First off, if you aren’t already making hard cider, you should be. It really is a no brainer, which I will explain briefly here. Cider is cheap to make, easily sourced, hardly any work, and great for those friends who can’t do gluten! Your only materials are Apple cider/juice, yeast, and maybe a few optional adjuncts, so cost can be as low as $20 a batch depending on your juice source. There isn’t an actual brew process, so it cuts a couple hours out of your normal brew day requirement. Just clean, sanitize, mix ingredients and profit! Since you aren’t using grain in this, it becomes a convenient brew to have on hand for friends(or in my case, SWMBO) who don’t/can’t do gluten.
edwort's apfelwein in progress
I first stumbled onto EdWort’s cider recipe on the Homebrewtalk forums and couldn’t figure out why SO many people were brewing it. I took his recipe and went to town. I remember that first sip, and how confused my taste buds were! If you haven’t made or had his recipe yet, you should know it is completely fermented out and has no back sweetening in it so you end up with a VERY dry, almost tart hard cider. My brain kept telling me hard cider should be sweet, and there was something wrong with this, but I pressed on and about a third of the way through the pint, it clicked, this stuff was delicious and I should never be without it. Ever. Since then I have played with his recipe, making it my own and adjusting it slightly (not a lot to adjust, since it is so simple).
-5 gallons of Apple Juice/Cider (no additives, ascorbic acid is ok)
-1 lb of Corn Sugar
-1 Can of Apple Juice Concentrate
-1 Package of Red Star Montrachet wine yeast.
-Ferment at room temp (around 70 degrees)
-Leave in fermenter 4 weeks, at least.
-Keg/bottle it up as per usual, and enjoy!
I have made this many times over the last couple years, and have tried several variations, and this is the one I settled on as my favorite. Keep in mind the Corn sugar will thin out the cider, and raise the ABV. I have replaced the Concentrate with another pound of corn sugar, and vice versa. I find the concentrate helps keep some of the apple character, and the corn sugar makes it drier. I like the combination of both. I have used a few different yeasts, including the Nottingham Ale yeast, and I find this wine yeast to be the cleanest. It packs down tight, has no kraussen and is very inexpensive. There are specific cider yeasts out there, and you might find you like those better. I also prefer apple juice to cider, as you end with a crystal clear drink that just looks great without the cloud that cider will retain. I have aged this on Bourbon Oak as well, with mixed results. I have back sweetened it as well up to 1.003, 1.008 and 1.012 and find I like the 1.003 the most as it ends up just taking the edge off of the tartness without really sweetening.
apples ready for crushing
Using Juice/Cider for your recipe is the quicker route, but if you have access to apples, pressing your own can be wonderful as well. I have many a great memory of pressing apples in my youth. Selecting your apples for pressing does deserve a little thought. While different varieties provide different subtle characters to the cider, much of that is dampened when fermented. The one piece of advice I would give for pressing apples for hard cider is to make sure you have more than one variety. This will help flesh out your flavors. Predominantly, you will want a sweet apple like Red Delicious, Fuji or Gala. Mixing in some Tarts like McIntosh, Liberty, or Winesap though will really bring a bite to your cider. If able, adding a little bit of a bitter variety, such as Cortland, or Newtown adds character as well. A decent apple orchard should have options for all three flavor categories. Please discuss your favorite apple blends for pressing in the comment section below.
To press your apples for their juice, remember to first wash them to remove any detritus or if applicable, any pesticides. You will need to crush them before pressing them, and that depends on your equipment available. Many fruit presses will come with a grinder attachment which will do the job wonderfully, but if you don’t have that, then you will need to get creative. There are many types of pulpers/juicers available that could work, or failing all of those you can cut the apples up and crush them in a homemade giant mortar and pestle (bucket and pole!) Take that pulp and move it to your fruit press and squish away! Once you have gotten your desired cider, you will need to pasteurize it to kill off any wild yeast before pitching your own. This is optional, as you might want to try getting creative and letting the wild yeasts remain, but be cautious as this can produce some pretty odd flavors. I prefer not to boil it completely, so raising it to about 160 degrees and holding it there for a few minutes should do the trick.
