Making Cider

I have not had a lot of time to do research on the topic but I am thinking this fall that I may want to make some hard cider from apples off of our tree. If I have the apples to press into cider, and I want to do about a 3 gallon batch, what is the basic process of turing cider into hard cider. It seems like I am supposed to simmer the cider for a bit then add some yeast and I am done, this seems too simple, is there much more to it than that?

johnsonbrew said:

I have not had a lot of time to do research on the topic

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find the time. there's a whole website here and many instructional sites online

johnsonbrew said:

It seems like I am supposed to simmer the cider for a bit then add some yeast

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find and read some simple instructions. never heat your juice. here is a very brief synopsis: 1. get juice from apples 2. (optional) add yeast 3. wait several months

+1 to what dinerstick said. Making cider is pretty simple, making great cider takes a little knowledge.

1. grind apples.
2. Press pomace (ground up apples) to extract juice.
3. Add sugar* (optional)
4. Add yeast* (optional)
5. Place under airlock & wait a couple months.
6. Age it a few months* (optional)
7. Bottle or keg & allow to condition, serve & enjoy!

You could also use a home juicing machine to juice the apples instead of grinding & pressing.
You can add sugar (or not) in almost any form, IE: white table sugar, brown sugar, molasses, honey, maple syrup, etc...
Some choose to allow a wild yeast to ferment their cider, most of us use commercially produced yeast strains.
Hope this info helps. Regards, GF.

For a good step-by-step guide, check out this blog post I wrote about the topic: http://www.ciderrevival.com/2012/03/lazy-persons-guide-to-making-hard-cider.html

Since you are using apples from scratch, you may choose to add sulfites to the juice you squeeze. This will kill the wild yeast (which can sometimes lead to unpredictable flavors). Plenty of good cider results from wild yeast, but plenty of bad cider does too. If you want to make sure you end up with a good product, I would recommend using sulfites to kill the wild yeast, wait about 24-48 hours, and then pitch a commercial yeast like Red Star Côte des Blancs or Red Star Premier Cuvee which are both great options for cider.

Happy fermenting!