Inspired by Raven's post regarding making wine, I was wondering if anyone has a good recipe for hard cider?  I grow my own apples, have a cider press and am very familliar with brewing beer.  The recipes I've tried in the past were pretty lame.  


ETA:  Correction of title!

Quoted: Inspired by Raven's post regarding making wine, I was wondering if anyone has a good recipe for hard cider?  I grow my own apples, have a cider press and am very familliar with brewing beer.  The recipes I've tried in the past were pretty lame.

I've made it a number of times from kits. Its much easier than beer.

I'd say going from raw apples to a reduced malt-like consistent liquid is going to be the key. And the yeast is very important too IIRC.

My favorite available bottled cider is Strongbow from England. Very dry and refreshing. Brewing your own is very cost effective. My brother is making a cider champagne. I've tried some of the in-the-works stuff and it is going to be potent - 10% or better.

tag

I don't think you should get info on hard cider until you can correct the spelling of "REICPES" in your subject line.  Just think of it as a mini breathalyzer test.  

Quoted: I don't think you should get info on hard cider until you can correct the spelling of "REICPES" in your subject line.  Just think of it as a mini breathalyzer test.

How embarrasing!

Tag

Wife doesn't like beer but digs the hard cider.

Strongbow is good stuff. Some of the Woodchuck is excellent too.

Once someone handed me a half-Woodchuck and half-beer "mixed" drink. It wasn't half bad.  

tag

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ah, a brewing question  Use pasteurized cider, raw has too many germs and you'll have to use those funky sulfate tablets.  You can heat the cider up to 180F or close to it.  Use liquid beer yeast, an ale yeast from Wyeast is good.  You can spike it by adding a pound or two of liquid or dried malt extract for a five gallon batch.  Ferment and bottle just like beer.  

If you want flat cider, dont prime the bottles.  If you want sparkling or carbonated cider, prime the cider with corn sugar before bottling

oh yeah, DO NOT USE CIDER THAT HAS PRESERVATIVES IN IT.   It'll kill the yeast, that's it's job.

Tag!

What about all the pectin in apples?  Won't you need some pectic enzyme to clear up the cider?

There's a yeast especially selected for cider, look for it

WLP775 English Cider

Quoted: What about all the pectin in apples?  Won't you need some pectic enzyme to clear up the cider? There's a yeast especially selected for cider, look for it WLP775 English Cider

if  you rack to a secondary fermenter and then put the fermenter in a fridge for a while the stuff will clear right up, if not, you'll have cloudy cider, raw cider isn't clear.  Just serve in an opaque mug!  After 3 or 4 glasses of cider you wont care much either way if it's cloudy or not

I had a great book on making homemade cider, one of the few decent books I got from
one of those book of the month deals.   I'm pissed, it's gone,  had lots of great info.  I'll
see if I can look it up.

Some advice: don't drink the lees.


Here it is:
Cider: Making, Using & Enjoying Sweet & Hard Cider (Paperback) 219 Pages
by Annie Proulx, Lew Nichols ISBN: 0882669699

I succesfully made a few batches following the methods shown using store bought cider.

Where do you guys find Strongbow in the US?   Most american ciders are too sweet to suit my
taste.  Even the 'imported' K tastes like they added sugar to suit the american palate.  Too
'appley' if that  makes any sense.

I love the UK stuff:  Dry Blackthorn,  Scrumpy Jack, Diamond White, Strongbow ...

ETA:  Beware.  I think cider is what fuels all the brit soccer hooligans.  Everytime I've gotten in
a good barfight overseas thats what I was drinking.

I got a couple gallons of apple Jack my Granddad made in the 40's. It's great stuff, I drink a shot of it very year on the anniversary of his death.

Apple jack is cider that has been distilled.  Big difference legally, most of us can't make it at home.

Quoted: Apple jack is cider that has been distilled.  Big difference legally, most of us can't make it at home.

