Hard Apple Cider

Just in time for a warm & fuzzy holiday season!

https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/hard-apple-cider • Posted by salvadorian

Making your own delicous hard apple cider is extremely cheap and easy. All that you need is the ability to boil water, sanitize equipment, and wait three weeks! So grab your gear and be prepared to cozy up with your sweety and drink your own homemade, organic apple cider... brewed with love!

You will need

1 gal Organic Apple Organic Apple Cider Or Or 1 gal Apple Juice (Preservative Free) 2 cup Granulated Sugar 2 cup Water 1 Balloon 1 Yeast

Project Budget

Time

Difficulty

Description

Making your own delicous hard apple cider is extremely cheap and easy. All that you need is the ability to boil water, sanitize equipment, and wait three weeks! So grab your gear and be prepared to cozy up with your sweety and drink your own homemade, organic apple cider... brewed with love!

Instructions

1. Find some organic apple cider at a local orchard - this is the perfect time of year to do so - or preservative-free apple juice from the store. Place in a large pot and boil for ten minutes to kill any wild yeast or bacteria that may live in the juice still.

2. Add 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water. Allow to dissolve and then set aside mixture to cool.

3. Activate dry yeast (NOT "bread baking yeast" or "brewers yeast") in two tablespoons of sugar and warm, not hot water.

4. Sanitize your brewing jug of choice and a siphon with hot diluted bleach water. Keep sanitation in mind - from the moment the the apple cider begins to cool, everything that touches it MUST be sanitized.

5. Put the yeast in the jug, and once the cider is cooled (but it can still be warm), place it in the jug as well. Make sure that there is a couple of inches of free space at the top of the jug. Seal the jug with a rubber balloon with a pin-prick hole in it stretched over the top of the jug. It must have a hole through which gases can escape, but that is not large enough to allow bacteria in.

6. Allow to ferment in a warm, dark place (such as a closet). After about 24 hours, gases will begin to be released, which you can often hear or smell (it smells like apples). After about three weeks, the cider has hardened. Congrats! It is now about 7% alcohol and still delicious! Drink right away or boil briskly and bottle. Enjoy!