In the Case

A case of freshly bottled 2008 Amador Hill hard cider. In my basement.

Corking

Soaking Corks

Empty Bottles

A five-gallon carboy holds enough to fill 25 750ml bottles.

Siphon

Letters From Readers

Aaron from Washington Heights writes:

Dear Ray,

Awright, I'm game, is it easy to make hard cider? Cuz I've heard it's hard
to make easy cider.

Signed,
Washington Heights reader

Aaron,

Both, in fact, are true. Making hard cider is like making compost. It shouldn't be more work than you want to put into it. And once you know how the basics, the secret is just letting the little critters living in there do their thing.

I promise to publish posts on both hard cider and easy cider in the near future.

Another reader writes:

Dear Ray,

I just used wine.net to calculate the amount of liquors i will need at my
next party of 40 guests, for 10 hours with a 40-20-40 beer-wine-liquor ratio.
But it says that I only need 112 servings of beer, 56 servings of wine, and 112
servings of 750ml bottles of liquor, which seems a little low. Is this somehow
related to infusing bacon into vodka?

Thanks,
-thirsty

Dear Thirsty,

Yes, that's right.

Hard Apple Cider Tips

As I noted in my post on Hard Apple Cider Basics, you can improve the quality and to increase the potency of your hard cider.

1. Mix together different types of apples. I don't know exactly how this works, but it works. Different apples have different levels of sugar, are more or less tart, etc. So one type of apple balances another.

2. Sanitize everything. Use campden tablets to sanitaize all of your equipment. They can go right into your cider and will kill off any unwanted bacteria or mold. This will also kill off any naturally-occurring yeasts, and so you'll need to add yeast.


3. Use a hydrometer to figure out your potential alcohol. Add the appropriate amount of sugar.

4. Add yeast. I never know what kind of yeast to buy in the brewing supply store. I usually use champagne yeast in cider. I like to start the yeast in a glass of cider. When the glass is nice and foamy I pour it into the rest of the cider.

5. Use a stabilizer when fermentation is done. Available in a brewing supply store. This kills off any remaining yeast and keeps fermentation from starting up again after bottling.

6. Back-sweeten. If all goes well, you cider will taste dry when fermentation is done. You may prefer to drink it sweeter than that. I like to add some brown sugar or honey.

7. Bottle. I collect empty wine bottles from frienda and buy new corks. I've used three different corking tools and here I do find that spending more money makes the job easier.

8. Age. Sometimes the cider tastes great as soon as I bottle it. Sometimes I am less than impressed. Sour or bitter cider generally improves with age.

Hard Apple Cider Basics

Here is a very basic way to make hard apple cider. With just a bit more effort you can improve the quality of your finished product.

1. Get some cider. Best if you make your own. If you buy cider for this purpose, it should be unpasteurized. Some commercially-produced cider contains additives to keep it from fermenting. Jim and I once experimented with some organic cider from the food co-op, but even that would not ferment. I suggest starting with a small amount for your first batch, so that your heart is not broken if things don't end well.

2. Put your cider in the right container. Make sure everything is nice and clean. I have made hard cider in half-gallon growlers, gallon cider jugs, and five-gallon carboys. You can make hard cider in any container that will accommodate a fermentation lock.

3. Cap your cider with a fermentation lock. Shouldn't cost more than $5 even if you get a fancy one. Sometimes called an "airlock" or a "bubbler", should be available at a brewing supply store or online. The fermentation lock goes into a rubber stopper. Make sure you get a rubber stopper that fits properly into your container. Put water in your fermentation lock.

4. Watch. Fresh apple cider contains a small amount of naturally-occurring yeast. The yeast eat sugar and create two by-products: Alcohol and Carbon Dioxide. In a few days, the fermentation lock will start to bubble. The bubbles are carbon dioxide gas. You want to let the carbon dioxide escape without letting any other contaminants get in.

5. Drink. When the bubbles slow down the cider is finished. You may have a cider with 3 - 5% alcohol. If the cider is too dry or sour for your taste, try adding honey or sugar. If it's moldy or tastes foul, you should just throw it out. Sorry about that, it's an imperfect science.

6. Luckily, it is easy to make your hard cider Stronger, Faster, More Sanitary, More Predictable, and Suitable for Bottling.