What is the trickiest part of cider-making?
What drew you to cider fermentation in the first place?
I came to the United States to sell California wine and import British ales. Before I came to Sebastopol and saw all the apple trees, I did it for a number of years. With the sun, this part of Sonoma looked like England! This part of California turned out to be the best for apple production.
I assumed there must be cideries nearby, but all they were cultivating were apples for apple juice or applesauce.
There wasn’t a drop of cider to be found! “You’re missing the boat,” I thought to myself. We hired a person to produce cider for us, and it was terrible. As a result, we gave it a go and the rest is history.
What distinguishes a great cider from the rest?
I like a sense of equilibrium. A certain sweetness, fragrance, and sharp finish are all desirable. We use a variety of apples in this recipe: Gravensteins in July, Romeos and Jonathans in the autumn, and so on.
Granny Smith apples provide astringency, while Fuji or dessert apples provide sweetness. In the fruit, we’re looking for certain sugars and acids.
Which aspect of the cider-making process is the most difficult?
The apples are the most difficult part of cider-making. You will not obtain decent cider unless you use nice fruit. We ferment as much as possible throughout the season, then store apples in the freezer and pull them out as needed. Every week, we make a fresh batch and don’t stop.
What sources do you use for fresh cider ideas?
All we do is experiment with fresh ideas. We’ve got a couple of barrels of classic British cider on the way at the moment. I also just read about someone making cider using beer yeast, which is intriguing since the yeast is often responsible for the flavor of the cider. The next step is to manufacture a single kind of cider. Orange Pippins is a possibility for us.
What can homebrewers do to make their ciders better?
Experiment with different options to find what you prefer. Homebrewers occasionally produce ciders that are excessively powerful, in my opinion. They don’t stop the fermentation because they want it to be completely dry before serving. In England, we used to call it scrumpy!
MAKES 1 GALLON OF MASTER HARD CIDER
While a crisp and sparkling apple cider produced with fresh-pressed local apples is lovely, why restrict ourselves to just one fruit? Cider is anything produced largely with fruit juice (rather than entire fruit pieces) and is often lighter in body and less alcoholic than wine in my kitchen. Fruit of any kind. Juice of any kind. All of them are worth trying.
When adding the additional components to this recipe, use your fruit juice and taste preferences as a guide. Most fruit juices include enough natural sugars to provide food for the yeast, but if you want to increase the alcohol level, you may add extra. In this situation, the sugar will not sweeten the cider; you will need to back sweeten before bottling if you want a sweet cider (see Back-Sweetening).
Fruits with minimal natural acidity should be balanced with an acid mix.
Adding tannin is similar. To begin, err on the side of caution; you can always add more of these components after the cider has been tasted before bottling.
To produce a still (nonsparkling) cider, add another Campden tablet just before bottling. Skip the second Campden and carbonate with a pinch of maize sugar during bottling to make a sparkling cider.
Last but not least, when cider is newly fermented, it has a foul fragrance that diminishes after a while in the bottle. As a result, it’s recommended to hold off on opening your cider for at least a month.
INGREDIENTS
1 gallon fruit juice (ideally unpasteurized) (100 percent juice, no additional sugar) 8 to 16 ounces white granulated sugar, honey, or other fermentable sugar (118 to 214 cups) (optional) 1–2 capsules of Campden
2 teaspoons (1 packet) dry wine or beer yeast, or 12 tube (12 tablespoons) liquid cider or beer yeast 1 tsp nutrition for yeast
12 teaspoon enzyme for pectin
1–2 tsp. acid mixture (optional) 1 tsp tannin (18–14 tsp) (optional)
Splenda or another nonfermentable sugar, 1 cup / 1 ounce (optional; see Back-Sweetening) dissolved in 12 cup boiling water and chilled 3 teaspoons / 1 ounce corn sugar (optional, for bottling)
EQUIPMENT
Stockpot
spoons and measuring cups
Knife with a long handle
Hydrometer
bucket with a lid for 2 gallons of fermentation Locked up
a canning jar with a 1-quart capacity
a jug with a capacity of one gallon
Stopper
Tip and racking cane
hose syphon
Clamping hose
Filling machine for bottles
10 (12 oz.) or 6 (22 oz.) beer bottles
caps from bottles
Capping bottle
Non-sparkling ciders may be packaged in the following way: 5 wine bottles (750 mL) with corks and a corker
1 • Clean a 2-gallon bucket, its cover, the airlock, and a stirring spoon.
2 • In a stockpot, bring the fruit juice to a simmer, remove from the heat, and mix in the sugar to dissolve. Bring to room temperature before eating.
