I homebrew with a friend as well. we make cider. but from fresh apples. any juice we tried had sorbate in it to not allow fermentation to take place. Organic or not and nothing on the label about it being there. they jhave to add it by law or something. We found an apple orchard that had an old press and made cider. that with a yeast package or just by itsself would ferment like crazy. as for filitration. the first rack (siphone) will leave a lot of yeast and whatnot on the bottom. Dont take all the cider there swill be waste. everything settles to the bottome and you will waste less and less each time. let it sit it will clarify and condiditon. We use carboy's though. If in a bucket. i guess cheese cloth would catch it if you used enough. Gorilla is right about sanitation. How much do you brew? We did 15 gal batches for along time and have just upgraded to 1 barrel 31 gallon batches. Ill post pics as soon as I get the plumbing done. Got to run hot water.
Good luck and keep it up. everyone should be brewing. Its more fun than shooting puppies. (that is a joke) Puppies are way more fun. lol but for real. it is alot of fun and should be done by all.
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