Have you ever wondered how cider is made—not the sweet non-alcoholic cider you find in stores but ‘real’ cider? Brewing your own cider from fruit juice can be a tremendous amount of fun, and the process from start to finish is easier than you may think. In this article we will outline the steps for making cider, including how to select and brew the fruit and how the fermentation process works.
The first step in making cider is selecting the ingredients, and no ingredient is more important than the fresh apple cider. As you probably know, the juice in apples is squeezed out using a contraption called an apple press, but since you probably don’t have access to one of these machines you can purchase the cider instead. Check with a local grower or even your grocery store for raw apple cider that has been cold pasteurized and has not been chemically preserved in any way. This type of cider will almost always produce the best results.
Yeast is the next ingredient you will need, but are all yeasts the same? The answer to that question is both yes and no. Many home brewing companies sell—and swear by—specialized liquid yeast packs for the brewing of cider, but since these can often be expensive and hard to come by, a dry wine yeast will usually do just as well.
After you have both the cider and the yeast, the best strategy to follow is to put the cider on the stove at a very low heat. Allow it to simmer for about 45 minutes to kill any bacteria or wild yeasts which may be present. Many experienced home brewers will skip this step and elect to pour their sweet cider directly into the fermenting bucket, but keep in mind that in this scenario wild yeast will be present in the cider and may alter the final taste.
For the final step you will need a sanitized fermentation bucket. These buckets are typically very large with an airlock on the top. This will allow you to release CO2 gases in the bucket without letting in any outside air. Pour the cider into the bucket and allow it to cool to room temperature. Now add the yeast and stir it into the cider vigorously with a clean, and preferably stainless steel spoon. Reseal the bucket and place it in a temperature-controlled environment that ranges between 60 and 70 degrees. Check your cider in about two to three days. If you see bubbles of carbon dioxide rising, it means the fermentation process is underway. In just two short weeks you’ll have a fabulous and tasty cider brew!
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