Making hard cider

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Hi everyone,I'm going to try to make some hard cider. Got a half gallon of cider and put a little bread yeast in it, just a sprinkle. So do I screw the cap on tight or loose and how long should it take?Do I put it in the frig or leave it out in this 90 degree weather? Any other suggestions? Thanks Daryll

-- Daryll (twincrk@hotmail.com), August 09, 2001

Answers

Put it im a gallon container and put a baloon over the top. Add a few raisins for additional sugar for the yeast to eat. Next time don't add yeast. Leave out for three days and then refrigerate.

-- Peg (Ashlinep@localnet.com), August 09, 2001.

We made someby accident once when I ran out of room for the juice in the fridge at canning time. Next morn it was already bubbling! Don't put the lid on tight as the yeast working will cause gasses that need to be let off and you will have a BIG mess. I had never heard of the raisins. But the more sugar (be reasonable) the more alcohol.

-- Novina (lamb@stellarnet.com), August 10, 2001.

I've made hard cider before:

Recipe for 4 gallons 4 gallons apple cider 4 lbs brown sugar 4 cinnamon sticks 1 lb raisins 1 pkg wine yeast

pour all ingredients in a 5 gallon carboy and top with a vapor lock (or air lock, whatever they're called) to keep bacteria out.

Wait 6 weeks and siphon into a clean sanitized bucket and add 1 cup sugar or brown sugar to prime it for carbonation. Siphon into bottles and cap.

If you only want to make a gallon, I would still use the wine yeast and the vapor lock. They can be found at a beer or wine making shop for under a dollar.

If you've already started it, just leave the cap loose to let the carbon dioxide escape.

Fermenting beverages usually do best at around 65-70 degrees. Do you have a basement? If not you could put it in a shallow container of water, and wrap it with a towel with a fan blowing on it. The towel will act like a wick, sucking up water and the fan will evaporate the water from the towel, causing it to cool down.

You don't have to bottle the cider when it's done (that's my preference, though), but you may want to at least siphon it off the yeast cake that will have formed on the bottle of the container. Makes for better tasting product.

Hope that helps

-- Tonya Bednarick (tbedn@voyager.net), August 11, 2001.


oops, that should have been "bottom of container"

-- Tonya Bednarick (tbedn@voyager.net), August 12, 2001.

I make about 50 gallons a year of Apple wine. after you finish fermenting you can take a gallon and put it in the freezer for about two hours. The water freezes and you pour off the rest. it leaves you with Very hard cider.

-- Phillip (raines@rainesridgefarm.com), August 23, 2001.


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