Comments on: Making Hard Cider

By: gregclimbs

gregclimbs — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:21:54 +0000

Did you bottle?

I just checked my 5gal batch and it dropped from 1.054 to 0.995 since 11/27. That is ~8%ABV. :D

I think I will leave it in secondary for another month or two then force carb in a keg for early summer drinking…

Pretty dry and champagne-y. Might back sweeten it with some fresh cider.

Watch out you don’t make bottle bombs!

By: Susy

Susy — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:06:18 +0000

It’s going well, I just tasted in. I need to bottle it and let it age a little I think. Next year I’m going to try a different yeast I think, I special old-fashioned English cider yeast I found on-line. I guess if it’s bad I can turn it into vinegar.

By: gregclimbs

gregclimbs — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:57:57 +0000

Hi Susy…

How goes your fermentation?

I have a schwartzbeir lagering, a irish red fermenting, a cider going in for the wife (your inspiration!) and as soon as the red finishes primary, I will reuse the yeast for the porter.

Yeast is like a garden, it keeps giving if you know how to treat it!

Maybe you will plant some hops this spring? ;)

By: Local Unpasteurized Cider | Chiot's Run

Local Unpasteurized Cider | Chiot's Run — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:47:50 +0000

[...] cider jelly to give away. I also use several gallons to make apple cider vinegar and this year hard cider. Another thing I love about small local places is that they use the honor system. We stop by, grab [...]

By: Kerrick

Kerrick — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:36:03 +0000

I started my first batch of hard cider about a week and a half ago. I tried it for the first time a couple of nights ago–it’s not ready; it’s still too sweet, but I can tell something good is going on. I used unpasteurized local apple juice; for the yeast starter culture I added an organically-grown unwashed grape with lots of wild yeasts on the skin. Then I covered the jug. When I tried the cider the other night, I fished out the grape–it was starting to float and I was concerned it might get moldy. Feeling adventurous, I ate the grape–it was delicious! There are still plenty of yeasts in the cider–I’m getting lots of fizzing and frothing action. I don’t have an airlock. To release the CO2 I have a plastic bag over the neck of the jug that slowly fills with gas. I let the gas out once in the morning and once at night.

By: Susy

Susy — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:41:31 +0000

Thanks for the tip.

By: erin

erin — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:45:27 +0000

I would be careful putting lids on fermenting bottles at room temp, even loosely. If you’re going to a brewing store to get yeast anyhow, spend another $4 to get a stopper and an airlock. This will let the pressure out in a safer way – meads and ciders can ferment pretty vigorously – even with an airlock I’ve had several build up enough pressure to pop the stopper out. The difference is that a screwed-on cap can’t be popped off, and instead the bottle will explode if there’s enough pressure.

Good luck and have fun – brewing is a highly addictive hobby! :)

By: Friday Favorites « Two Frog Home

Friday Favorites « Two Frog Home — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:38:27 +0000

[...] of the projects we hope to tackle here at Two Frog Home, next year, is making hard cider. For now, I’m just collecting [...]

By: Susy

Susy — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:21:50 +0000

It probably will be fairly low in alcohol. You can add sugar if you want it to have a higher concentration (I didn’t).

I had some delicious low-alcohol hard cider when I was in Germany many years ago. It was fantastic!

By: Genevieve

Genevieve — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:52:47 +0000

I’ve never brewed anything myself but it certainly sounds interesting, especially with apple cider since I am a huge fan.
The cider I am familiar with in France is always hard with about 2% alcohol. I wonder how this would compare in taste and alcohol content.