EPT![[image loading]](http://nozama.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/09/24/hard_cider.jpg)
So... since alcohol in canada is so damn expensive... yet so damn delicious... over the years, I've been forced to find cheap ways of making my own alcohol.
In high school, my mom bought me a whole bunch of second hand brewing equipment from a cool old guy who explained what the hell it was all about.
I've tried the wine... and while it's drinkable... it's pretty bad. When I can get a good bottle of wine for 7 bucks, all the effort that goes into making a much inferior product is well... disappointing.
I'm sure lots of people will respond that you can make your own wine that tastes great... and I'm sure you can... but it takes practise and if you're making wine... practise can take years and well... I'm just not stable enough to have that luxury yet.
Beer is hit and miss... I've made two batches... One was two fizzy but tasted ok... the second was perfect fizz but a weird aftertaste. Again... delicious beer can be had for fairly low cost as well... as long as you're not drinking it with much gusto.
So next I tried hard cider... and I friggin hit the jackpot. It's very simple to make... doesn't require alot of time or equipment and can be drank fairly soon after setting it down. Most of all... it costs about a dollar a liter so it can be drunk in vast quantities for very little. You can dick around with the alcohol content, but the batch I'm making is about 10%. So this is a guide for the average student or otherly situationed person to brew your own hard cider.
You will need:
- 28 Liters of Apple Cider
- 1 packet of dry champagne yeast
- 1 large 30 liter pail with a tight fitting lid
- 1 23 liter or larger carboy
- Brown sugar... a pound or so
- Long spoon
- Sterilizing spray or chlorine bleach.
- Long flexible tube for siphoning
- 1 airlock with cork
- Hydrometer (optional)
Step 1: The Cider
![[image loading]](http://www.beiersdorferorchard.com/images/cider.JPG)
- Fresh as you can find
- Non-filtered
- Pasteurized, NO PRESERVATIVES!!!
- Cheap... hopefully
I've used both the President's choice and the high end glass bottle stuff with very little difference in taste.
Buy about 28 liters of it... you might not use it all... but better safe than sorry and besides it tastes great by itself
Step 2: Yeast it up
Find a local brewing supply store and buy one packet of Dry Champagne Yeast
I use this stuff:
![[image loading]](http://www.williamsbrewing.com/images/Product_Images/Y03.JPG)
To start the yeast, you need to mix it with a small cup of warm(not hot) water with a spoonful of sugar in there... it should foam and bounce around after about 5 minutes... this is what you want. Now set this aside
Step 3: (or maybe do it earlier... depending on what's going on) Sterlizing the crap out of everything.
Make a chlorine bleach wash... I use a pink chlorine powder with instructions on the pack... you can also browse around the brewing supply to see if they have a no-rinse sterlizing solution.
Wash carefully and thoroughly all of the equipment you plan on using... the most common problem is bacteria getting in your brew and causing havoc.
Step 4: Mix it baby
![[image loading]](http://www.rehrigpacific.com/images/catalog/Pail_2L_OPT.jpg)
In your sterile 30 liter pail, mix 24 liters of the cider with our pound or so of brown sugar... the sugar just ups the alcohol content a little, so you don't end up with a lame brew. After the sugar is dissolved, add in the yeast starter, water and all.
Step 5: Wait er out...
Attach the airlock and fill it with a bit of water, so that the CO2 can escape but no air is let in... you might need to cut a hole the size of your cork in the top of the pail to do so. It should fit in pretty securely. Now set it aside for two weeks.Make sure you set it aside in an area that darkish and warmish... these measurements are all within reason. The temperature shouldn't be crazy hot, since it will ferment too fast and affect the taste, but if its too cold, then it will not ferment at all... or at least do it very slowly. I started my latest batch in May and it took three weeks to ferment since it's quite cold up here, espeically in the basement where I keep it.
Step 6: Secondary fermentation
To ensure fermentation has occurred you should use a hydrometer and measure before and after densities... but if you don't have... and don't want to buy one... you can usually tell simply by the smell. Fermented cider will have a distinct yeasty smell... and leaving it for a little bit extra doesn't hurt anything if you're unsure if it's completely done.
Once you're done fermentation, siphon the cider into your ready (and sterile) carboy. To do this, lift the pail very carefully(so as to not disturb the sediment) to a table or chair and position the carboy on the floor. Then put one end of the sterile hose into the fermented cider and get ready to put the other end into the waiting carboy. Suck the cider into the tube to start the flow then quickly put it into the carboy and let gravity do the rest. As you're waiting, keep a careful watch that you're not sucking up the sediment and when it gets near the bottom and you see it start going into the hose, reposition the hose or... if you're happy with the quantity then just stop siphoning.
![[image loading]](http://www.naturalandsustainable.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/hard-cider.jpg)
Step 7: Wait wait wait...
Attach an airlock to the carboy and let it sit in a dark coolish place for a couple months.
Step 8: Enjoy...
Once it has sat for a couple months, you will see additional settling of sediment... siphon it off into whatever containers you are planning on drinking it in. I use glass gallon jugs but you can use whatever you wish. Seal them up and store them for whenever you want to enjoy. You might want to dilute the hard cider with the additional 4L of normal cider that you bought(this is what I do)... it adds a bit of sweetness and since I bottle in glass bottles, it will invigorate the remaining yeast and ferment a little more, adding some minor fizziness to the cider that makes it all the more pleasant to drink.
Drink up!
