Thread: Hard Cider

Figured i would start a discussion on hard cider.
I have made two batches of hard cider with cider from a local orchard and they both turned out great.
The second batch was the better of the two, I used 6 gallons of cider, 7 pounds of brown sugar, and dry wine yeast. It had a very pleasant dry taste and would flat knock you on your ass if your not careful. I have also make several very tasty homebrew all grain beers.

I recently made a batch -- no added sugar, wine yeast. Not much alcohol, but a nice taste. I'll do it again, this time with added sugar. One lb per gallon should give a nice high alcohol reading!

I don't know if commercial dry cider is available. I'll have to check the liquor store on my next trip.

i love cider.. blackthorn mostly... but my local grocery only sells wyders.. i'll have to try making a batch.. where do i buy wine yeast?

you can order yeast online or get it at a homebrew shop. make sure to get some type of brewers yeast and not bread yeast.

I have a friend with an orchard of cider apples, perry pears and plums and also a small cider mill. We make the cider and perry every autumn.

No yeast or sugar is used, the fruit is crushed then put through the old stone press and into the barrels where it starts to ferment naturally from the yeasts that are present on the fruit.

The final cider is around 10% BV. We prefer the perry over the cider to be honest, and the plum jerkum is quite a tasty falling down juice as well!

I confess that, as far as I know, I've never drank hard cider. Coincidently I'm reading 'John Adams' by David McCullough (great book, highly recommend it) and I read that for years our 2nd president started his mornings with a gill, whatever that is, of hard cider. Here is a little treatise on the history of the stuff with some recommendations on brands down page. Wandering Aengus Ciderworks - WSJ Article Bottoms up.

Originally Posted by vthomlinson

i love cider.. blackthorn mostly... but my local grocery only sells wyders.. i'll have to try making a batch.. where do i buy wine yeast?

Victor- Isn't there a BevMo up in your neck of the woods? I know they carry a few different brands of cider.

If you want to make hard cider make sure you get cider without any preservatives, if you get the regular cider from the grocery store the preservatives will kill the yeast. Unpasteurized cider from the mill is the way to go. I haven't been able to find preservative free cider in the store so hard cider making is seasonal for me, i only make it when i can get fresh cider from the mill. I haven't yet tried fermenting with the natural yeast in the cider but i have heard of many people having great results doing so, you just have less control over the final product.

Matt

I get very confused with the American terminology here! In Britain, what you call cider, we call apple juice. What you call hard cider, we call cider! I have to read twice!

If anyone's interested in trying making their own, a good simple starting place is to Google "turbo cider". Simple recipes for making a gallon or so of "hard cider" from supermarket apple juice. Very quick and not a bad drink!

Gareth

Originally Posted by gardn1mw

If you want to make hard cider make sure you get cider without any preservatives, if you get the regular cider from the grocery store the preservatives will kill the yeast. Unpasteurized cider from the mill is the way to go. I haven't been able to find preservative free cider in the store so hard cider making is seasonal for me, i only make it when i can get fresh cider from the mill. I haven't yet tried fermenting with the natural yeast in the cider but i have heard of many people having great results doing so, you just have less control over the final product.

Matt

I read a few articles that say pasteurized store cider (100% apple juice) is OK but the preservatives are a NO NO... Mine seems to be doing good since mine is of a pasteurized varity...