3 • Fill the 2-gallon fermentation bucket halfway with the fruit juice. To figure out the original gravity, use a hydrometer (see the Brewer’s Handbook). 1 Campden pill, crushed, dissolved in the juice Attach the air lock after snapping on the lid. Allow the juice to be sterilized by the Campden for 24 hours. (This step may be skipped if you’re using pasteurized fruit juice.)
4 • Prepare the yeast starter after sterilizing the liquid. A measuring cup, a 1-quart canning jar, and a longhandled spoon should all be sterilized. 1 cup juice, scooped and poured into jar Cover the jar with plastic wrap that is sealed with a rubber band and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow 1 to 3 hours for the jar to settle after a brisk shaking.
Dry yeast becomes quite frothy and foamy; liquid yeast becomes less foamy, but if you look carefully enough, you may see small bubbles bursting on the liquid’s surface. The yeast starter is ready to use once it begins to show signs of activity. (For further information, see to the Brewer’s Handbook.)
5 • Add the starting, yeast nutrient, and pectic enzyme to the juice and mix well. Start with smaller quantities of acid mix and tannin; if required, add more before bottling. To disperse the yeast and aerate the juice, vigorously stir the mixture. Reattach the airlock and snap the lid on again. Within 48 hours, bubbles in the airlock should indicate active fermentation.
6 • Allow the cider to ferment for at least 3 days, and up to 7 days, until fermentation has slowed and the sediment from the brewing process has settled. The cider is now ready to be taken off the sediment and into a smaller 1-gallon jug for secondary fermentation.
7 • Clean a 1-gallon jug, as well as the stopper, racking cane, tip, siphon hose, and hose clamp. Fill the jug halfway with the cider. To drain all of the liquid, tilt the bucket toward the end. When the liquid in the hose begins to fog over with silt, comes to a halt. (For further information, see to the Brewer’s Handbook.) 8 • Insert the airlock and close the jug with its stopper. Allow another two weeks to pass in a cool, dark location.
There should be no traces of fermentation left at this time. Keep an eye on the vents: Fermentation is essentially complete after 2 minutes pass without seeing any bubbles. Whether you detect a bubble, wait a few days to see if it disappears.
9 • Taste the cider before bottling to make any necessary changes. If you want a sweeter cider, use Splenda (or another backsweetener). If it’s too sweet, add more acid mix or tannin to enhance dryness and astringency. Allow another week or two for the flavor to develop and taste the cider before bottling if tannin has been added.
10 • If you want a non-sparkling cider, crumble a second Campden tablet and add it to the jug of cider before bottling.
11 • Sanitize a stockpot, a hydrometer, ten 12-ounce beer bottles or six 22-ounce beer bottles, their caps, the siphon hose, the racking cane, its tip, a measuring cup, and the bottle filler before beginning to bottle the cider. To calculate the final gravity, syphon 12 cup of cider into a hydrometer. Once the cider has been consumed, return it to the jug.
12 • Fill bottles with non-sparkling cider, seal them, and label them. Pour the corn sugar solution into a stockpot to produce a sparkling cider. Pour the cider into the stockpot with as little splashing as possible to combine with the corn sugar solution. Fill bottles halfway with cider, close them, and label them.
13 • Keep bottles of sparkling or non-sparkling cider in a cold, dark area for at least one month and up to one year. Chilled sparkling cider is the most common method of serving it. Chilled or at room temperature, non-sparkling cider may be served.
WHEN, WHY, AND HOW TO BACK-SWEETEN
With lower-alcohol beers, you run across a problem: The yeast consumes all of the sugar in your brew, leaving it bland and unsweet. Adding additional sugar will only reactivate the yeast, leaving you with the same issue as before, but with a higher level of alcohol.
If you don’t want your drink to be carbonated, kill the yeast with a second Campden tablet before adding sugar to taste. If you want a carbonated brew, though, you may sweeten it after the fact using nonfermentable sugar.
Nonfermentable sugars aren’t liked by yeast since their chemical structures are too complicated for them to absorb. Lactose, maltodextrin, stevia, sucralose, and aspartame are the most popular sweeteners used in homebrewing. Back-sweetening using sucralose in the form of Splenda has worked best for me since it sweetens with the minimum aftertaste.
Just before bottling, add back-sweeteners to brews. With a little stirring, most of them will dissolve into the drink, but you may also dissolve them in hot water beforehand. Start with the following proportions, taste your brew, and add more as needed.
