The Cracked Pot

Cracked Pot Cider

Now that I’ve learned how to make mead, I’ve decided to finally try my hand at creating a quicker daily drink: hard apple cider.

Now let’s be really clear, I’m not talking about those sickening OK Springs “ciders” you get at the BCLS. I’m talking about a true English-style dry apple cider. Strongbow is the classic model you can find almost anywhere, but there are plenty of others that I think are better (see list below).

Here’s my great discovery: you can actually make dry apple cider at home very cheaply and with a minimum amount of effort. Cheers to the recession!

Take a trip to the local grocery store or better yet, a hippy store or farmer’s market. Look for a glass jug (with a handle) of natural apple cider. The key is to find one that has no preservatives (such as potassium sorbate) as it will prevent the juice from fermenting into boozy goodness. Citric acid is ok though. I would recommend trying to find one that has a blend of apples in it- ideally, a blend of sweet and tart apples to give the final drink some bite.

Note that there is a distinction between apple juice and apple cider- apple juice has been filtered to look like urine, while so-called “sweet” or “soft” apple cider is apple juice that is unfiltered and cloudy. This sediment adds a lovely apple flavour to the juice and greatly improves your final drink. I found a few different types that ranged from $6.99 to $12.99.

Next, make a trip to your local homebrew supplier. Here’s your shopping list to get started:

• bung- a rubber stopper with a small hole in the top. You’ll probably need either a #6.5 or a #8 depending on the width of the cider bottle mouth. If you’re using Santa Cruz apple cider, you’ll need a #8.
• bubbling airlock
• packet of dry Lavlin champagne yeast
• Sanitizing power (lots of different types- ask your brewmaster for a recommendation. I use diversol.)
• A siphoning hose (for later), or you can pick-up tubing from the hardware store

This should cost you no more than $10 with the siphoning hose, and you can reuse this equipment over and over.

Method:

When you get home, hydrate the yeast according to packet instructions. Sanitize your bung and airlock according to the instructions on the sanitizing powder (you just mix the powder with hot water and soak it). Open the bottle of apple cider, dump in the yeast once it’s ready, and fit the bung and airlock on top.

That’s it.

Wrap a towel around the jug to block the light and leave it in a dark place to ferment- preferably somewhere cool, around 16 degrees Celsius. Take a peek- first you’ll see a weird ring of yeast on the surface. This is good- it’s called the krausen and it means its showtime! Next, watch the cider bubble away. That’s the yeast converting the sugars into alcohol. It should take about a week to finish fermenting. You’ll know its done once the airlock stops bubbling and the cider settles out and becomes clear again.

Taste your cider and see if you’d like to sweeten it at all. If you do, ask your brewmaster for a recommended sweetener. Note that sweeteners like sugar will actually encourage the yeast to start fermenting again, and not actually sweeten your cider. You’ll need something like lactose to sweeten it, as it is a non-fermentable sugar. This should be really cheap at the homebrew shop as well. Add your sweetener to taste.

Now, you need to get the cider off the yeast and sediment on the bottom of the jug, and put it into clean drinking bottles. If you don’t, it might have an off-taste. Note that anything that comes in contact with your cider MUST be sanitized so you don’t spoil the batch. That means your siphon or any spoons. But that’s easy. You just mix up more of that powder with water and let your equipment soak.

Now you have a choice to make.  You can either make a still cider or a sparkling one.

If you want a still cider, simply siphon the cider into bottles, being careful not to siphon any of the sediment along with the liquid,  and let them sit for a couple of weeks to condition. You can use a couple of clean and sanitized wine bottles with new corks (also at the homebrew shop for cheap), or I’ve seen people use wide mouth mason jars. If you’re home canner, you’re already good to go!

If you want to make a sparkling cider, which I prefer, you have an extra step. Put some sugar into a food grade plastic bucket (from guess where? the brewshop!) and siphon your cider into that sanitized bucket without splashing it around too much (this will introduce oxygen into the mix which can also produce an off-taste). Then, siphon your cider into bottles that you can cap with crown caps (brewshop!). If you try to seal them with anything else, you run the risk of either allowing the carbonation to escape, or your bottles might burst.

Wait 2-3 weeks. Enjoy.

Once you’ve done this once, you can reuse your equipment to just keep making more and more cider. All you need is a new yeast packet, which costs $1.00, and more juice. If you ever want to go for bigger batches, buy a large glass carboy (about $30 new) and maybe wait until the fall and see if you can get a fresh batch of pressed apple cider from a farmer or orchard. Or at least try to haggle for a discount!

New to this whole apple cider scene? Here are a few commercial onces you can try to get a taste:

• Magners- Not available in B.C., but I fell in love with this while I was in England a few years ago. It’s got a rich peach colour and more body than most of the others. It’s a tad sweeter than strongbow, but oh so lovely. I really wish we could get this here!!
• Bulmers- some people swear its the exact same drink as Magners, but I swear there’s a difference. The Bulmers I’ve had reminded me more of strongbow in colour and flavour. Well, it turns out there are two Bulmers, one made by the makers of Strongbow, the other is just Magners re-named. Case closed.
• Blackthorn. Lovely. A runner up for me, right behind Magners.
• Merrydale House Cider. This comes from Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island, and I have to say, it’s my current favourite summer drink. It’s on the sweeter side, but don’t let that sway you- it’s got a strong natural apple flavour and aroma that I just can’t get away from. One bottle of this in the garden and I’m under the table.
• Merrydale Cyser- this is actually an apple-based mead (honey wine made with apples in it) which takes the House Cider palatte and moves into the girlie “sweet” territory, but with a similarly lovely apple flavour. Save this for dessert. It’s like apple pie in liquid form.
• Sir Williams Perry- a very light, dry pear cider. Straightforward.
• Gaymers- really light apple cider. This one is good at the beach because you can just keep on drinkin it and drinkin it. Very easy going.

That should keep you busy for a while.

Some of these ciders can be found at B.C. liquor stores, but if you’re having trouble, check out a beer and wine or specialty store. If you’re in Vancouver, I highly recommend Brewery Creek on Main Street. And if you’re feeling ballsy, grab that jug of juice, throw in some champagne yeast and hold on tight!

2 Comments to Cracked Pot Cider

Leave a comment