A Small Disclaimer. I am a mostly self-taught homebrewer. Please take my advice with a little bit of caution.
There is a first time for everything, so they say, so after brewing many batches of beer and wine, I thought I might delve into the cider business. I would adhere to my non-scientific-ish, follow the procedures and keep it clean, methodology, and I in the end I should end up with a drinkable, perhaps even sharable, product. So, I got the opportunity for cider brewing when a co-worker's daughter was selling fresh pressed apple cider, Fuji apples in this case, for a church fundraiser. (Step 1). Hey, Jesus's first miracle was turning water into wine (John2:1-11)! Good enough for me. Five bucks a gallon, and no wort to make, no grapes to pick, crush, and press. This is a no-brainer. "For a good cause", I say! So, I bought 5 gallons. A note on cider. Don't use stuff containing preservatives, due to the potential retardation of the yeast, so I have read.
Step 2. Pour cider contents into a clean, sterilized 6-6.5 gallon carboy. You need some room for "burpage", the non-scientific term for foamy fireworks, so choose a fermentation vessel with some head space so you don't blow the airlock and any contents out. Done that. This is important. Find a spot where you can leave it alone, out of drafts, out of the sun, and away from your partner's purview. Not shown is a preliminary hydrometer reading that shows the potential alcohol of the cider. I just put the sterilized hydrometer into the top of the gallon jug. It registered 1.065 specific gravity, or a potential alcohol content of 8.5%. Hmmmmm.
Now the fun part. I was able to find a yeast specifically developed to make hard ciders at Ice Harbor Brewery and brewery supply shoppe in Kennewick, WA. In this case I bought one packet of SafCider yeast, a product of France. I didn't know that there was such a thing (cider yeast), as I was intending on purchasing a beer or wine yeast, so I am feeling better about things already. Pitch that sucker! Give it swirl. The foam you see in this picture was from the cider being poured into the carboy, but as you will see later, it mimics peak fermentation in action. I'm thinking though, as in beer making, that a higher oxygen content on the onset will be a good thing for the yeast, as it is aerobic to begin with, and then anaerobic in later stages of fermentation.
So now I install the airlock. The purpose of the airlock is to vent the carbon dioxide that the fermentation produces, and prevent oxygen from entering the container. I have pre-filled it with the all-purpose sanitizer solution to keep the air out, and to prevent mold. I've always used Iodophor Sanitizer to sterilize my brewing equipment, as that was what they used at the beer making class I took in 2006, at yes, Ice Harbor Brewery. Not shown is an old long sleeved work shirt that I wrap around the carboy after installing the airlock (leaving the airlock exposed). I'm not really sure if it is necessary to cover the carboy, but it makes me feel better.
A miracle indeed. Happy little yeasties, feasting on the sweet apple nectar, creating alcohol, and carbon dioxide, the latter of which escapes through the airlock. The alcohol stays put. Sure. These photos were taken over a span of eight days. Patience is a virtue when you are brewing. After this fermentation (primary), I will leave it alone for awhile (while it undergoes and completes it's secondary fermentation. This is a mysterious process to me, and as with beer, it doesn't seem to be doing much, but it does tend to clarify itself during this time, as the solids in suspension settle out. I'm not sure what the ideal time for this is, as I let is sit for another six weeks (total before bottling). Part of this lag is just me getting around to do the next step.
Which is....Step 3 or so...Spicing it! It is fall after all. So, I've decided to lob twelve whole cloves and two whole cinnamon sticks into it. I did this about four weeks before I bottled. This was part of the secondary fermentation period of six weeks, as mentioned above. Time will tell if this amount of spice will have enough or too much of an effect on the flavor. This is my first time making cider, so time will tell. Brewing is always an experiment with me. Notice how the cider has continually changed its color. On that note, making beer, wine, and cider have more similarities than differences: Keep everything clean. Obtain sweet liquid. Add yeast. Ferment. Wait. Rack (filter by siphoning the liquid off the spent yeast and other solids on the bottom). Bottle. Wait. Drink.
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Step 4, bottling. To break things up, I sanitized the bottles two nights before I bottled. (Taco Tuesday at the Sports Page Bar and Grill, ya know). There is only so much time and energy, especially after work to do jobs like this. I cover them in plastic wrap, because as you know by now, It makes me feel better. A note about bottles. If you brew, buy non-screwcap bottles. Save the boxes. Soak in warm soapy water. Use a putty knife and metal scrubbie to remove labels and glue. Same goes for wine bottles.
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Bottling day has arrived! Only 5 gallons, so the aforementioned intersection of time AND energy has arrived. As you can see, I am adding some sort of adjunct to the cider! Egad man, what are you up to? Well, as with beer making, after fermentation is complete, the beer, or cider in this case, is flat. Now who can drink a flat beer? Flat cider, in my opinion (whose else you may say?) is about as bad. Sooooooo, lurking in the flat beer or cider is (hopefully!!) some latent yeast with a little vigor left. In effect, by adding 100%, 68 brix (sweet!) tart cherry syrup, Taste-A-Treat brand from Basin City, WA, (I get mine from Highland Health Foods). I am giving the remaining yeast something to eat. So, I'm kind of winging it at this point so I add a little over one and a quarter cups of the stuff. This is the same amount as I would add if I was priming a five gallon batch of beer, with dry malt extract (DME). Make sure to dump any sanitizer left in the bottles into a suitable receptacle (mixing bowel, e.g.) before filling with the bottling wand. I forgot to add a picture of Lynn adding the bottle caps, so I staged one. On an equipment note, don't chintz out. Get good stuff, it is much easier to use, and it will save you many unnecessary headaches. A good capper. A good corker. A bottle washer. An auto-siphon, etc...……. A small sample was promising! Stay tuned for an update, somewhere around Christmas we will open one up and see if the priming worked, and if it has some fizz. Filtration note: I did not rack the cider until just before I added the tart cherry syrup. I always rack beer at least once or twice before bottling.
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Cider update. Two weeks in the bottle, so it is time to try it out. Removing the cap produced a small audible hiss, but the cider is not very carbonated. Hopefully this will improve in another couple of weeks. The flavor is okay, there is a hint of cinnamon, and perhaps clove, but not all that pronounced. I'm sure if it fully carbonates, it will be a much better product. Stay tuned.
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January 26th. About a month and a half in the bottle. Popped a couple open. There is a light carbonation, about the right amount. A little more wouldn't hurt. Some color and a little cherry flavor from the syrup. The spice notes are subtle, next time I will double the quantity of the cloves and cinnamon. I would say for my first effort that it is a Success! Next year I will try to find a way to back sweeten it a little bit, as this version is quite dry. Good though. Cheers and good luck!
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Make sure to keep your brewing journal up to date.
So, got one out of the cellar, December 2020, for the 2019 vintage. Really good! Pretty decent carbonation (hard to attain in a cider without forced carbonation in my limited experience), good fizz on opening. Dry. Crisp. Some cherry and spice notes. Will try to make a bit sweeter with the 2020, (doubled the spices too) perhaps with some Stevia. Stay tuned to that blog.
Three left, now two. A year later. Clear and crisp, with notes of the cherry. Pretty good.
March 2021. One of the last two bottles is fully carbonated. Success! Patience might be the virtue with cider making.