My adventures in Hard Cider gave me quite the humbling experience. I tried making H/C in a 2 liter soda bottle using frozen concentrate and having to remember to crack the cap every day to keep the pressure under control. I have since figured out how to not only relieve the pressure building in the bottle, but as a benefit leaving the contents quite nicely carbonated too. I really like the the pressure relieving caps I came up with, and at some point I will start marketing them. No more bottle bombs. Ever. My first cider making experiment turned out decent, so I put what was left of into a water bottle, and into the freezer it went. Three days later I turned the water bottle upside down and let if partially defrost. The first few teaspoons were like drinking fire, so I left the bottle upside down until the ice that was left looked sort of white. I then tasted what had drained out, albeit a couple ounces, and definitely contained alcohol. The yeast I used was ESB 1968 because that was what I had. The clearing was not perfect, but most of the trub was still frozen in the bottom of the bottle.
Fast forward to the latest batch; I made 5 gallons of home pressed cider to make into hard cider. We drank very little of the cider before the yeast was pitched. Once again I used the ESB 1968 yeast, but something odd happened, the cider continued to ferment for two months, and I sampled it and still had good flavor, so I let it go until I saw no more fermentation happening so I put the cider into 2 liter bottles, and 20 oz soda bottles leaving 2 plus gallons in my fermenting bucket. After 1 week in freezer, I pulled out the bucket turned it over in a pot big enough to hold the now concentrated apple cider. I then waited until the ice was clear, tossed the ice, and put my now very concentrated cider into a gallon jug in the freezer. The freezer I have has a large range of settings and I kept setting it warmer and warmer, until the liquor drained out and the ice did not. It tastes like I think moonshine would taste; alcohol hot, slightly sweet, and very deceiving. I had what I thought were small sips, and in a few minutes I starting feeling the buzz. No more sampling while working. I just checked the 1 gallon jug in the freezer, and there is 3 inches of liquid sitting below the ice block. Yay! Booze, almost Free Hooch, and undistilled Calvados. Damn, I love this web site.