Ok. Hard Cider is my drink of
choice when I have my druthers. Problem is, it's not cheap.
My other half, Dan, has started a
while ago brewing some beer and some mead. So, I decided to start trying to
brew my own hard cider. We tried 3 gallons worth last summer with some ciders
we had gotten from the Canfield Fair. It turned out like Cider. Not as good as
Woodchuck or Strongbow, but not vinegar. HUZZAH! And a gallon of hard cider
cost about $6 in used supplies. Well worth the $$.
Then I tried again about a month
and a half ago. This time the yeast didn’t activate or something. No bubbles,
no alcohol.
So today is third time's a charm!
All my Sciencyness says I need to
be keeping a lab notebook of my cidering pursuits so I can repeat (or not repeat)
previous batches. So, this is that!
This is the first entry, therefore,
all of the steps need to be very detailed. Next time I’ll just reference this
post and only posts recipes/observations.
First brew:
Short mead from ambrosiafarm.com
Raspberry Lemon flavor. Comes with the flavorings and the yeast. Just add water
and honey!
1 Gallon brew
Steps:
1. Sterilize EVERYTHING!
Splash of bleach in water works fine. Be sure to rinse 3 times to make sure you
don't brew bleach mead.
2. I used spring water from the
store. Our tap water has a funny taste. Measure out 4 cups from a gallon and
use for something else.
3. Measure 3 cups from the
remaining gallon and add to a > 2 qt pan.
4. Sprinkle the flavoring bits from
the kit into the pan. NOT THE YEAST!
5. Bring to a simmer, put the lid
on, and simmer 5 minutes.
6. Remove from heat, keep lid on,
let cool to "hot shower" temperature.
7. Meanwhile, heat a pot of water
to warm and add your container of honey (still in the container) to the water
bath to make the honey easier to pour. You'll need 2 pounds (about 3 cups)
honey. I used the cheap stuff from Costco.
8. Once the honey is pourable, add
the honey to the remaining honey from the original gallon. I brew in glass
jugs. Either find a brew shop, or start buying wine in the gallon variety. You now
have 9 cups of water and 2 pounds of honey in your jug. Put the cap on shake to
mix the honey and the water.
9. Once the flavor mix is cooled to
"hot shower" temperature, pour all the liquid and flavor chunks into
the jug. You will have extra room. DON'T TOP OFF with more water. Your mead
needs room to breathe.
10. Once your new mix is at
"baby bath" temperature, sprinkle the yeast pack onto the mix. I
decided mine hit this temp once I added the flavor mix to the room temp water
and honey. DON'T SHAKE AFTER YOU ADD THE YEAST. They yeast will get angry, and
no one likes angry yeast.
11. The kit comes with a piece of
muslin and a rubber band to cover your lid. I have an air lock. Use whatever
you want. Put your mead out of the way and don't touch. We have a
half-stairwell in our apartment which is the perfect spot. The kit suggests
70F-90F. The closer to 70F, the slower the fermenting will occur and the better
the mead will be.
Observations:
Mix is raspberry red. Small bubbles
on the top of the mix. Bubbles ~1/minute
I'll check it next week :-)
Total cost:
Kit $9
Water $0.80
Honey ~$4
Total $13.80
Brew 2
Hard apple Cider
Ingredients:
1 Gallon of apple cider. I bought
mine from Soergel Orchard http://www.soergels.com/ I'd go with some local kind
rather than the very processed stuff from the supermarket. The supermarket
stuff has all sorts of additives and preservatives. Don't know what it would do
to hard cider. Don't care to find out. The stuff from the local farm tastes
better anyway. Start with cider that tastes good means a better chance you'll
like it in the long run.
1 packet champagne yeast: 5grams. I
used Red Star Pasteur Champagne yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 Honey crisp apple, peeled, cored,
sliced, frozen. Freezing forms ice crystals which breaks the cell walls that
hold the apply flavor I'm hunting for.
Other Equipment:
2 half gallon jugs
6 quart pot
Measuring cup
Thermometer
2 rubber stoppers for the jugs. You
can find these where you find the rest of your brewing stuff
Blow off tubes: plastic hose and ~
1 qt Tupperware container with lid and holes cut out for the hoses
OR 2 airlocks
2 ~1 pint Tupperware containers
Plastic wrap
Steps:
1. Sterilize all your
equipment. EVERYTHING YOUR BREW WILL CONTACT! When you ferment, the yeast multiplies
with whatever is in there. If you have bacteria in your brew, the yeast will
help multiply it. So, unless you want your brew to taste like a sock, make sure
it's all clean, and completely rinsed.
2. Measure out 1 cup of apple cider
into each of the pint Tupperware containers. Add 1 T sugar to each. I cover my
containers with plastic wrap to keep stuff from falling in. Microwave 1
minute-2 minutes. Your goal is to dissolve the sugar and heat the cider to the
temperature on the yeast packet. Mine was 38-41C. Make sure to stir the cider
before measuring the temperature to make sure the reading is accurate. If it’s
too warm, just let it cool down. If not warm enough, nuke more! You have to hit
the sweet spot for your yeast to activate it. The sugar is for the yeast to
eat. Happy yeast=happy cider.
3. Once you hit that sweet spot,
sprinkle half of the yeast packet into each of the containers. DON'T STIR. Just
let do whatever it will do. Re-cover with the plastic wrap. It doesn't need to
be tight. It’s just to keep anything from falling in. You'll need to let it sit
for about 20 minutes. You should see bubbles forming on the cider. If you've
ever made bread, it's the same processes. You are proofing the yeast. It should
smell like baking bread a little too. You should have a good head of bubbles
after 20 minutes. If you don't, there are a couple of things that might be the
problem. You could have had the wrong temperature of cider and the yeast either
died or wasn't activated. It could also just be bad yeast. Whatever it is,
you'll need to pour the starters out and try again with new yeast.
4. Your cider also needs to be room
temperature. If you think far enough ahead, just let it sit out on the counter.
If not, that's OK too. Make a water bath with the 6 qt pot and some tap water.
Place the gallon jug in the water and heat on LOW. Your goal is ~70F.
5. I'm experimenting. My variable
is the apple. So, I added all the frozen apple pieces to one of the jugs, and
added less than half of the remaining cider from the room temp. Remember you
are going to add the yeast starters and still want room for breathing. Add, to
the same total level, cider to the other jug. You might need to let the
apple/cider mixture warm to room temp because of the frozen apple. You can also
use the water bath you used for the cider.
6. Carefully pour your happy yeast
starters into each of the jugs. DON'T STIR. Make sure to get all of the yeasty
bits from the containers into the jug.
7. I’m using blow off tubes. The first
time I made cider, all 3 gallons bubbled over through the little airlocks. Blow
off tubes allow for more air to escape. Use what you have.
8. Move your jugs to a good brewing
nook. Not too warm, not too cold, no extreme temperature changes. I’m using the
half-staircase in our apartment. It’s about 68F.
Observations: small amount of
bubbles on the surface. Bubbles from the blow-off tubes ~1/5 minutes
Now it’s just waiting. For all the
brews, you should start seeing air escaping the airlocks/blow off tubes that
day. I am.
Total ingredient cost: $6.50
Cider $5
Yeast $1.50
Sugar: pennies
