Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
Sweetness Color and Method Tips
I did a previous experiment using heavy toasted French and American oak on a cider to see if we could recognize a difference in the aromas. This led to using oak more often and to even start experimenting with different wood, like maple, hickory, and birch. Wood is a great adjunct for cider. Besides adding … Continue reading Aging Cider with Oak
Keeving is a process that seeks to remove nutrients needed for fermentation in order to create residual sweetness. Yeast need nutrients and vitamins to ferment and while they are good at finding or creating many of these nutrients, it only takes the loss of one to stop the process. Keeving is a process that removes … Continue reading Nutrient Deprivation: Keeving
The steps to freeze concentrating apple juice. Have you ever wanted to make ice cider? What about using juice concentrate for bottle conditioning? Have you ever wondered if there was an effective way to store apple juice? These are all reasons why you might want to freeze concentrate apple juice, or any juice for that … Continue reading Freeze Concentrating Apple Juice
If you read some of my other articles on sulfites and sorbates, you will know that I am not an advocate of using Campden, potassium metabisulfite, sulphite, SO2, or whatever other term you use for this preservative and sanitizing compound. The biggest reason I am not an advocate is because I think it’s overused, especially … Continue reading Potassium Metabisulfite: The Overview
I have sampled a few ciders over the years and I have worked to develop a more discerning palate. It hasn’t been easy. For many years, I wasn’t open to trying new things. However, I now seek out the new and unique, especially when it comes to fruits and vegetables. I do this partially as … Continue reading Cider Tasting – Common Faults
Being able to create a hard cider with some residual sweetness is often referred to as the holy grail of cider. The reason for this is because that sweetness can be used to balance the high acids often found in dessert apples and the tannins found in cider apples. This cider season I set about … Continue reading Experiments in Sweetness: Sweet Hard Cider
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
I’ve discussed in my post on how to make sweet hard cider the use of non-fermentable sweeteners like stevia and erythritol. I generally prefer drier hard cider, but I also enjoy balance. That means if a cider has a lot of acid, having a little residual sugar can help balance it. Tannins and their bitter … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #24: Non-Fermentable Sweeteners
This is the third part in my three part tip on developing your method for making hard cider. My focus is on the process versus the ingredients. I will highlight ingredients, but my goal is to help you understand the processes involved in making a hard cider that you enjoy. In Part 1, I highlighted … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #17C: Understanding Carbonation (Method Part 3 of 3)
This is the second part in my three part tip on developing your method for making hard cider. My focus is on the process versus the ingredients. I will highlight ingredients, but my goal is to help you understand the processes and equipment involved in making a hard cider that you enjoy. In Part 1, … Continue reading Hard Cider Tip #17B: Understanding Flavors (Method Part 2 of 3)
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