Not distilled, chilled.  When it's left in sub-freezing temps, some of the water freezes and is scooped out with a ladel.  Has the effect of raising the overall alcohol level. "Ice beer" is made the same way.

Quoted: Where do you guys find Strongbow in the US?   ... ETA:  Beware.  I think cider is what fuels all the brit soccer hooligans.  Everytime I've gotten in a good barfight overseas thats what I was drinking.

I get it at a local liquor store and at Publix grocery store. It's pricey though $7/6-pack.

In England I remember buying 2 liter plastic bottles of it for a pound and change.

It is stronger than beer, and goes down way too easy. It can sneak up on you.

Thanks for the book ref. I'll have to try it.

Quoted: Quoted: Apple jack is cider that has been distilled.  Big difference legally, most of us can't make it at home. Not distilled, chilled.  When it's left in sub-freezing temps, some of the water freezes and is scooped out with a ladel.  Has the effect of raising the overall alcohol level. "Ice beer" is made the same way.

according to the ATFE, 'freeze distillation' is also illegal.  

tagarooni!

Quoted: In England I remember buying 2 liter plastic bottles of it for a pound and change. It is stronger than beer, and goes down way too easy. It can sneak up on you. Thanks for the book ref. I'll have to try it.

Ha! I remember those,  they didn't even bat an eye when I brought some bottles of 'soda' onboard.
The label said 'Strongbow'.

A shameless bump!

Ok, time to bump this one back to the top.  It's apple season and I'll be making my cider next week.  Come on folks, how about some good home made hard cider recipes!

tag


last time we tried to make hard ciderr.... It turned out very, very bad.




I've been drinkin that.

mmmm... Strongbow! I had a few pints of it in London this summer, it was pretty darn good. It does go down easier, so I see how it makes you shitfaced real quick. I saw those 2liter bottles at the store and thought it was pretty funny.

I drank bulmers when I was over in Ireland in August.

I brought back some of the pint glasses.

Hmm so everyone drinks the stuff but no one makes their own?  I can't believe that the ARFCOM people don't have any recipes to share!!

Quoted: Hmm so everyone drinks the stuff but no one makes their own?  I can't believe that the ARFCOM people don't have any recipes to share!!

Take your pick

brewery.org/brewery/cm3/recs/11_toc.html

Read my advice on page 1 of this thread

Quoted: Quoted: Hmm so everyone drinks the stuff but no one makes their own?  I can't believe that the ARFCOM people don't have any recipes to share!! Take your pick brewery.org/brewery/cm3/recs/11_toc.html Read my advice on page 1 of this thread

Outstanding link AssaultRifler.  Have you tried any of those?  Any favorites?

tag tag tag

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Apple jack is cider that has been distilled.  Big difference legally, most of us can't make it at home. Not distilled, chilled.  When it's left in sub-freezing temps, some of the water freezes and is scooped out with a ladel.  Has the effect of raising the overall alcohol level. "Ice beer" is made the same way. according to the ATFE, 'freeze distillation' is also illegal.

ATF is a buch a fun spoiling pansies!

Apple Jack
Early settlers made this by setting their apple cider outside in the winter and allowing it to become slushy. They would then skim the frozen water off of the surface, leaving a "hardened" cider behind. Commercially, it is now distilled. This is illegal for the home brewer, but the freezing method is effective.

First, make Apple Cider (recipe above). Skip the final step, and allow it to age the three months in the secondary fermentor.

Second, siphon it back into the primary fermentor. If you have a deep freeze, put the primary fermentor in it overnight. If not, use ice cream buckets and the fridge freezer. Remember to leave room for the water to expand when it freezes.

The alcohol will not freeze, so it is forced into the center of the container when the cider is frozen. The brewer then has the option of either skimming the ice off of the surface, or siphoning the alcohol out of the center. The siphoning method will result in a higher alcohol content than the skimming method.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Apple jack is cider that has been distilled.  Big difference legally, most of us can't make it at home. Not distilled, chilled.  When it's left in sub-freezing temps, some of the water freezes and is scooped out with a ladel.  Has the effect of raising the overall alcohol level. "Ice beer" is made the same way. according to the ATFE, 'freeze distillation' is also illegal.   ATF is a buch a fun spoiling pansies!

