Apple Pressing service

book your place now:(click here)

Closed now till August 2026. booking open then. Thank you for all our customers we had a very busy year and now need a rest. 

Why not bring your apples to our 300 year old apple press. We can turn them into apple juice or cider, which will last 2 years.  Automatically controlled monitoring and recording of the process. Please note: the process and price is for personal consumption only.

Suggested to have at least 20% Bramley apple to give it some crispness. 100% Bramley juice is quite tart; a bit like grapefruit juice, and some eaters can make a very sweet juice.  Cider apples make unpalatable juice too. 

80kg-150kg of apples per booking slot.

To book a place on a Thursday's, Friday's or Saturdays throughout September and October, please book with link above.

1kg of ripe apples = 1 bottle/750ml of juice. (approx.)

Minimum pressing  80kg* for smaller quantities see below.

• Filling*, pasteurising, capping and washing bottles. 40 mins=40 bottles
• Labels(optional). Polyester white background, colour laser Printed, lasts for many years through pasteurizer. please supply your own design,.
• Reusable bottles: Customers are responsible for cleaning the bottles internally. Rinse out and keep the original caps on immediately after use. New caps are provided free after pasteurising.
• Plastic reusable crates can be sold for you to transport and store your bottles in. We highly recommend these 20 bottle crates @ £13 each
• for cider juice, preferably using cider apple varieties as they contain more sugar and tannin and less malic acid. Charge at juice bottle rate per litre. Just juice no pasteurising.   Min quantity of apples 125kg ie 100L juice
• we can new supply 75cl bottles and caps.
• apple quality. For best juice please harvest crisp apples up to 5 days before pressing. You can knock the apples off the tree and pick them up off the floor, rinses if you need to, but often not necessary.

1. 1. Soft apples don't press easily
   2. Rotten (black) should be discarded
   3. dirty can be washed
   4.  Bruised is fine if pressed quickly
   5. bird Bird-pecked is also fine if you are short but suggest washing first. 

Cider apple pressing  service.

 see our cider making procedure  

Small batch cider 75L, 120 pints. You will need:

• 100kg cider apples, maybe some dessert apples. Definitely no cookers.
•  3  x 25L cider barrels/poly pins for brewing cider. (£40 each from vigos)
•  3 x 4 pint milk containers. (for topping up during fermentation)

This can be used to make cider or cider vinegar too. Written instructions will be  provided.  The cost will be the bottle rate per liter of juice unpasterized. 

Large batch of cider:  220L, 400 pints 

We can provide a oak cider barrel and press your apples for you. You will need 350kg of apples and 6 months to ferment. 

storage:

Store your juice in a clean, cool place away from sunlight. This product will last for 2 years. Some varieties of apples will produce more sediment than others. This leads to a cloudy juice. Over time, this sediment may condense more and will need a good shake to make the juice cloudy again. Alternatively, discard the sediment at the bottom of the bottle when you are finished consuming.  Keep an eye out for mould developing on the juice, maybe, as 1 in 200 bottles may be affected. Once consumed, rinse out the bottle place the cap and place it back in storage again for refilling next year. Plastic crates are the best option for storage, as they can be stacked 60 bottles high - see below.

 Useful links:

Plastic reusable 20-bottle crates cost 6 for £72.  We can provide these, making life more convenient for you (if you intend to reuse your bottles next year).

Buy-back option. We give you £15 per crate of empty, clean bottles. Please note the bottles must come with caps and be clean inside and out.  This offer is at our discretion and we do not accept returns before August.  

Useful links: ebay:crates  bottles

all prices quoted on this page are subject to change at any time due to supply-chain changes. 

 FAQ: Can we press just for juice? Yes, please bring containers to take the juice away in and freeze within 12 hours. Priced per litre not bottle

Can we bring less then 80kg: Were sorry but each batch is 40kg and we need to be 2 or 3  batches to make it worth our while as we need to clean and reset the equipment.  You could join forces with neighbours.  If you turn up with less then 80kg we reserve the right to charge you for 80 bottles of juice.

can we bring our own old wine bottles. No, best to pasteurise all in the same style 750ml bottle to ensure all the juice is treated the same. 

how long does it take:. it can take 2 to 3 hours typically for 80-160 bottles. 

Can i make it any cheaper; larger quantities or additional help pressing and cleaning cloths between batches may, at our descretion, give a further discount. 

Please note that if your coming from far and wide please try a local processor: Hungerford: myapplejuice.co.uk