Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
Earth Log: May 21, 2086 Okay, it’s not 2086 but it’s starting to feel like every day in isolation is a year! All I know is that I am anxiously looking forward to this year’s apple harvest so I can go pick apples in the orchard. The problem, I still have decades to go at … Continue reading Nachos & Hard Cider: Vegetarian Style
What is pectic enzyme and why would you add it to your juice or cider. Pectic Enzyme is also know as pectinase, which is an enzyme that breaks down pectin. In other words, it is a protein that acts as a catalyst to degrade the pectin naturally found in fruit. Pectin is a complex carbohydrate … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #15: Pectic Enzyme
If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, summer is quickly approaching. However, those in the Southern Hemisphere are starting to think about the coming winter. Either way, it’s time to be thinking about your fall hard cider plans. You might be deciding what to do with that final batch of last year’s hard cider or … Continue reading Making Great Pumpkin Cider
If you have read my book and follow my blog, you might have noticed that beside making hard cider, I love making pizza. Of course you will also notice that I always pair these pizzas with hard cider. Just like my hard cider recipes, our pizzas are part art and part delicious. I start by … Continue reading Pizza and Hard Cider
Are pH and acid the same? Is one more important than the other? Why should you even care? For the craft home hard cider maker, your pH is the most important of the two measurements. That’s because it lets you know whether your juice and cider are more susceptible to spoilage. Bacteria won’t live well … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #14: pH and Acid
I’m going to make a bold statement, I think most people don’t really understand how to taste food and drinks. That goes double for hard cider. Sure, you eat something and it tastes good, but when was the last time you tried a food you’ve never eaten. Would you be willing to eat duck fat … Continue reading Tasting Hard Cider: Method or Madness
I was able to get a good amount of Newtown Pippin apples last harvest so I used this heirloom apple to make a variety of hard ciders. I made Pippin Magic and Merry Pippin (Cider of Gondor) with Newtown being the main apple. I also added some Newtown Pippin juice to my ice cider, Frozen … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #13: American Vs. French Oak
Pippin Magic has been one of my favorite hard ciders of the 2019 harvest. I used Newtown Pippin apples, which are also known as Albemarle Pippin apples. The apple was a chance seedling, grown from an apple seed or pip, found in Newtown, New York in the late 1600s or early 1700s. It was taken … Continue reading Making Magic Pippin Hard Cider
Growing up, we’d watch the Disney movie on Sunday nights. If we were lucky, we got to make popcorn. I still remember Witch Mountain and the Apple Dumpling Gang. Popcorn and a movie, what could be better? Gourmet popcorn, a movie, and some homemade craft hard cider would be a good start. I still remember … Continue reading Sunday Night Pairing: Popcorn and Hard Cider
Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should. Well, maybe just this once. A little while ago, someone was asking about a hard cider that would go well with breakfast. Since it is a habit of ours to host a hard cider party every month, we sometimes do a specific food theme. Guess … Continue reading Hard Cider for Breakfast?
