HOW TO MAKE HARD CIDER

The secret to making sweet or hard cider is the blending of apples at pressing time. A balanced blend of sweet and tart apples is needed. Hard or sweet, it's another great activity to enjoy at home. Unfortunately for the home cider and apple wine maker, the addition of stabilizers to fresh pressed apple cider is becoming common. This is being done to extend the products shelf life. Cider which has been treated in this way will spoil before it ferments..

Mayers Apple cider mill usually guard their secret recipes well. Basically you what a blend of at least two apples mixed by weight at a ratio of 2:1. For sweet cider use 2 parts sweet verity and one part tart. Reversing the mixture will make a dryer cider. While the ratio remains the same, you can add more complexity and character by using more verities of apples.

Making hard cider is very much like making wine. Fresh pressed apple cider is fermented without the addition of any sugars. The starting gravity should be between 1.040 and 1.050. This will produce a dry cider with about 4.5% - 5% abv. The key to success is using fresh pressed cider that has not been treated in any way.

Cider purchased at the super market will almost always contain preservatives and will rot before it will ferment. State and local laws require producers to treat apples with anti bacterial sprays prior to pressing and many require that stabilizers be added prior to sale. You must ask your supplier for wine or hard cider grade juice. Arrange to pick up your cider the day you will start to make it. The fresher the better!

Got Juice? Here's What Else You Need

Equipment

primary fermenter
glass carboy
airlock & stopper
hydrometer
siphon
sanitizing chemicals
bottles, caps & capper

Ingredients

fresh pressed cider
campden tablets
citric acid
pectic enzyme
yeast nutrient
wine or brewers yeast
isinglass optional

Here's What You Do

Crush up one campden tablet per gallon of cider to suppress any bacteria or wild yeast.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of pectic enzyme per gallon to prevent pectin haze in the finished cider.
Add 1/4 teaspoon of yeast nutrient per gallon to provide for complete fermentation.
Use a hydrometer to record the starting gravity of the must.
Cover and let the juice rest for 24 hours stirring once or twice during that time.
Open the primary fermenter and sprinkle in one packet of wine or brewer's yeast. Let the yeast re-hydrate for five minutes then stir it in for about a minute. Close the fermenter and attach an air lock which is half full of water. Ferment for 7 to 10 days at 70 degrees.
Open the fermenter and check the specific gravity with a hydrometer. It should have dropped by at least 75%. If not, close the fermenter and allow to sit for a few more days. Do not leave the cider in the primary fermenter for more than 10 days. If the specific gravity has not dropped in that time, continue to the next step any way. Place the primary fermenter on a counter or table top 24 hours prior to the next step. This will allow the sediment to settle to the bottle of the pail.
Clean and sanitize a glass secondary fermenter along with your siphon equipment. Crush up one campden table per gallon and put them into the secondary fermenter. Siphon the cider into the secondary ferment. Attach an air lock and allow to rest for 14 days at 70 degrees.
Check the cider for clarity. If it is hazy or not quite clear, you can add a fining agent such as isinglass. Add the fining agent directly to the fermenter and stir it in gently. Allow the cider to rest for another week at 60 to 65 degrees.
Clean and sanitize your primary fermenter or another glass carboy and siphon the cider into it. Sample the cider by tasting a small amount. You can adjust it at this time. If it tastes a little bland you can add 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of citric to taste. If it is lacking in apple flavor but the tartness is correct add our apple flavor enhancer. If it is too tart or sour add frozen apple juice concentrate, which contains no preservatives, to taste. Allow the cider to age for another week in a cool place.

Bottling Hard Cider

Hard cider is best bottled in standard beer bottles using regular crown caps. You can make the cider still or sparking by adding priming sugar the same way as is done with beer. Bottles and caps must be cleaned and sanitized just prior to filling. Complete details for bottling are available here.