Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
What is a stuck fermentation? When making hard cider, a stuck fermentation refers to a situation where the juice or partially fermented cider has sugar present but the yeast is unable to process it. Sometimes, this might have been your plan. Other times, this is your problem. This hard cider tip is intended to demystify … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #10: Stuck Fermentation
This post is not so much a hard cider recipe as it is a simple and low cost method to making hard cider. It’s focused on providing a basic foundation for making hard cider my way. My way means organic and no sulfites. However, if that’s not your way, it can easily be adapted to … Continue reading Making My First Hard Cider
In my last tip, I talked bout how critical cleaning and sanitizing were when you are making hard cider. However, I only covered the cleaning part. This tip covers the sanitizing step. Again, I’m focusing on bottles, but the process is the same whether you are cleaning and sanitizing bottles, fermenters, utensils, or any equipment. … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #9: Bottle Sanitizing
It seems like a simple question: How old is your apple tree? Maybe, you planted the tree a couple years ago. Maybe, your dad planted it when you were a kid. Maybe you wouldn’t know without cutting down the tree and counting the rings. Please don’t do that! I’m just speaking hypothetically. But, my question … Continue reading How old is that apple tree?
The orchard I pick has Mutsu and Shizuka apples. These along with Orin apples were all discovered in Japan in the early to mid-twentieth century. What I find interesting is all three apples have the same parentage: Golden Delicious and Indo. They are siblings and just like humans, you can see the likeness at times … Continue reading Making Japanese Sunrise Hard Cider
One of the most critical processes in making hard cider is cleaning and sanitizing. It’s the easiest way to make a bad batch of hard cider and ruin the best hard cider recipe. Officially, this is a two-step process. There are cleansers and there are sanitizers on the market. Why not one product to do … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #8: Bottle Cleaning
Do hard ciders have vintages? Regardless of whether you are legally allowed to define a vintage, like wine, on a bottle of hard cider, my question is really about what impact the “vintage” or year the apple was grown has on a hard cider. If you are using juice from the store, vintage becomes irrelevant … Continue reading The Vintage of Hard Cider
Okay, this post is a little tongue-in-cheek but you need a good mascot to make great hard cider. Every business, website, blog, or home needs a mascot, Here at Prickly Apple Cider, we have “G”. G: Official Prickly Apple Cider Mascot Her life is demanding and often filled with peril but someone has to do … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #7: Adopt a Mascot
Prickly Apple is my flagship hard cider. After I started making hard cider, I soon realized how much I enjoyed not just drinking it but crafting it as well. I decided that I wanted my hard ciders and hard cider recipes to be based on organic or non-sprayed fruits and adjuncts. I wanted to know … Continue reading Making Prickly Apple Hard Cider
My adventure into making hard cider started with me reading everything I could find about apples and hard cider as well as by just making it. I like to experiment. Sometimes, I try something that I read isn’t supposed to work. I like to see if I can figure out how to make it work. … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #6: Document Your Hard Cider
