Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t taken Cider Quiz #1, click here to take it before exploring the answers. I included links to various articles about the methodology for estimating the %ABV of your cider as well as some of the tools you can use to measure specific gravity. Question #6: How much sugar is dissolved in your … Continue reading Cider Quiz Answers: Question #6
The simple answer to how you measure the percent alcohol by volume (%ABV) of your cider is that you subtract your final specific gravity (FG) from your original specific gravity (OG) and multiple this number by 128. The best equation for calculating hard cider %ABV If you’ve read some of my other articles, you probably … Continue reading Cider Question: How to measure %ABV?
When people ask if their hard cider can go bad, they are often worried that it might spoil or turn into something that would make them ill. Usually, the cider in question is often sitting in a bucket and has a crust of white or even a moldy film or layer on top of it. … Continue reading Cider Question: Can hard cider go bad?
Many cider recipes call for the addition of yeast nutrient when adding yeast. Do you really need to add yeast nutrient to make cider? The short answer is no but, as you might expect, there are always details and nuances involved when answering most questions about cider. The need for yeast nutrient is usually a … Continue reading Cider Question: Do I need to use yeast nutrient?
Things happen and you aren’t always able to process all the apples you need to fill your fermenter. For example, not all apples ripen at the same time. In fact, a single tree may take weeks to ripen all the apples on it. Maybe your grinder or press broke or you picked more apples than … Continue reading Cider Question: How can I delay processing my apples?
If you are like me, you are interested in trying different apples but more importantly, you’re interested in cheap apples. Those may come from a backyard or roadside tree or even from an orchard. Often, they are damaged either from insects or weather, like hail. This inevitably leads to this week’s Cider Question about whether … Continue reading Cider Question: Can I use apples with worm holes?
Yeast Survival Factors: The Impact to Cider Fermentation Yeast Survival Factors are also commonly referred to as oxygen substitutes(1) or anaerobic growth factors(2). These are compounds that ensure yeast viability under stress and ultimately, the survival of the yeast. The compounds include sterols, fatty acids, and peptides. You might be thinking that Yeast Survival Factors … Continue reading Cider Words: Yeast Survival Factors
Preservatives naturally found in hard cider Fermenting apple juice and making hard cider will naturally create compounds that act as preservatives. These compounds, like SO2 and CO2, can be added but, I am focusing on how these compounds are naturally created. The compounds are produced by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeast in your juice … Continue reading Cider Words: Natural Preservatives
The Common (Old) Formula for Estimating %ABV %ABV = (OG - FG) x 131.2 You have seen the above formula in numerous online posts and books. I even include it in my book. But, is it the best formula for estimating the percentage of Alcohol by Volume (%ABV) in hard cider? What does it even … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #31: Estimating Cider %ABV
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