« LACTOSE: 3 ounces per gallon (34 cup). Serve with caution to those who are lactose intolerant. » MALTODEXTRIN: 14 cup / 1 ounce per gallon This powder also adds a syrupy texture to beers. » STEVIA POWDER: 12 teaspoons per gallon. » SUCRALOSE (SUCH AS SPLENDA): 14 cup / 14 ounce per gallon. » ASPARTAME (SUCH AS SWEET’N LOW OR EQUAL): 114 cup / 14 ounce per gallon.
Don’t want to use one of these alternative sweeteners as a back-sweetener? To taste, add white granulated sugar and bottle as usual, but also fill one plastic soda bottle with the brew to use as a carbonation indicator.
The brews are ready when the plastic bottle is rock rigid with very little give. To halt the carbonation, put all bottles in the refrigerator right away and enjoy them within a few weeks. Bottles that haven’t been chilled are in danger of over carbonation and cracking. To carbonate, add the bottling sugar but no other sugar or sweeteners.
Make a simple syrup by boiling equal parts water and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and is ready to serve. Pour your brew into a glass and sweeten to taste with simple syrup.
Apple Cider (Dry)
YIELDS 1 GALLON OF TARGET GRAVITY
RANGE ORIGINAL = 1.055–1.060
FINAL GRAVITY RANGE TARGET = 1.000–1.005
TARGET ABV = 7% ABV
This cider is dry in the sense that it doesn’t have a lot of sweetness to it. The apple juice’s naturally existing sugars are converted to yeast food.
We’re left with a snappy-tart hard cider with a pleasant sharpness and an astringent edge. The apples used in your cider determine the balance of these tastes, as well as any residual sweetness. If you’re going to press your own apples, obtain a variety of apple kinds (15 pounds of apples will yield 1 gallon of juice). If you’re going to purchase juice, go for one with a lot of taste complexity.
You may sweeten the cider shortly before bottling if it’s a little too dry for your tastes (see Back-Sweetening).
1 gallon apple juice, unpasteurized if possible 1 tablet of Campden
1 teaspoon nutrition for yeast
1 tsp acid mixture
a quarter teaspoon of pectic enzyme
a quarter teaspoon of tannin
12 tube (12 teaspoons) liquid cider yeast For bottling, 3 tablespoons / 1 ounce corn sugar dissolved in 12 cup boiling water and chilled Splenda or other nonfermentable sugar, 1 cup / 1 ounce (optional)
1 • Clean a 2-gallon bucket, its lid, the air lock, and a stirring spoon.
2 • Fill the 2-gallon fermentation bucket halfway with apple juice. To determine the original gravity, use a hydrometer (see Brewer’s Handbook). Mix in the crushed Campden pill with the liquid. Attach the air lock and snap on the lid. Allow 24 hours for the juice to be sterilized by the Campden. (You may omit this step if you’re using pasteurized juice.)
3 • Prepare the yeast starter once the juice has been sanitized. A measuring cup, a 1-quart canning jar, and a stirring spoon should all be sanitized. 1 cup of juice should be scooped out and poured into the canning jar. Cover the jar with a piece of plastic wrap tied with a rubber band and pour the yeast on top.
Shake the jar well and let it aside for 1 to 3 hours. It will froth up, and you will see little bubbles bursting on the liquid’s surface. The starter may be utilized after there is some evidence of activity.
4 • Combine the starter, yeast nutrition, acid mix, pectic enzyme, and tannin in the juice. To disperse the yeast and aerate the juice, briskly stir it. Reattach the airlock and snap the lid back on. Within 48 hours, you should notice vigorous fermentation, as demonstrated by bubbles in the airlock.
5 • Allow the cider to ferment for at least 3 days, but up to 7 days, until fermentation has slowed and the sediment from the brewing process has settled. The cider is now ready to be taken off of the sediment and into a smaller 1-gallon jug for secondary fermentation.
6 • Clean a 1-gallon jug, including the stopper, racking cane, tip, siphon hose, and hose clamp. Pour the whole amount of cider into the jug. To siphon all of the liquid, tilt the bucket toward the end. When the liquid in the hose becomes hazy with silt, comes to a halt.
Insert the airlock and close the jug with the stopper. Allow it to marinate for another two weeks someplace cold and dark.
7 • Sanitize a stockpot, a hydrometer, ten 12-ounce beer bottles or six 22-ounce beer bottles, their caps, the siphon hose, the racking cane, its tip, a measuring cup, and the bottle filler before attempting to bottle the cider. To calculate the ultimate gravity, syphon 12 cup of cider into the hydrometer. Once the cider has been consumed, pour it back into the jug.
8 • Fill the stockpot halfway with the corn sugar solution. Pour the cider into the stockpot with as little splashing as possible to combine with the corn sugar solution. Scoop a little amount of cider into the measuring cup and taste it.
If you want a sweeter cider, use Splenda (or another back-sweetener).
