So Lauren and I have been working on this for a while. I’ve been kind of documenting the process as we go along, but have put off blogging it for a while. Mostly because I’ve been busy, but largely because I’m kind of lazy, too.

Anyhow, we started a hard cider a while ago. Maybe 6 or 8 weeks ago? Okay, it was the last weekend in March, so almost 7 weeks. Neither of us had ever made a cider before. Brian and I have made beer more than a few times, but never cider. If I’m not mistaken, this was Lauren’s first time brewing at all.

Well, we bottled on Wednesday, and the verdict is (pretty much) in. Success! Qapla’! (yes I’m that guy)

First, the recipe.

45 minute boil.

boiled juice, at start of boil added all the sugars

ginger was added at the 30 minute mark

irish moss was added at the 15 minute mark

After it cooled, we put it in a carboy and pitched the yeast.

My initial notes after that day:

I’m really optomistic. We’re giving it at least two weeks, then re-rack, and maybe add some more apple juice or maybe some cranberry at that point (we’ll see how it tastes).

We want it pretty dry, but still some sweetness, and let me tell you, its really sweet right now. Both as in awesome and as in sugary.

the end.

BUT we did forget to measure gravity, so there’s no telling how boozy it’ll be…

We ended up re-racking after three weeks, when I wrote:

Pretty damn dry. This is dry enough that we might have to call it an Apple Wine. Although it tastes distinctly Belgian, thanks to the Trappist yeast.

We didn’t bother with more sugars (ie cranberry and such), as we thought it might not go well with the Ginger, plus we decided that it might be best to not mess with it, so that we can have fewer factors when judging it later, and make a better decision about what to change the next time we make it.

I’m hoping it clears out some more in the secondary. We’re planning on two weeks in that, and then bottle.

After about three and a half weeks in the secondary, it really did clear up some. There is a LOT less stuff floating around than there was initially, but I was surprised at how little sediment that ended up translating to at the bottom of the secondary. Its still not very transparent, but that’s okay. I’m still really glad for the irish moss and the scondary ferment.

3/4 cup corn sugar to prime, and we got 36 bottles. We lost about 1/4 gallon in the boil, and maybe about the same when syphoning out of the primary, to avoid all the sediment getting into the secondary. I do wish we had measured gravity, since we now have no idea how strong it is, but we can now say this about it:

Even without carbonation, and at room temperature, its seems less dry, has some sweetness, and is very drinkable. To me, that’s a sign that its going to turn out really well.

In about two weeks we’re going to open a bottle and see how it is. That’s a bit earlier than we would have liked, but a friend will be in town, and we want her to try it, so we’ll be having some. And our friend Hugh, who has a Gluten allergy. So cider is a must for him.

Also soon: the opening of the mead! (stay tuned)