Make your own Hard Apple Cider
When the leaves start turning and the signs go up outside of the local orchards, it’s time to start thinking about the holiday merriment with homemade spirits such as hard apple cider. A great way to gather friends and family together is with a hard cider making party.
Here is hard cider done two ways. The first way is simple and can be done in a matter of a few hours in the kitchen. The second takes many hands to make light work but the final product is unbeatable.
The simple way to make hard cider is to use already pressed sweet cider. The good thing is that you don’t have to worry about securing an apple crusher and a press. The bad part is that the flavor is bland because during fermentation, the sugars turn to alcohol which leaves not much left in the way of flavor.
If you go this route, try to get the cold pasteurized cider that uses UV light instead of heat, which changes the flavor. Add 1 gram of brewer’s yeast per gallon of cider to a brewing bucket and allow it to ferment with a vented airlock for a few days for primary fermentation. After the yeasts calm down, then bottle it and it should be ready in a few weeks.
If you have the time and the ambition to make the best hard cider you can possibly find, then secure a press, an apple crusher, a few 5 gallon buckets with tops and airlocks, a 5 gram packet or two of brewing yeast, and a bunch of friends for an afternoon of hard labor and fall fun. The crusher and presser can be as easy or as elaborate as you can find. Some orchards even have an old press on hand that they will let you use for an afternoon or a juicer works well too.
1) The apples: The secret to the best apple cider is to get the worst eating apples you can find. The tart apples that make you pucker make amazing cider. Crab apples or wild apples work very well. Gather about 5 buckets for 5 gallons of cider.
2) Make sure to wash the apples before you put them into the crusher and sterilize your buckets, vats and all equipment with a no rinse sanitizer.
3) Crush the apples first, which just grinds them up to make the juice press out easier. Then press the apples directly into your 5 gallon brew bucket.
4) After you crush and press the apples, you want to shock the wild yeasts or else they will taint the flavor and give you an unpredictable outcome. The preferred method is ¼ teaspoon of Potassium Metabisulfite per 6 gallons of pressed cider.
5) Wait 24 hours and then add the yeast at a rate of 1 gram per gallon. Most brewing supply places will tell you that champagne yeast is the best; however the jury is still out in my opinion. Champagne yeast tends to be unforgiving on sparkling ciders and beer yeast has worked just fine for me in the past. Whatever yeast you use, prime it first by taking a cup full of cider from your bucket, add the yeast and stir with a whisk. Allow this concoction to sit for awhile and you should start seeing the yeast work, forming bubbles after a half hour or so. Add it to your bucket, put the lid on with an airlock and place in a room between 60 to 75 degrees for optimal fermentation.
6) After a few days, you’ll be ready to bottle your hard apple cider. Wait a few more weeks and it’s ready to drink!
After a successful first pressing, feel free to experiment with sweetening or different types of apples or try making sparkling apple cider. The possibilities are exciting and at the very least, you’ll have fun with friends on pressing day and have something deliciously intoxicating to show for it.
Cheers!
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