3. Make Cider by Mixing Juice & Yeast
The most basic pieces of equipment required for making hard cider are the fermentor, an airlock, a siphoning hose and some sort of bottling solution. Of course, if you plan to press your own apples you will need a way to extract the juice such as a cider press.
Over time, it might actually cost less too. Though your first five-gallon batch of cider is going to be somewhat expensive (typically costing around $100), subsequent batches should be in the $30 range. That's cheaper than the equivalent volume of store-bought cider.
You basically just get yourself some fresh apple juice (either by mashing the apples yourself, or buying pre-squeezed juice), add some yeast (Champagne yeast is a great choice), then wait a few weeks for everything to ferment. There are a few finer points to it, but that's the overall idea.
Cultivated yeast will continue to ferment until there is no sugar left in the cider. ... If you drink the sweetened cider after one to two weeks, it should still be medium-sweet. Conversely, if you let the sweetened cider ferment for too long, it will continue until all the added sugar has been converted into alcohol.
Let the cider ferment undisturbed for at least 3 days or up to 7 days, until fermentation has slowed and the sediment created during brewing has had a chance to settle. At this point, the cider is ready to be transferred off the sediment and into a smaller 1-gallon jug for the longer secondary fermentation.
To the cider add 1lb. of sugar per gallon for a dry hard cider (not sweet) or 1 1/2 lbs. for a sweet drink. Honey can be substituted for sugar on a pound per pound basis.
Use 1 gram of yeast per gallon of juice. Use yeast nutrients to avoid Hydrogen Sulfide (rotten egg smell) production.
Allow the stabilized cider to sit for atleast 24 hours before bottling. Because still ciders will not create any additional pressure, it can be bottled in wine bottles with a cork or in capped bottles. Try to limit headspace to no more than an inch to minimize the amount of oxygen exposure in the bottle.
Cheapest Cider
| Wine Name | Region | Avg Price |
|---|---|---|
| Appleation Sweet Hard Cider, New York, USA | New York | $3 |
| Bold Rock Virginia Variety Crate Hard Cider, Virginia, USA | Virginia | $3 |
| Angry Orchard Crisp Apple Hard Cider, USA | USA | $3 |
| Speight's Cider, New Zealand | New Zealand | $3 |
No, if your yeast is making alcohol, then there's no chance that there's anything pathogenic that could make you sick. ... Well, beer and Cider have already gone bad, but in a controlled manner with Yeast.
Cider is most often compared to beer because it's slightly bubbly and contains less alcohol by volume than its fellow fruit-fermented drink, wine. This is because even the sweetest apples contain much less sugar than grapes. On average, hard cider contains 4 to 6 percent alcohol.
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