My Neighbor's antique cider press

I thought the people on here might enjoy pictures of my next door neighbor's awesome cider press. It has been in his family for over 100 years!




The patent on the machine is from 1872. His family kept using it during prohibition when many got rid of their presses. He redid the wood recently, which is why it looks so nice.


I wrote a basic description of making cider on my blog, and would love feedback. I find when you look at the brewing forums there are a lot of really technical hobbyists (and often working with unpasteurized apple juice in the first place) and are not really making it as  classic homestead skill.


Anyway, here is the blog post!

Pressing Cider with my Neighbor

That's awesome, pretty envious. I currently use the less traditional Oscar Juicer which takes ages as you have to cut up every single apple.
I also rely on natural yeasts, some batches taste great others not so much.
I do use glass and airlocks for fermenting and storage though.
I'm not sure how much alcohol the most recent batch has but it's got quite a strong alcohol smell.