Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
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
As a homemade hard cider maker, I keep finding myself looking for new and maybe better ways to make and process my hard cider. Most of my hard cider recipes are based on my current method for making hard cider, which entails using kegs. Kegs have given me more flexibility in managing my process for … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #12: Counter-Pressure Bottle Filling
As I’ve previously noted in other posts, yeast are part of the fungus family. They are a single cell microorganism. Micro meaning microns in size. They are also what convert sugars into alcohol and CO2. The world is full of yeast and you can cultivate these to ferment your hard cider, which is known as … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #11: Testing Yeast
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
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
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
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
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
As a craft hard cider maker, you actually have several cost effective means to make your hard cider clear or what is commonly called clarifying. Most of my hard cider recipes call for filtering but you may be wondering if you really need to clarify your hard cider. The main reason you would make your … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #5: Making Hard Cider Clear
One the the biggest challenges with crafting “Traditional” hard cider is finding apples with tannins. I define Traditional as a specific style of cider using only apples and/or pears. Check out my book for more styles and details about making and experiencing hard cider, including hard cider recipes. I mean it has to be worth … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #4: Testing for Tannins
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