SammyJ
Member
The Story
Well, its that time again. The leaves turn, the temperature drops, pumpkins appear, and apples become abundant. If youve grown up in the North like me, you automatically associate autumn with fresh, delicious apples. There were plenty of apple orchards that would sell freshly squeezed cider. I consumed this nectar of the gods en masse in my youth, and in college, Id promise myself Id get around to making hard cider sometime. Now, years later, Im in the South, and while the apples and cider may not be as fresh and delicious, theyre still plentiful. So, finally, I decided to make good on my promise and brew up a batch of the good stuff.
Now, after making my decision, I started searching for recipes and methods of going about making cider. Pretty much everything Google threw at me seemed difficult, confusing and time consuming. I thought to myself, how hard can it be? People have been making cider for centuries, long before good sterilization techniques and specialized equipment. So, finally I stumbled upon a site that had some good, simple info. It turns out cider making really isnt that hard. In fact, if you get some unpasteurized cider and just let it sit, eventually, youll likely get some form of hard cider. This method, although dead simple and natural, takes time and produces inconsistent results.
The Intention
Heres what I want to do: follow a simple, repeatable method with room for experimentation that produces a decent hard cider and document that method in detail. I want to show you beginners out there how easy it is to jump into this. Ive tried to take pics and notes along the way. Hopefully by the end, youll be able to make your own good stuff.
The Method
Hard cider, at its very core, is a combination of 3 things: Juice, Yeast, Time. Thats it; simple as that. My* method uses a bit more than this, but these are the three things youll need at a minimum. For this experiment, I made a 4 gallon batch, made with ingredients and tools that are readily available year round.
Ingredients (Shopping list at the end)
4 1 gallon jugs of 365 Organic apple juice from Whole Foods
1 packet Saflager yeast (available from any homebrew shop)
Optional:
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
Tools
There are some things that youll need and some things that are nice to have.
1. Vessel
If you use the gallon jugs from whole foods, youre good to go. They come in 1 gallon glass jugs which are perfect for this (and reusable for future home brewing adventures). Otherwise, you can invest in a carboy (homebrew shop) or bucket (hardware store). I would stay away from metal because Im afraid it might react with the acid in the juice
2. Airlock & Stopper
I bought 5 #6.5 drilled stoppers (homebrew shop) and 6 S-Type airlocks (homebrew shop). You need 4, though 6 is nice (Ill explain later). If you want to be really ghetto about this, you can use 4 latex balloons with a small whole punched at the top of each one. The point of this is that you need to cover the jugs so that air can get out, but nothing can get in. This point is really important.
3. Sanitizer
I used Star San (homebrew shop), but bleach and water will do the trick. Use 1 oz bleach per 1 gallon water. That being said, Star San is infinitely easier and not too expensive, Id recommend this one.
4. Hydrometer optional
This device measures the amount of sugar in a substance by taking its specific gravity. You can determine how much alcohol is in a substance by taking its specific gravity (sg) before and after fermentation. The difference in these two numbers will tell you how much sugar the yeast have eaten, thereby telling you how much alcohol theyve produced.
5. Wine thief optional
This is a device that acts sort of like a turkey baster (you could use a turkey baster). Youll need some way of getting the liquid out without disturbing the yeast too much
6. Crappy vodka
Huh? Vodka? Yup, if youre using an airlock, you should fill it with vodka. This helps kill any of the bad stuff that tries to get in, while letting any of the air that yeast makes out.
Well, its that time again. The leaves turn, the temperature drops, pumpkins appear, and apples become abundant. If youve grown up in the North like me, you automatically associate autumn with fresh, delicious apples. There were plenty of apple orchards that would sell freshly squeezed cider. I consumed this nectar of the gods en masse in my youth, and in college, Id promise myself Id get around to making hard cider sometime. Now, years later, Im in the South, and while the apples and cider may not be as fresh and delicious, theyre still plentiful. So, finally, I decided to make good on my promise and brew up a batch of the good stuff.
Now, after making my decision, I started searching for recipes and methods of going about making cider. Pretty much everything Google threw at me seemed difficult, confusing and time consuming. I thought to myself, how hard can it be? People have been making cider for centuries, long before good sterilization techniques and specialized equipment. So, finally I stumbled upon a site that had some good, simple info. It turns out cider making really isnt that hard. In fact, if you get some unpasteurized cider and just let it sit, eventually, youll likely get some form of hard cider. This method, although dead simple and natural, takes time and produces inconsistent results.
The Intention
Heres what I want to do: follow a simple, repeatable method with room for experimentation that produces a decent hard cider and document that method in detail. I want to show you beginners out there how easy it is to jump into this. Ive tried to take pics and notes along the way. Hopefully by the end, youll be able to make your own good stuff.
The Method
Hard cider, at its very core, is a combination of 3 things: Juice, Yeast, Time. Thats it; simple as that. My* method uses a bit more than this, but these are the three things youll need at a minimum. For this experiment, I made a 4 gallon batch, made with ingredients and tools that are readily available year round.
Ingredients (Shopping list at the end)
4 1 gallon jugs of 365 Organic apple juice from Whole Foods
1 packet Saflager yeast (available from any homebrew shop)
Optional:
2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
Tools
There are some things that youll need and some things that are nice to have.
1. Vessel
If you use the gallon jugs from whole foods, youre good to go. They come in 1 gallon glass jugs which are perfect for this (and reusable for future home brewing adventures). Otherwise, you can invest in a carboy (homebrew shop) or bucket (hardware store). I would stay away from metal because Im afraid it might react with the acid in the juice
2. Airlock & Stopper
I bought 5 #6.5 drilled stoppers (homebrew shop) and 6 S-Type airlocks (homebrew shop). You need 4, though 6 is nice (Ill explain later). If you want to be really ghetto about this, you can use 4 latex balloons with a small whole punched at the top of each one. The point of this is that you need to cover the jugs so that air can get out, but nothing can get in. This point is really important.
3. Sanitizer
I used Star San (homebrew shop), but bleach and water will do the trick. Use 1 oz bleach per 1 gallon water. That being said, Star San is infinitely easier and not too expensive, Id recommend this one.
4. Hydrometer optional
This device measures the amount of sugar in a substance by taking its specific gravity. You can determine how much alcohol is in a substance by taking its specific gravity (sg) before and after fermentation. The difference in these two numbers will tell you how much sugar the yeast have eaten, thereby telling you how much alcohol theyve produced.
5. Wine thief optional
This is a device that acts sort of like a turkey baster (you could use a turkey baster). Youll need some way of getting the liquid out without disturbing the yeast too much
6. Crappy vodka
Huh? Vodka? Yup, if youre using an airlock, you should fill it with vodka. This helps kill any of the bad stuff that tries to get in, while letting any of the air that yeast makes out.