Cider

So, I made some hard cider. Some apple jack. This is the alcohol-laden version of everybody’s favorite fall beverage. It was stunningly simple compared to making beer. Basically, I took the cider (pasteurized, but with no chemical additives, since they would kill the yeast), put it in a sterilized carboy, and added yeast (a nice German Ale Yeast, for a sweeter flavor). For about a week if foamed wildly, and then for another week it settled back down. I bottled it two days ago.

During the bottling process, there was a small disaster. I got the cider into 12oz bottles, and as I put the cap on the second bottle, my capper broke. The handle snapped right off. At that point I had a bunch of bottles sitting there, and no way to close them. Fortunately, I’ve got an ample supply of EZ-Cap and Grolsch style bottles in the basement. I stomped downstairs, got them, quickly sanitized a whole bunch of them, and used a funnel to transfer the cider. Those who have done this know that the biggest pain in the butt part of making beer is washing and sterilizing all the bottles. I got to do that twice this time. What a pain.

Still, it’s pretty tasty. I may make another batch before Fall ends.