Hard Cider Recipes

HOW TO MAKE HARD CIDER IN 5 EASY STEPS

Steps:

• The hardest part of making cider is getting the juice out of those apples, and for that you need a cider press. To make it affordable, we co-bought this high quality cider press. My video shows the apples being ground to a pulp, the cider being pressed, and then us pouring the cider into a carboy.
• We pour the cider right from the press directly into the carboy though a strainer and funnel, as you can see in the video above. When almost full, we pop the airlock on and stow it out of the way in a cool spot in the house out of direct sunlight (we place it in our homestead root cellar).
• Then ... just do nothing. Organic or unsprayed apples, like grapes and other fruits, grow with naturally occurring yeast right on their skins, so your fresh cider will start fermenting almost immediately. (Which means those microscopic yeast cells will start "eating" the sugars in the juice and "excreting" alcohol and carbon dioxide gas).
• The initial fermenting process will create bubbles and foam caused by the release of carbon dioxide, which can come up through the airlock and sometimes clog it, (especially if you haven't strained out larger apple chunks), so monitor this during the first few days, and clean the foam out of the airlocks.
• Alternately, you could use a large diameter hose the size of your carboy jar opening (sometimes called a blow-off tube) fitted snugly into the opening with the far end curved down into another smaller jar of water, that allows the foam to bubble out safely without clogging for the first few days, and then you can install the air locks.
• And that's it! Hard cider is on the way. Now all you need to do is wait for the bubbling to slow and stop, signifying that most or all of the sugar left in the juice has been digested by the yeast, and converted into alcohol (and CO2). This could take several weeks or up to several months, depending on a variety of factors including temperature, initial sugar in the apples, yeast vigor, etc.

HOMEMADE HARD CIDER RECIPE

Steps:

• Clean and sanitize all cider making equipment before starting.
• Pour the Apple juice into the fermenting vessel.
• Take a hydrometer reading to measure the original gravity and record.
• Add Campden if using fresh unpasteurized cider if desired.
• Add yeast nutrient if desired.
• Pour the yeast into the fermenter.
• Close the fermenter and install an airlock filled with sanitizer.
• Allow the cider to ferment in a cool and dark place for about two weeks.
• Cold crash, rack and bottle.