Fall means Hard Cider

Looks great, Pen. I'm way jealous at that beautiful dark cider. Apple cider is scarce and costly in Wisconsin this year, due to a late freeze wiping out much of the apple crop. I was so desperate that I bought a $6 gallon at Costco. I planted three apple trees this spring at our new property, but it will be years before I'll see my own cider.

We love making hard cider over here, but this year had been a poor year for apples. We got a cold snap in Spring during the blossom, it was too cold for the bees to get out and do their stuff.

Makes you realise how important bees are for a lot of foods and drinks........

I enjoyed mine very much last year, and was able to give a bunch for the holidays. This year I started graduate school and all fun stuff is on hold Enjoy!

Know I know what kind of sauce brings out the the Cows, Sasquashes and Baboons !

Looks good.nice work pen.

what sort of temperature do you let that ferment at?

I have thought about this. I read somewhere about back-sweetening until you get the taste you want, bottling and letting it sit for a day or two, then checking carbonation levels. After you have the carbonation you desire, the bottles are then warm pasteurized to stop bottle conditioning and avoid bottle bombs. I remember reading about this, but I don't remember where. It would also allow a sweeter finished product. I don't know how much I would like a dry, sparkling cider.

Just bottling it is a crap shoot. You don't know what fermentables are left, and you may end up with stuff that is way over- or under-carbed, if nothing blows up.

which is better Woodchuck or Hornesby?

Angry Orchard

I don't believe you. Send me some so that I can see for myself.

I have an angry orchard hat. Mmmm, good stuff.

Ferment at 70 just like non-lager, beer.

I use nottingham ale yeast. I dno't like wine and want the cider to burp like a beer.

To avoid the bottle bombs, you let the cider ferment until dry and then add a non-fermentable sweetener plus the appropriate amount of corn sugar to get carbonation. I use Xylitol.

Follow these directions.

http://makinghardcider.com/

I have a half gallon of cider in the fridge that cost 7 dollars ! I guess i am gonna be a lightweight and drink it non alcoholic

Pete

Great post. Takes me back to my cider making days in college at an orchard near Shippensburg, PA. Chipped, pressed and delivered a few thousand gallons before the pasteuriztion rules changed.

Fermented some with spectacular results in first batch, but crappy wild takeovers in 2 others. Think I remember using campden tablets, and champagne yeast maybe. Got a well-producing summer rambo / Gdelicious / Gsmith tree. Gotta get me a fruit press.

I didn't particularly like Hornesby . . . I found it a bit dry and bitter vs. Woodchuck (regular stuff) which is more sweet. I haven't had an Angry Orchard yet.

Several have asked - no added temp. necessary to get cider going - just like wine. I put crushed up campden tablets in mine for 24 hours prior to adding additional fermentables and yeast. If you search my posts you'll find some recipes I have used in the past. I have one batch going now with a dumpload of brown sugar and honey - using a Champagne yeast. Will keep one warm in the winter ...

begreen - please report out on the batch with raspberries - sounds very tasty.

Last year we had a neighbor who let us gather as many pears from his two full-size pear trees as we wanted - my family gathered well over 100 pounds (ate fresh, made freezer jam, all sorts of pear muffins/cakes, etc.). A coworker also gathered in excess of 100 pounds and made Perry - it was awesome. So, all of you folks reading this thread might consider trying Perry as well. Same idea as cider, just use pressed pear juice.

I've also read about "Peachy" - again, same concept but from pressed peach juice - anybody try this?

There is a commercial hard pear juice beverage available in my area. I think it is "Spire" brand and is very tasty and crisp. Pear juice is a great base.