Well, in a lot of places sticking it in your girls pooper is illegal too, but lots of people do it anyway.

What is it when you just take a jug of cider, and let it sit until it "turns"? Apparently that isn't hard cider...

Quoted: I had a great book on making homemade cider, one of the few decent books I got from one of those book of the month deals.   I'm pissed, it's gone,  had lots of great info.  I'll see if I can look it up. Some advice: don't drink the lees. Here it is: Cider: Making, Using & Enjoying Sweet & Hard Cider (Paperback) 219 Pages by Annie Proulx, Lew Nichols ISBN: 0882669699 I succesfully made a few batches following the methods shown using store bought cider. Where do you guys find Strongbow in the US?   Most american ciders are too sweet to suit my taste.  Even the 'imported' K tastes like they added sugar to suit the american palate.  Too 'appley' if that  makes any sense. I love the UK stuff:  Dry Blackthorn,  Scrumpy Jack, Diamond White, Strongbow ... ETA:  Beware.  I think cider is what fuels all the brit soccer hooligans.  Everytime I've gotten in a good barfight overseas thats what I was drinking.

Scrumpy will about rot your socks off.  

Blackthorn and Strongbow are great.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Hmm so everyone drinks the stuff but no one makes their own?  I can't believe that the ARFCOM people don't have any recipes to share!! Take your pick brewery.org/brewery/cm3/recs/11_toc.html Read my advice on page 1 of this thread Outstanding link AssaultRifler.  Have you tried any of those?  Any favorites?

This one came closest:
brewery.org/brewery/cm3/recs/11_05.html

I think the recipe I made was:

3 gallons of pasteruized apple juice/cider
2 lbs of dried malt extract (DME), light
Wyeast liquid ale yeast

Tools:

- cheap 16 qt stock pot from Walmart (I have 2 so it's easier for me)
- home brew starter kit (7 gallon food grade bucket, air lock, bottle capper, bottle caps, bottle filler, bottle brush, etc)
- beer brite sanitizer or you can use bleach

Roughly:

1) smack the Wyeast pack 1-2 days before brewing
2) boil the apple juice/cider for 30 minutes in the 16 qt stock pot, put in sink of water to cool to room
temp
3) at same time if you have another 16 qt stock pot, boil the 2 gallons of water and 2 lbs of DME for 30 minutes or reused the stock pot from 2) above, then put in sink of cold water to cool
4) either sequentially if you have 2 stock pots, or one at a time, put the cooled cider then the cooled DME in the sanitized 7 gallon bucket, make sure you splash it a lot when pouring to aerate it.  Can also stir vigourously with a long plastic spoon.
5) pour the yeast into the gop, shake the bucket or stir vigorously again with a sanitized spoon
6) fill a sanitized airlock with water or vodka
7) put in a cool preferably dark place to ferment for 1-2 weeks

after 1-2 weeks
1) sanitized 50 beer bottles, you can soak the labels off in the kitchen sink with ammonia water
2) sanitize a length of vinyl tubing and a bottle filler and 50-55 bottle caps
3) open the spigot on the brew bucket after attacing tubing to it and attaching bottle filler to the other end
4) put bucket on kitchen counter top, bottles on the floor
5) fill the bottles and cap them or fill a few, then cap them, then fill a few, till you're out of cider

That'll give you flat cider.  If you want sparkling or carbonated cider, boil about 3/4 cup of corn sugar  in 2-3 cups of water, pour into the bucket of cider and stir before filling up your bottles.

In my case, a coworker wanted to make some cider and never brewed before, I brewed beer before, never cider, he didn't have any equipment or anything, so the deal was he buy all the ingredients, use my equipment, bottle it and I got about 6 bottles of cider back for my help.

I brew all grain 10 gallon batches of beer as my hobby

Here's a batch from a year or the year before that: