Homebrewing Thread for KCW

[Bob C]

I've brewed hard cider in my beer fermenter.

The hard part is finding cider that has not been pasteurized. You pretty much have to have a relationship with someone who has a cider press to get it, because they can't sell it, by law.

After that, it's just a matter of fermenting it. An old farmer, famous for his hard cider, told me he mixes a pound of sugar - white or brown, depending what flavor he's after - with each gallon of cider. You can also add things like cinnamon sticks or raisins at your own discretion.

I ferment it until it stops bubbling, then bottle it. It's not bad.

Another great thing to do with hard cider is make applejack. Wait for a VERY cold day, below zero fahrenheit, and freeze a quantity of your hard cider in a plastic soda bottle. The alcohol will all go to the middle. Tap the middle and drain out the liquor. It's tasty and VERY potent.

[Andrew Breecher]

Many farm stands also sell unpasturized cider.

My dry cider is five gallons of cider mixed with a pound of buckwheat honey and a pound of brown sugar. Fermented for two weeks, racked to secondary for a week, and bottle conditioned with champagne yeast for two weeks. Beautifully clear golden colour, dry to the palate, with a hint of buckwheat in the finish. Incredibly easy to make, it just takes some time and spare carboy.

If you wanted a sweeter cider you could mix in some lactose, which is an unfermentable sugar.

Andrew.

[Bob C]

Many farm stands also sell unpasturized cider.

Not in New York, they don't. It's good fortune for you that the health laws in Mass. are not as strict.

[Avonlea22]

So it HAS to be unpasteurized, eh?

I doubt I'll find any of that.

[Andrew Breecher]

It doesn't HAVE to be unpasturized. The sugars are still there. It'll just taste better without having been boiled first.

You can still brew cider from unpasturized apple cider.

Andrew.