This fall was our second year pressing apples for cider, but I quickly realized we still had liters of cider sitting in the freezer from last year! I decided I would try brewing it into hard cider. (I've never done anything brewing related, and in fact had only started drinking alcoholic drinks a couple years ago.)
So, I follow the guide on www.howtomakehardcider.com and buy all the materials and thaw out the jugs, and presto, by winter I've got some jugs of hard cider sitting around for me to share with friends.
I'm still so new to the world of fermentation, most of it still tastes pretty gross at first. Every time I crack open a new bottle I think "Will it still taste like beer or will the taste have mellowed yet?" Every time it's still the same. Not bad, just... you know... you have to get half way through before you don't notice the taste any more. It's not as good as a can of cider from a restaurant, but it's fine.
So the other day I found a half drank jug of (soft) apple cider in the fridge. Guess I had cracked it for breakfast a while back, but never came back to it. I poured myself a cup and noticed it was kinda bubbly, which was unusual. I took a sip and my first reaction was, "Woah! That's gone bad!" I guess it had been sitting in the back of the fridge for a month or so and had fermented. After the first shock wore off, I took another sip and then another. Be darned if the stuff was pretty tasty! Just not what I was looking for first thing in the morning with my cereal.
So... like... what the deal??
Was the stuff I made at the back of my fridge technically cider? If so, how is it different from that what I made downstairs in my little brewery? And why did it taste so good? And what's the best way to replicate that?
So many questions, so little understanding...
Thanks!
Alan
So, I follow the guide on www.howtomakehardcider.com and buy all the materials and thaw out the jugs, and presto, by winter I've got some jugs of hard cider sitting around for me to share with friends.
I'm still so new to the world of fermentation, most of it still tastes pretty gross at first. Every time I crack open a new bottle I think "Will it still taste like beer or will the taste have mellowed yet?" Every time it's still the same. Not bad, just... you know... you have to get half way through before you don't notice the taste any more. It's not as good as a can of cider from a restaurant, but it's fine.
So the other day I found a half drank jug of (soft) apple cider in the fridge. Guess I had cracked it for breakfast a while back, but never came back to it. I poured myself a cup and noticed it was kinda bubbly, which was unusual. I took a sip and my first reaction was, "Woah! That's gone bad!" I guess it had been sitting in the back of the fridge for a month or so and had fermented. After the first shock wore off, I took another sip and then another. Be darned if the stuff was pretty tasty! Just not what I was looking for first thing in the morning with my cereal.
So... like... what the deal??
Was the stuff I made at the back of my fridge technically cider? If so, how is it different from that what I made downstairs in my little brewery? And why did it taste so good? And what's the best way to replicate that?
So many questions, so little understanding...
Thanks!
Alan