Question about this 1 gal Hard Cider Recipe

I was looking around on the 'net and found this;
Home Brew Hard Cider from Scratch

I like the idea of trying a one gallon batch like this for my first try, I have the brewing equipment, a one gallon glass jug, a cider press/ grinder, and lots of apple trees close to my house.

But I have a few questions;

1; At the end of this recipe, instead of just leaving it to age in the jug, could I prime and bottle to get "sparkling" hard cider? If so, how much priming sugar should I use for one gallon?

2; Would taking an OG reading mean anything with all the "stuff" floating around in the mix? Or should I just rely on the airlock bubbles for fermentation info?

In the past I just left my fresh cider sit at room temp till it got a "a good bite" then refrigerated it. Purdy good that way but not much of a kick!

Any ideas or pointers on this subject would be appreciated! Thanks!

Of course you can bottle-carb the cider. I've not seen a cider that wasn't carbed, actually. Use the same amount of sugar that you do for beer.

you shouldn't be fermenting with "stuff" in there. Just get the juice only into the fermenter, apple chunks won't help you. And definitely take OG but it will probably ferment dry (close to 1.000) regardless.

Check the cider recipe section on this site for good ones. I recommend Graham's. But beware, ciders will have to age a few months before they're good to drink. At least 3, but 5+ is better.

Well, with apple juice/cider fermentation, you basically have two choices: apple wine (or apfelwein, or apfelmust), or hard cider.

If you want to make a wine, use a wine yeast. It will go to dryness, and it will need extra sugar to raise the OG to 1.060 or higher. Ferment it in primary down to around 1.000, then condition it in secondary for a bit. When it's clear and dry, either sweeten it and add sorbate, or bottle and drink it as it is. It lacks a mouth-feel, in my opinion. If you want to really make it delicious, add some apple juice concentrate (along with some sorbate to prevent refermentation) and you can give it a sweet deliciousness. I've also thought about adding apple schnapps to give it more flavor and more kick... but I haven't tried it yet.

If you want to make a cider, I suggest using an ale yeast in the hopes that it will poop out before it eats *all* of the sugar. The OG should be between 1.030 and 1.040, IIRC. After a week or two, check the hydrometer a couple of days in a row. Once it stabilizes, bottle it as you would bottle beer. It'll be pretty good, but it would be better if you could sweeten it, add preservative and force carb it instead of bottle carbing it. Some people add glycerin and lactate to sweeten and add a little mouthfeel... YMMV.

That's my two cents on the the two main things to do with applejuice! Up to you now! :fro: