Hard Cider
A good friend of mine is getting married this summer and when asked if he wanted any home brew for his wedding, he said he wasn’t a big beer fan but if I could produce Hard Cider he would “love me forever”.
I decided to take on this task and it appears, on the surface anyway, to be rather simple. Obviously, this time of year, in my climate, fresh Cider is next to impossible to find in the store. My choices were to either 1. use bottled Cider or 2. fresh press some myself. Given the asinine cost of pressing my own, that option was right out. I bought 5 gallons of Cider from the store. Took a little work to find some Cider that was Pasteurized but didn’t have any preservatives in it. I’m sure some really fresh stuff in the fall would be ideal but I’ll make due with this test batch. I ordered a tube of White Labs English Cider Yeast from Midwest Supplies. Craig and JB (college buddies and purveyors of Nice ‘n Sleazy Home Brewing) came over and we sanitized the fermenter and dumped in the 5 gallons of Cider and pitched in the tube of yeast. It was bubbling in less than 24 hours. (White Labs is right. This yeast produces are really foul sulfur smell. Its supposed to subside after two weeks.) If this turns out, this is a crazy easy way to use my Home Brewing gear that sits idle when I’m not brewing to make a tasty beverage. I’m going to treat it just like a fresh batch of Wort at this point. 5 days in the primary bucket and then two weeks in a Carboy. I’ve read a number of recipes that say Brown Sugar is the best option for priming Cider so I’m going to do that. I’ll post an update when its further along the path drinkability.
