Need a first timer recipe

[martink49]

Hi all,

I've been brewing beer for a few months now and I'm really interested in making a hard cider. Can someone please give me a simple recipe so I can get my start?

Thanks!

 

[GillandCo]

Why not look at the cider threads on the site? Im sure you could weed through them and find one you can handle.

 

[McKinley]

Hi all,

I've been brewing beer for a few months now and I'm really interested in making a hard cider. Can someone please give me a simple recipe so I can get my start?

Thanks!

Apple juice + yeast = my favorite recipe.

No, I'm not trying to be a dick. Hard cider is really easy and there's lots of great recipe's on here. EdWorts is really easy and popular. For my two cents, the quality of the juice that you use will basically define how good the cider is. For my tastes, I'm not sure how much adjuncts like honey or brown sugar really add to a good juice, but that's something you have to find out by trying different things.

A good way to start is to get about 5 or 6 one gallon jugs of good store bought juice, then try adding different yeasts and different amounts of honey or brown sugar to each. I find the higher you push the gravity, the more the "apply" flavors tend to get stripped. Any wine or ale yeast works (see the sticky at the top of the cider forum for more on that). Throw an airlock (a #7 stopper usually fits most store bought jugs) on each, keep room temp or a little less until the yeast drops, then try each and see which one tastes best. Then go from there.

If you've been brewing beer then you know sanitation and aging, and that will help you avoid about 90% of the errors you can make in doing cider.