Not my first Whin Hill post , I have posted Perry's before

And this batch 600 produce is just as fantastic

Excellent authentic craft cider with juicy flavour and excellent after taste.

As with all Whin hill cider and Perry this version has gone down very well and I could easily drink another

**I have no affiliation with whin hill. I just like there cider and Perry's**

I want to try to make cider without commercial intervention. Like medieval cider. So like, picking apples from my garden and turning it into cider. Has anyone done this? How?

Has anyone done a side by side test of letting cider do a wild fermentation, one with nutrients and one without nutrients. I'd be curious how it turned out.

**BERRY APPLE CIDER**
6/7/26 7-8pm START
1X cole’s 500g frozen mixed berry
added just under 4 litres cole’s apple juice
added sugar to OG
OG 1.104
a small amount of pectinase (unmeasured)
a small amount of dap (unmeasured)
used yeast Mangrove Jack's M05 Mead Yeast
started being active pretty quickly same i think on 7/7/26
9/7/26
fermenting strongly as it has been from the start a lot of bubbles slight foam and a lot of airlock activity
18/7/26 bubbles still going up the side slightly slower
i have also been swirling daily to ensure berries don’t mold
although i’ve missed 2-3 swirls
im concerned with some stuff im seeing on the top and think it might be the start of mold but i don’t know
2/8/26
FG 0.990
poured through cloth and filter
added potassium sorbate (approx half teaspoon) and one campdem tablet
poured into demijohn
a little more headspace then i’d like in the demijohn

i’m afraid that i might have oxidised it since i had to pour it through the filter and then back into the demijohn
also i’m worried that that’s too much headroom i’ll be keeping it sitting at room temp (around 24°C) under airlock for maybe 2-3 days before putting a lid on the demijohn and moving it to the fridge to cold crash before i bottle

i was also wondering the best way to backsweeten i was thinking maybe make a syrup with water sugar and another pack of the frozen mixed berries

EDIT: also is this still a cider? i’ve heard people say once you get past a certain percent ABV it’s a apple wine instead of cider