How to Make Vegan Cider at Home

28/12/2025 - By Vegan Culture

Making Vegan cider at home is easy. Why not give it a go yourself?

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There’s something deeply satisfying about making your own cider — especially when you know exactly what’s in it. For anyone living a vegan or plant‑based lifestyle, homemade cider is one of the easiest, most budget‑friendly drinks you can create. No hidden ingredients, no animal‑derived finings, no guesswork. Just apples, yeast, and a little patience.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to make a clean, crisp vegan cider at home using simple equipment and ingredients you can buy online or in any UK supermarket.

🍎 Why shop brought Cider is sometimes not Vegan

Cider should be vegan by default; it’s just fermented apple juice. But commercial brands sometimes use:

Isinglass (fish bladder)
Gelatin
Chitin (from shellfish)
Cochineal (insect‑derived colouring)
Honey (as a sweetener)

Here’s what to watch for:

Potassium sorbate (E202) — stops fermentation
Sodium benzoate (E211) — also inhibits yeast
Honey‑sweetened ciders
Finings like gelatin or isinglass used for clarity
Cochineal (E120) used for colour in some fruit ciders

When in doubt, choose 100% apple juice with no preservatives — it’s the safest option for vegan fermentation.

Note: Some store‑bought apple juices contain preservatives like potassium sorbate, which stop fermentation entirely.

When you make cider at home, you control every ingredient — and everything in this recipe is 100% vegan.

🍐 Ingredients for 5 Litres of Vegan Cider

🍏 Option 1: Using Fresh Apples

(Perfect if you want a traditional, full‑flavoured cider)

10–12 kg fresh apples — around 50–60 medium apples
1 Campden tablet — optional, for sterilising
1 sachet cider or wine yeast (approx. 5g)
Sugar for carbonation — ½ teaspoon per 500ml bottle
Steriliser — as directed.

🍎 Option 2: Using Shop‑Bought Apple Juice

(The easiest method — just make sure it’s vegan‑friendly)

5 litres 100% apple juice — no potassium sorbate or sodium benzoate
1 Campden tablet — optional
1 sachet cider or wine yeast (approx. 5g)
Sugar for carbonation — ½ teaspoon per 500ml bottle
Steriliser — as directed
Water

🍺 Equipment You’ll Need

5L PET demijohn / glass demijohn with grommeted cap
Airlock
Steriliser
Siphon
Bottles (swing‑tops or beer bottles)

🧪 Vegan Ingredient Table

Ingredient	Vegan?	Notes
Apples / apple juice	Yes	Pure fruit; avoid juice with preservatives that stop fermentation.
Yeast	Yes	Fungal microorganism, always vegan.
Sugar	Yes	UK sugar is vegan; no bone char used.
Campden tablets	Yes	Chemical sulphite, no animal products.
Water	Yes	Safe.
Airlock / equipment	Yes	No animal-derived materials.

🍏 Step‑by‑Step: How to Make Vegan Cider

1. Sterilise Everything

Cleanliness is everything in cider making. Sterilise your demijohn, airlock, and any utensils.

2. Prepare Your Juice

Pour 5 litres of preservative‑free apple juice into your demijohn. If you’re using fresh apples, press them first — but supermarket juice works beautifully.

3. Add a Campden Tablet (Optional)

Crush 1 Campden tablet and add it to the juice. This kills wild yeast and bacteria. Leave for 24 hours.

4. Add Your Yeast

Sprinkle 1 sachet of cider or wine yeast into the demijohn. Fit the airlock. Fermentation usually starts within 24–48 hours.

5. Let It Ferment

Store somewhere around 18–22°C. Fermentation lasts 1–3 weeks, depending on temperature and yeast.

6. Bottle Your Cider

Siphon into bottles, leaving sediment behind. For sparkling cider, add ½ teaspoon sugar per 500ml bottle before sealing.

7. Age It

Leave bottles for 2–4 weeks to mature. The flavour smooths out beautifully with time.

🍏 The Equipment I’m Using for This Batch (with links to purchase):

Here are the exact items I’m using to make my vegan cider:

These three items are all you need to get started with clean, reliable, vegan-friendly fermentation.