And since I’m making cider, that means I have to drink some of last fall’s cider. This was made with previously frozen gallons of unpasteurized local apple cider, campden tablets, and cider yeast. Initially, it was very sweet. Then it became unbelievably carbonated and gushed out of the bottle. Now that it’s a year old, the carbonation has calmed down and the sweetness has reduced. It’s more of a semi-dry cider now.

Irish Stout with a local twist
Each year, I make a batch of Irish Stout for my friend’s St. Patrick’s Day party, which means I barely get any of the stout myself because all the party people drink it up. So I got wise and I’m making myself an early batch. I’m using the Toad Spit Stout recipe like last time, but I’m using Chinook and Willammette hops. I’ve also replaced the crystal malt with a rye crystal malt, and added organic roasted barley.

The best part is that I think I just unearthed a bottle of last year’s stout, so I’ll be able to compare the differences!

I also determined last week that there aren’t enough brown ales on the market, which means it’s time to make more of my own. I’m trying a new recipe from Charlie Papazian’s Microbrewed Adventures for Puritanical Nut Brown Ale. It promises to be carmely and smooth, with a nutlike flavor, roasted chocolate maltiness, and soft mouthfeel. Sounds good to me! Next month I’ll know if it turns out as advertised.

And of course, that blackberry mead is still going strong…

Blue Mountain Cranberry Cider

What a gorgeous ruby red color! It’s so perfect and clear, juicy and gem-toned. I can see why hummingbirds are drawn to red nectar-bearing flowers. Just the color alone begs, “drink me NOW!”

And what a lovely tart, refreshing drink it is! I’d imagine that they use fairly sweet apples to offset the tartness of the cranberries. The bottle states that it’s their Walla Walla 5 apple blend, with a splash of cranberry. The aroma is very clearly of apple, but the tang on the tongue and in the back of my mouth is definitely all cranberry.

This would make a great wine replacement at Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Or most of the time, really. It’s tart enough that you don’t want to guzzle it, but has such a nice light honey aroma and flavor that you just can’t stop drinking it.

I’ll definitely buy this again, especially if it’s on sale. I love buying local ciders made from local apples! It’s the best thing next to having my own cider, and I think I might try a cranberry cider blend next fall.

Hard cider is made of:

1. Apple cider (or pear cider, or apple/fruit you like cider)
2. Honey (2lbs of it)
3. Yeast
4. 2 Campden Tablets (sulfites that kill bad bacteria that turn cider in to vinegar — optional if you’re feeling brave)

And that’s all! So easy. I haven’t made it from commercial ciders at all, preferring to buy cider from the local farmer’s market, but I bet you could do that in a pinch. Do the math on how much 5 gallons will cost versus buying six pack after six pack of commercial hard cider. If the average six pack costs $6.99, and you can get roughly 8 six packs from 5 gallons of cider, then the cost of commercial cider is about $56. Compare that to making  your own, where 5 gallons of locally-grown and pressed cider will likely run you about $30, plus maybe $8 for the yeast, and assuming you’re using bottles you already had — you can see the savings. Plus it tastes better! And it’s easy to make!

Making the cider

1. You take 1 gallon of your cider and heat it in a pot with the 2lbs of honey to melt the honey.
2. Remove 1 pint of the honey/cider mixture and store it for bottling (I freeze mine).
3. Pour 4 gallons of cider into your sanitized carboy, add the remaining honey/cider mix, and check the temperature. It needs to be at around 68 degrees before you can pitch (aka “pour in”) the yeast.
4. Once it’s 68, crush the Campden Tablets (if using) with a mortar and pestle, pour that into the carboy, pitch your yeast, put on the fermentation lock, and wait for it to start fermenting — around 24 hours.
5. After fermentation is solidly underway (like on day 2), put the cider out in a cool garage or cellar where it can stay at 50-60 degrees.
6. When it’s time to bottle the cider, pour it into your bottling bucket along with the reserved pint of honey/cider mix. This will activate the remaining yeast so the cider carbonates in the bottle.
7. Let the cider condition in the bottle for a couple of weeks, or until the cider clears and is no longer cloudy.

The key to cider is a low fermentation temperature, just like making a lager beer. You want to ferment your cider at 50-60 degrees, so it’s best suited for winter when you can put it in a cold garage for a few weeks/months. Bottle it when there’s no fermentation activity at all — the fermentation lock doesn’t bubble so much and there’s no active yeast on the top of the cider. Fermentation really can take months with cider, so be patient!