Fill the bottles with the cider, cap them, and label them.
9 • Let the bottles remain at room temperature for at least a month, out of direct sunshine, or store for up to a year. Before serving, chill the dish.
Cider with a hint of sweetness and spices, mulled
THE TARGET MAKES 1 GALLON 1.095–1.100 m/s2 ORIGINAL GRAVITY RANGE
TARGET ABV = 14 PERCENT TARGET FINAL GRAVITY RANGE = 1.005–1.000
This is an apple mead, not a cider. A cyser, in other words.
But don’t be fooled by the name; a glass of this tastes just like an autumn cider, although the most exquisite, vanilla-infused, spicebedazzled cider you’ve ever tasted. In the dead of winter, I suggest stockpiling all of your bottles for chilly evenings spent reading by the fire.
1 gallon unpasteurized apple juice 1 pound honey (113 cup)
3 cinnamon sticks, 1 vanilla bean
2 tsp garlic
anise two-star
1 orange, the zest
two tablets of Campden
12 tube liquid sweet mead yeast (11 12 tablespoons) 1 tsp nutrition for yeast
12 teaspoon enzyme for pectin
1 tsp. acid
1/8 tsp tannin
1 • Clean a 2-gallon bucket, its cover, the airlock, and a stirring spoon.
2 • Fill a 2-gallon fermentation bucket halfway with apple juice. In a microwave-safe bowl, warm the honey in 30-second increments until it is loose and liquidy. Stir a little amount of juice into the honey until it dissolves and becomes pourable, then add the rest of the honey. Stir constantly until all of the honey has dissolved. Scrape out the seeds by splitting the vanilla bean lengthwise. Along with the cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, and orange zest, add both the seeds and the bean to the liquid. To figure out the original gravity, use a hydrometer (see the Brewer’s Handbook).
3 • Crush one Campden pill and mix it in with the juice. Attach the air lock after snapping on the lid. Allow the juice to be sterilized by the Campden for 24 hours.
(You may omit the sterilization step if you’re using pasteurized juice.)
4 • Prepare the yeast starter after sterilizing the liquid. A measuring cup, a 1-quart canning jar, and a stirring spoon should all be sanitized before use. 1 cup juice, scooped and poured into jar Cover the jar with plastic wrap fastened with a rubber band and pour in the yeast. Allow 1 to 3 hours for the jar to settle after a brisk shaking. You should observe little bubbles bursting on the liquid’s surface as it becomes frothy. The starter may be utilized once you observe some signs of activity.
5 • Add the yeast nutrition, pectic enzyme, acid mixture, and tannin to the juice, along with the starting. To disperse the yeast and aerate the juice, vigorously stir the mixture. Reattach the air lock and snap the lid on again. Within 48 hours, bubbles in the air lock should indicate active fermentation.
6 • Ferment the cider for at least 3 days, up to 7 days, until the fermentation has slowed and the sediment from the brewing process has settled. The cider is now ready to be taken off the sediment and into a smaller 1-gallon jug for secondary fermentation.
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7 • Clean a 1-gallon jug, as well as the stopper, racking cane, tip, siphon hose, and hose clamp. Fill the jug halfway with cider and leave the spices alone. To drain all of the liquid, tilt the bucket toward the end. When the liquid in the siphon hose becomes hazy due to silt, come to a halt. Insert the airlock and close the jug with its stopper. Allow at least 2 weeks for it to rest in a cool, dark place.
8 • You may keep the cider for up to 6 months once it’s been fermented. It’s a good idea to siphon the cider off the sediment on the bottom of the jug every now and then during this time: Siphon the cider into a sterilized stockpot, then clean and disinfect the jug before re-siphoning the cider.
This is also an excellent time to sample the cider and check how it’s progressing. If it’s too sweet, add more acid mix or tannin to enhance dryness and astringency.
Start with a little amount of these components and modify as required after a week or two. When the cider is ready, bottle it.
9 • When you’re ready to bottle, pour the cider into a sterilized stockpot and whisk in the second Campden tablet.
Re-siphon the cider into the jug after cleaning and sanitizing it. Before bottling, allow at least 24 hours.
Sanitize a hydrometer, ten 12-ounce bottles, six 22-ounce bottles (or five 750-milliliter wine bottles), their caps (or corks), the siphon hose, the racking cane, its tip, and the bottle filler before bottling the cider.
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To calculate the final gravity, syphon 12 cup of cider into a hydrometer. Once the cider has been consumed, return it to the jug. Fill the bottles halfway with cider, then cap (or cork) and label them.
11 • Store the bottles for up to a year in a cold, dark area.
Allow to cool slightly before serving.
