Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
Rosé wine is made by allowing the grape juice to macerate and even partially ferment on the grape skins to extract some anthocyanins and produce a pink to light red color of wine. For cider, you actually have two methods for producing a pink or red cider. Unlike grapes, there are red and pink apples. … Continue reading Rosé Cider
Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t taken Cider Quiz #1, click here to take it before exploring the answers. You will find some related links about apples, blending, and varieties at the bottom. These contain related and interesting information about apples that you may not have known. Question #7: What are the three main categories of apples based on … Continue reading Cider Quiz Answers: Question #7
Often the answer to common questions about hard cider and the cider making process is that it depends. For this question, I can firmly say the answer is no. Crabapples are not poisonous. You may be wondering why this is even a question. Growing up, I believed they were poisonous. We were told not to … Continue reading Cider Question: Are some crabapples poisonous?
It seems like a simple question, but it’s really one of the most difficult to answer. Rarely is this question answered properly. More commonly, a quick answer is provided. That quick answer can be complex, like use this yeast for fruity flavors and this yeast for phenolic flavors. The quick response can also be simple, … Continue reading Cider Question: What is the best yeast to use for making cider?
Which is more important when making great cider, the apple varieties you use in your juice blend or the yeast you use? It’s not an easy question to answer. If I asked whether the apples were more important than the shape of the fermenter, most of us would probably say the apple. I recognize that … Continue reading Cider Question: Apples or Yeast
I often provide information that I have learned from reading research papers or from my own personal experiments. But, I have met many experts on my cider journey and I wanted to find a way to share the collective knowledge we have about cider with the world. “Cider Poll” is my attempt to capture and … Continue reading Cider Poll – The Ideal Cider Base
Have you wondered what rootstock you should use? If you are like me, the name of the rootstock is confusing enough. Also, there are so many different ones and I couldn’t find a simple reference the summarized them. I’m sure the table is missing some, but I tried to include every reference I could find … Continue reading Orchards: Apple Rootstock
Many of us struggle to find true Bitters, which are apples that are high in tannins. Some call these cider apples because making cider is often the only good use for them. However, we should really be thinking of apples as Bitters, Sharps, and Sweets or a combination of these like Bittersweets and Bittersharps. The … Continue reading Cider Fundamentals: Blending Common Apples to Make Cider
I don’t have classic cider apples growing around me. I have found some wonderful American heirloom varieties but, even those aren’t considered true cider apples. Most people have access to a wonderful range of cooking apples like Granny Smith and Bramley or eating apples like Red Delicious, Fuji, and Gala. Unless you live in certain … Continue reading Cider Question: Can I use culinary and eating apples to make cider?
As you relax on your patio enjoying one of your home crafted ciders, have you ever started pondering what really creates it. The taste and ultimately, the quality is determined by the numerous compounds found in your cider. These can include esters, fusel alcohols, acids, and a multitude of others. It’s these compounds that define … Continue reading The Essence of Cider
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