Cider!

[RogerWS76]

Crispin and Fox barrel are two local Northern California Ciders that are among the best I have ever had and I am a Cider drinker over just about anything else. Crispin does Apple Cider mostly while Fox Barrel has some great Pear Ciders as well as some Blackberry Cider that is really good!


Hornsby, Woodchuck and Angry Orchard aren't bad but dont live up to Crispin or Fox Barrel

[TheOfficialBren]

I have had Fox Barrel. I LOVE IT!!! The Griffin, a pub in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles serves it. Very tasty, decent price, great atmosphere.

[NeightRG]

I brew mine, I live on the east side of the mountains from California's "Apple Hill" so I can get gallons of just squeezed juice, un-anythinged. 5 gallon Carboy, a bit of sugar and yeast.....3 weeks later in the bottle and give it a week or so. Nice, sweet, slightly cloudy and perfect.

For as handy as so many members of this board seem to be, I'm surprised that this hasn't been the tone of this thread.
Cider is shockingly easy to make - even easier than many beer kits. And home-made doesn't have the sugary, wine-cooler sweetness, that leaves you with gut-rot and a bad hangover.

Spend $3 on an airlock and a rubber stopper, and a bag of freeze-dried beer brewing yeast (not to be mistaken with "brewer's yeast" from the vitamins section)
Buy a gallon of apple juice and pour out two pints. Drink one pint.
Put a third cup of brown sugar in the other pint, and a teaspoon of cinnamon - simmer on the stove for about 15 minutes, and pour it back into the original gallon container, with the rest of the juice.
Sprinkle about a teaspoon of the dried yeast on top, cap it, shake it a while, then replace the cap with the airlock and stopper.
After about a week, you can add a can of frozen apple juice concentrate - this is an optional step, but it makes for a much stronger, and rich-flavored cider.
Once the airlock hasn't hasn't bubbled for a couple of days, bottle it up and leave it alone for a week or two - then enjoy.

A lot of work, and a long time to wait for just one gallon, but once you've seen for yourself that it works, and it's good, you can scale it up for bigger batches.

[TheOfficialBren]

Nice! Thanks, Nate. I've been mulling over making a batch but I've never made cider or beer before.

[Blupiper]

For as handy as so many members of this board seem to be, I'm surprised that this hasn't been the tone of this thread.
Cider is shockingly easy to make - even easier than many beer kits. And home-made doesn't have the sugary, wine-cooler sweetness, that leaves you with gut-rot and a bad hangover.

Spend $3 on an airlock and a rubber stopper, and a bag of freeze-dried beer brewing yeast (not to be mistaken with "brewer's yeast" from the vitamins section)
Buy a gallon of apple juice and pour out two pints. Drink one pint.
Put a third cup of brown sugar in the other pint, and a teaspoon of cinnamon - simmer on the stove for about 15 minutes, and pour it back into the original gallon container, with the rest of the juice.
Sprinkle about a teaspoon of the dried yeast on top, cap it, shake it a while, then replace the cap with the airlock and stopper.
After about a week, you can add a can of frozen apple juice concentrate - this is an optional step, but it makes for a much stronger, and rich-flavored cider.
Once the airlock hasn't hasn't bubbled for a couple of days, bottle it up and leave it alone for a week or two - then enjoy.

A lot of work, and a long time to wait for just one gallon, but once you've seen for yourself that it works, and it's good, you can scale it up for bigger batches.

Nate:

Will this method work with the unfiltered ciders (non-alcoholic) that pop up around here during the late fall? I find these to have a better apple flavor and character than the filtered clear apple juices. Your method sounds dead simple and I know my daughter and I like a good hard cider.

JMB

[Tony]

I went to Uni in Bristol, at a time when I didn't like beer. many a brain cell was lost to local scrumpy and Long Ashton Cider.
a trip to Brittany revealed many a cheap, delicious and dusty bottle at the back of the store while my comrades drank cheap Heineken.
Great stuff that puts Strongbow and Blackthorn to shame.

[cmcbeth]

As NeightRG points out...easy to make. For neophytes, it can be as easy as the following:

1) go to a brew store and get some white labs ale yeast;
2) remove a cup of juice from a gallon jug of grocery store apple juice
3) add yeast and put screw top lid on but not airtight and store for 5-7 days in a dark corner of a kitchen closet (there may be blow off)
4) when yeast activity subsides, screw top to airtight and leave for four days (it will self-carbonate this way)
5) move to refrigerator for another four days (or more)
6) pour carefully leaving sediment on bottom of container... Enjoy!

That's all. The quick and dirty way to make cider. Experiment with yeasts and additives (honey, juice, etc.) as you like.

[Joshua]

ACE Perry is awesome.

[jkane]

The key to good cider is the apples. You need a good blend of types to get the flavor. Very few apples make good hard cider by themselves. Sugar content is important too. Pick them as late as possible.

Usually apple juice has about 5-6% alcohol potential. If you find one higher, beware. It may be wine with sugar added, not pure cider.

There are a lot of new cider makers in the US. I bet if you look around, you'll find one near you. :-)

We will have a few at our World of Beer Fest near Milwaukee Wi on June 1. I have just started talking to places, but I am pretty sure we'll have Aeppletrow, Cider Boys, and a Farm made cider place I can't remember the name of today. There might be a couple more, but I save my budget for getting more meads than ciders. :-P

[Spc. Scott]

Nate:

Will this method work with the unfiltered ciders (non-alcoholic) that pop up around here during the late fall? I find these to have a better apple flavor and character than the filtered clear apple juices. Your method sounds dead simple and I know my daughter and I like a good hard cider.

JMB

That's just what I use to make mine.

The key to good cider is the apples. You need a good blend of types to get the flavor. Very few apples make good hard cider by themselves. Sugar content is important too. Pick them as late as possible.

Usually apple juice has about 5-6% alcohol potential. If you find one higher, beware. It may be wine with sugar added, not pure cider.

There are a lot of new cider makers in the US. I bet if you look around, you'll find one near you. :-)

We will have a few at our World of Beer Fest near Milwaukee Wi on June 1. I have just started talking to places, but I am pretty sure we'll have Aeppletrow, Cider Boys, and a Farm made cider place I can't remember the name of today. There might be a couple more, but I save my budget for getting more meads than ciders. :-P

This is right on. The apples are used are key. If you happen to have an orchard near you that sells their own cider they can likely let you know when will hit for peak taste and sugar content.

I have a local cidery near me as well called Bellwether. http://www.cidery.com/