Hard Cider: Part 1

On Tuesday, i whipped up a small batch of 'starter' that i used the next day to start some hard cider and get my vinegar going a little more quickly. I'm worried that our apartment is going to be just too cold for fermentation, but i'm not paying a higher electricity bill just to get some hooch and vinegar. ;)

I started three vessels - the left is a gallon jar half filled with cider, with a tiny splash of yeast starter added and covered with a cheesecloth. This is destined for vineger.  The middle is simmered cider and honey with starter added, covered with cheesecloth to see what happens when attempting hard cider with the presence of air and wild yeast. The right is a gallon carboy filled with simmered cider and honey plus yeast starter (too much!) and topped with an airlock.

Last Night - already fizzing

I certainly didn't have to worry about fermentation getting going, granted I am still at the farm where it's a bit warmer inside than our apartment. Now i'm worried that i most likely added too much yeast, and i don't know how that will affect the cider. More alcohol? Less? Nasty taste? Better taste? It's bubbling away like crazy, and I hope i wasn't foolish to start it one place with a bumpy drive back to our apartment. Yeah, that was foolish. Cross your fingers it makes it back home in tact.

This morning - really bubbling, now!

Have you ever attempted hard cider before? How did it work out? I got my instructions from Mother Earth News and a few other online resources. I'm about to research what may happen to my overly yeasted cider - and i'll keep y'all posted with my progress. We'll check back to see how the cider and vinegar are panning out next week. Fermentation will supposedly be done in about 3 weeks - we'll see!    Please comment with any tips/suggestions if you have them!

This post is part of the Simple Lives Thursday blog hop.

Pressing Cider!

We had the best weekend! My parents came up from Eugene and joined us in a grand adventure of apple picking and cider pressing. My friend's (whose house we're staying in) daughter also came down from Portland with a bunch of her friends and we made it a real party! It was great fun to meet new people, make new friends, and of course: drink a bunch of cider! It's really amazing how many apples you need in order to make a small amount of cider.... It's also amazing how much cider some apples can make! We picked the orchard fairly clean last weekend, but there were plenty more this weekend and plenty left for weekends later in the month. I think next time we pick apples, we'll just cook them down to make some apple butter for canning. I do so loooove apple butter.

Just a few of the bushels upon bushels of apples that were picked.

My family....   I asked them to smile and this is what i got. At least Pocket is a cutey pie as always.

After the picking comes the cider pressing. This press is motorized, so you have to be sure not to clog it or get your fingers chopped up, shudder. It was great fun setting up the 'assembly line' with apple cleaners, apple tossers, and apple pressers. Can you say 'good, clean family fun?' Sometimes that's the best kind!

Toss, twist, smoosh, press! The apple muck goes to the chickens and sheep and the cider goes to happy people. We had so much cider, in fact that we had to go on some reconnaissance missions for more jars and jugs.

A friend of one of my mamas lent me some corks and his airlock (he's an expert brewer) that we'll use to make 1 gallon of hard cider. Another 1/2 gallon jar will become apple cider vinegar in several months, and another gallon we saved for sipping and spicing up our morning tea. So good!

Yum!

Have you ever pressed your own cider? How did it taste? Ours is sweet and appley with a bite of tartness. It doesn't need spicing up, but i'm sure it would be delicious mulled as well.