 Making Hard Apple Cider
By Pete Ricks
Notice we said "making" Hard Apple Cider because there was really no brewing required for this batch of brew. Hey, the bottle said the juice was pasteurized and I believed them, especially since it was another sizzling hot Arizona afternoon with temperatures up around 110. I did debate it for few minutes though. Should I trust the label that states the juice is pasteurized or get out my brewing equipment and pasteurize the juice again on my back patio in the blazing Arizona summer sun? Of course, I chose the path of less resistance and I'm glad I di
d as I discovered in some later reading that you are not supposed to heat up the
apple juice when you are making cider. Always trust the first impression!
 Ah, now this is brewing! Open up a carboy and pour that juice right on in there. As you can see from the picture, I had a few billion cells of English Cider yeast just waiting for another meal after I racked a cyser into a keg. I went down to my favorite local juice supplier, Trader Joe's, and picked up 5 gallons of the Gravenstine Apple Juice that had helped make that tasty cyser. Before I poured in the apple juice, I made an effort to drain off the prior apple dregs from the cyser batch. If you don't have a carboy with a few billion hungry yeast cells laying around on the bottom, just pick up a vial of cider yeast at your local homebrew shop.
 As previously mentioned, I threw the apple juice on top of the yeast right out of the bottle so I was curious, and a little concerned, that I might have some uninvited guests during the festivious apple juice/yeast congregation. The fermenation lasted about a week and was fairly normal looking. I gave it the sniff test after a week or so and it didn't smeall bad, so I had some hope for this batch. I added some pectic enzyme after racking into a secondary to clear up the pectic haze and then threw the carboy into the cooler for some chilling. After a week or so of 30 degree temps in the cooler, I racked the alcoholic apple concoction into a 5 gallon corny keg and took a taste test, as well as a hydrometer reading. My first impression of my first cider was that it was a little dry and tart for my liking, but I guess that is kind of what Cider is supposed to taste like. The hydrometer reading confirmed this with a reading of .997. I like a little more sweetness than that in my beverages so I will experiment with adding some unfermented apple juice back in the keg to sweeten up and balance out this batch a little more to my liking.
So there you have it. A short article for a short brew. No pictures yet as the Cider is aging away in the cooler. How long are you suppose to age this stuff anyways? Until next time. Prost!
|
 |
