Hard Cider

[MadTripper]

I dabbled in hard cider last year and really enjoyed playing around with different recipes. You can view some of my stories at the following links should you be interested.

Part I (http://www.madtripper.com/test/comment.php?comment.news.8)

Part II (http://www.madtripper.com/test/comment.php?comment.news.9)

As I watch summer start to wind down and see the apples begin to plump, I'm starting to get the itch. If any of you all have made it, give me some ideas on recipes. I have a pretty good set up going but am always interested in other ideas.

Tripper

[annabella1]

I never made hard cider but my grandpa would always freeze distill his hard cider to make apple jack. What happens is put the hard cider in the freezer and when ice crystals start to form you filter them out. Alcohol freezes at a lower temp than water so you are filtering out the water and concentrating the alcohol.

[Penny_Plinker]

That's very interesting. Annabella1, i've heard of apple jack but didn't know it was done by freezing.

Tripper, i'm fermenting some cherries in a stone jar and I'm going to use the cherry mixture for coon bait. I added 2 cups of sugar to the cherries and it's supposed to set a month. Animals are supposed to be very attracted to the fermented fruit. In your article you said about the one batch of cider taking on a vinegary taste. I'm thinking that when the month is up the next stage may be vinegar. Is there any way to to keep it from turning to vinegar before trapping season which isn't till November?

Penny

[MadTripper]

The reason fermented beverages turn to vinegar is the introduction of acetobacter and air. The easiest way to combat this problem is use an air loc on your juice. It will let gasses escape but not pull any new air in. They are usually around a dollar or two and can be found at any brewing supply store/vendor. Storage during fermentation is also important and should be kept away from venegar storage and damp areas.

[Penny_Plinker]

I have it in the basement (woops damp) amd have also taken the plate off the top to check it several times. So that would have let in air. I'll try to get an air loc lid. Thanks for the help. Enjoyed the stories about your cider trials and wish you continued good luck with it .

Penny

[AlchemyAcres]

Made a lota hard cider from natural yeast, but, as you know, it's a crap shoot.

Pastuerization sucks in a lota ways, but it'll give you a much more stable and predictable product.
*
Taste is subjective...it's difficult to recommend a specific yeast or 'sugar' ammendment.

There's a HUGE Apfelwein thread on homebrewtalk.com........
Lotsa talk about different yeasts, experiences and such.....
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=14860

Mead yeast works well.


~Martin :)

[MadTripper]

I prefer to use the non-pasteurized cider and natural yeasts contained therein. If I do need to use pasteurized, I would use a champagne yeast.

[davefa]

you sound like you have tried it maybe you can give my dad some hints at making it he don't have a beer thingy just using what he has at home ok here is what he was doing all the apples on the tree wound up being rather small and wormy so he cut the worm parts out and juiced a ton of apples on some he wanted to try to make some cider so he had don't scream reg yeast not the beer kind just regular old yeast and let it set it tastes like cider kinda a bit yeasty but kinda and he canned it when he pulled the jars out of the canner they had turned red the fluid inside would the presser cooker canning kill the yeast so it wont keep fermenting or the way he did it can it go to say alcohol phase which he don't want any ideas will print all your stuff out for him to read

[MadTripper]

So let me get this straight, he took the juice, added bread yeast, and pressure canned it? *I'm pretty sure that is not going to do anything worthwhile.

Since you are using fresh cider, there are natural yeasts in the juice. *I prefer to use these yeasts without adding additional however if you decide to pasteurize it, you have to add a yeast.

Bread yeast does work however the final product will not be so desirable. *You can get a champagne yeast or something similar cheaply from a local brew shop or some online brewing supply shops. *Northern Brewer and Midwest are some decent suppliers online.

You need to add a sugar to get the yeast working. *I use about 1 cup of sugar per gallon of raw cider. *Table sugar works, brown sugar is a little better in my opinion, and honey works very well for a different flavor. *I heat a small amount of cider on the stove and add my sugars and mix until disolved. *

Add the sugar cider to the balance in a fermentor. *I use glass carboys and glass 1 gallon jugs. *The plastic carboys do work however they have indents due to their design which prevents the sediment from falling to the bottom until you rack it which mixes it back into the cider. *

You need to place an air lock on the top and let it sit for a month or so in a cool, constant temperature. *After a month, rack it into another carboy leaving the sediment on the bottom. *You can add more fresh or pasteurized cider at this point or even apple juice if you don't have any cider. *You want to keep the liquid filled to the neck when fermenting cider. *If you don't, you are more likely to get a sulphur flavor.

Continue to monitor and every time it seems to clear up, rack it again. *

When you are comfortable with the product and most of the bubbling has subsided, bottle it. *

If you want a carbonated cider, you would add a priming sugar at this point or you can bottle it while it is still fermenting and bubbling in the carboy. *I prefer non-carbonated so don't mess with priming.

You can drink it from here on however a good 6 months in the bottle really improves the flavor. *One of the best tips I can give you is sanitize, sanitize, sanitize!!!! *Everything you touch and use should be sanitized. *You can purchase sanitizers however I'm a fan of bleach and water. *

Good luck and I hope this helps.

BTW, we don't bother looking for worms when we mash the apples. They won't hurt.

Tripper

[davefa]

sorry didn't come across right what I meant to say he used the juicer and got fresh apple juice then he put in a jar and added the yeast and let it sit we tried some a bit latter and it tasted good and had a bight to it. so then he canned that except for a little more he let some more sit a week and then canned that stuff he said he was chicken to taste it first. Today I juiced some apples for reg juice only problem our apple tree is rather small and has small apples so many apples = less juice so I brought it home and added it to some commercial apple juice I had and it made the commercial apple juice taste better.