Variations
Try different types of cider to see how they turn out. My first batch was made with a tart, crisp apple cider that was flash-pasteurized. I opted not to use campden tablets in the interest of making a sulfite-free cider that doesn’t induce headaches for some folks. And I used a dry cider yeast. The result was a very tart, dry cider that was similar to a geuze beer in nature — crisp, tangy, champagne-like. With this one, I left the cider fermenting indoor for several days, which was probably not the best thing to do. It finished fermenting in about three weeks.

My second cider was made from an unpasteurized mix of apples, so I did add 2 Campden Tablets just to be safe. For this one, I used a sweet mead yeast, hoping for a sweeter cider. It worked! That cider is mild, lightly crisp, refreshing, and sweet like a Braeburn apple. Kathy reports that it gives her a tiny headache due to the Campden Tablets, so that’s the only drawback. This cider fermented in my cold garage for over a month before I bottled it.

Tips
Cider, like beer, is light-reactive which means the flavor can be ruined when it sits in the light for a long time. Your cider will just go bad. Be sure to wrap it in a  towel or  blanket if you’re leaving it someplace that gets daylight (even indirect daylight).

Really, making cider is like cheating it’s so simple! Not only is it naturally gluten-free, you can also make it sulfite free, and it’s delicious. We’re going to have it as a beer alternative at our wedding!

It comes in a green bottle (of course!) with a screw-off cap. On first opening it smells strongly of a green apple Jolly Rancher. Thank goodness it doesn’t exactly tase like one! It’s definitely tart, but not at all dry, with an assertive apple flavor. The sulfite levels seem pretty low since I didn’t even get a stuffy nose from drinking it. It’s not overly sweet or carbonated and does come off as being more of a tasty soda than a cider. Think alcoholic Izze.

The checker at the store was surprised that it was alcohol when we bought it, since the label makes it look like a fun soda and has nutritional information on it. 160 calories of reasonably refreshing cidery goodness!

All in all, it’s not that bad. And if it’s at TJ’s low $4.99/6-pack price I’d probably buy it again for hot summer days.

Blackthorn Cider

So now that I’m on the cider train, I decided to buy a bottle of Blackthorn over the weekend. We cracked it open last night, and much to my surprise it tasted really sweet and juicy, not dry like I remembered. Have my taste buds changed so much? Apparently so! The cider I made in the fall is far more tart and dry — think geuze — than this so-called dry cider. Not that I’m complaining, but it’s amazing what 12 years will do to your perception of flavor. Back then, I didn’t like cilantro or seafood, either.

Another huge change for Blackthorn is their branding! The branding I know and remember is semi-gothic and mildly druidic in nature. But if you go to the official Blackthorn site, you’ll see semi-clad Asian vampire lesbians and people with tribal tattoos! Even more awesome is that I recognize their “models” from a Photodisc CD called “Faces of Diversity.” And their new slogan — “piercing refreshment” — is supposed to make Blackthorn appeal to an alternative crowd? C’mon! In Britain, cider is a kids’ and ladies’ drink, not the preferred drink of hardcore alternaBrits. I really wish I could hear the marketing pitch on that one…

While hardly an extreme cider that will quench the thirst of a thousand angry rebellious tattoo artists, Blackthorn cider is a tasty refreshment and is definitely best on tap.

Or, you could make your own cider…

Spire Mountain Ciders

I haven’t consumed much cider in the last few years, I have to admit. It really only sounds good on a hot summer day, and even then I’d rather have a beer. But I had a Spire pear cider the other night and was reminded of how tasty their ciders are. The pear cider is light, crisp, sweet but not cloying, and nicely carbonated and smooth to drink. I’d be interested in how their pear cider turned out if it weren’t a mix of pear varieties. A comice pear cider made with a champagne yeast would be delicious!

I do prefer the apple cider to pear, as it’s a bit more crisp and tart. Once upon a time, Spire made a “spiced apple” cider that was a bit darker and heavier that was great winter drinking material. Perhaps their Dark & Dry (as pictured on the right) fills that gap. I’ll have to look for it.

I’ll post about making cider soon, since I’ve got my second batch of cider bottled now and am nearly out of our first batch. Talk about easy home brewing!