the best way, but hard to access if you dont own one.
I did it with a juicer once and made 10 lt of juice. I put it in a 10t cube and left it in the fridge for two days to "cold crash" all the sediment.
I decanted 5 liters of real clean juice into a demijohn, put on an airlock and put it in the ferment fridge. It was fully fermented within a week.
My favourite ones though have been the same process, but I've pulled them out of the ferment fridge a day or two early and bottled them.
The idea was to let them self carbonate without any added sugar. Worked a treat!

 

[philistine]

wild fruit ferments in general all super easy. I think the whole "be scared be, VERY SCARED of wild yeast and bacteria" thing is stupid.
If you keep your equipment clean you've really got nothign to worry about

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Caution on your bottling though. You must have a good sense of judgement to bottle before completely finished ferment. I get its the most pure way but needs to be precise. Chef/brewers flair to pull that off in glass bottles has variables. That may be scary.

 

[philistine]

yeah - flip tops ONLY!

 

[philistine]

and keep em in the fridge

 

[philistine]

SO, the answer to this is a most definite yes
ferment kicked off within 24 hours, by 36hours its hammering away

so there ya go

 

[scmgre]

I fermented my first three batches without any additional yeast or Campden tablets and they were great. Unfortunately since then I read a book on cider making "craft cider making by Andrew lea" so now i use Campden tablets (at half the required amount to keep down the undesirable yeast and the bacteria) to be honest without much noticeable difference. I think as long as the apples are reasonably clean i.e. not rotting under the tree you'll be fine. I nick all mine from all around where i live using a 10 meter apple picker on a stick straight off the trees. Scrumping is a hard law to enforce.

 

[scmgre]

on the bottling totally agree cider ferments out below 0 so i tend to keg mine in corni kegs or plastic bottles to avoid bottle bombs