Cool it back down to under 80 degrees, transfer to the fermenter and pitch your desired yeast!
finished cider! Enjoy
In the end, play around with the recipe, and find an end product that you like. I am sure you will. A must-have in any homebrewer’s repertoire, cider is a niche-pleaser and a real treat.
Photo Credit
apple cider in glass - Rich Orris
Edwort's Apfelwein
edwort's apfelwein in progressI first stumbled onto EdWort’s cider recipe on the Homebrewtalk forums and couldn’t figure out why SO many people were brewing it. I took his recipe and went to town. I remember that first sip, and how confused my taste buds were! If you haven’t made or had his recipe yet, you should know it is completely fermented out and has no back sweetening in it so you end up with a VERY dry, almost tart hard cider. My brain kept telling me hard cider should be sweet, and there was something wrong with this, but I pressed on and about a third of the way through the pint, it clicked, this stuff was delicious and I should never be without it. Ever. Since then I have played with his recipe, making it my own and adjusting it slightly (not a lot to adjust, since it is so simple).
Lonnie’s Edwort’s Apfelwein Variant
-5 gallons of Apple Juice/Cider (no additives, ascorbic acid is ok)
-1 lb of Corn Sugar
-1 Can of Apple Juice Concentrate
-1 Package of Red Star Montrachet wine yeast.
-Ferment at room temp (around 70 degrees)
-Leave in fermenter 4 weeks, at least.
-Keg/bottle it up as per usual, and enjoy!
Some Recipe Notes and Other Variations:
I have made this many times over the last couple years, and have tried several variations, and this is the one I settled on as my favorite. Keep in mind the Corn sugar will thin out the cider, and raise the ABV. I have replaced the Concentrate with another pound of corn sugar, and vice versa. I find the concentrate helps keep some of the apple character, and the corn sugar makes it drier. I like the combination of both. I have used a few different yeasts, including the Nottingham Ale yeast, and I find this wine yeast to be the cleanest. It packs down tight, has no kraussen and is very inexpensive. There are specific cider yeasts out there, and you might find you like those better. I also prefer apple juice to cider, as you end with a crystal clear drink that just looks great without the cloud that cider will retain. I have aged this on Bourbon Oak as well, with mixed results. I have back sweetened it as well up to 1.003, 1.008 and 1.012 and find I like the 1.003 the most as it ends up just taking the edge off of the tartness without really sweetening.
Cider from Fresh Apples
Using Juice/Cider for your recipe is the quicker route, but if you have access to apples, pressing your own can be wonderful as well. I have many a great memory of pressing apples in my youth. Selecting your apples for pressing does deserve a little thought. While different varieties provide different subtle characters to the cider, much of that is dampened when fermented. The one piece of advice I would give for pressing apples for hard cider is to make sure you have more than one variety. This will help flesh out your flavors. Predominantly, you will want a sweet apple like Red Delicious, Fuji or Gala. Mixing in some Tarts like McIntosh, Liberty, or Winesap though will really bring a bite to your cider. If able, adding a little bit of a bitter variety, such as Cortland, or Newtown adds character as well. A decent apple orchard should have options for all three flavor categories. Please discuss your favorite apple blends for pressing in the comment section below.
To press your apples for their juice, remember to first wash them to remove any detritus or if applicable, any pesticides. You will need to crush them before pressing them, and that depends on your equipment available. Many fruit presses will come with a grinder attachment which will do the job wonderfully, but if you don’t have that, then you will need to get creative. There are many types of pulpers/juicers available that could work, or failing all of those you can cut the apples up and crush them in a homemade giant mortar and pestle (bucket and pole!) Take that pulp and move it to your fruit press and squish away! Once you have gotten your desired cider, you will need to pasteurize it to kill off any wild yeast before pitching your own. This is optional, as you might want to try getting creative and letting the wild yeasts remain, but be cautious as this can produce some pretty odd flavors. I prefer not to boil it completely, so raising it to about 160 degrees and holding it there for a few minutes should do the trick.
Cool it back down to under 80 degrees, transfer to the fermenter and pitch your desired yeast!
finished cider! EnjoyIn the end, play around with the recipe, and find an end product that you like. I am sure you will. A must-have in any homebrewer’s repertoire, cider is a niche-pleaser and a real treat.
Photo Credit
apple cider in glass - Rich Orris
