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Well you can technically drink your cider once fermentation is finished but aging can make it taste WAY better. A couple of weeks/months in bottles can improve the taste but yes you can drink it right after it's finished fermenting to its potential!

I'd recommend you buy an auto siphon as it limits the exposure to oxygen when transferring between vessels and when bottling.

[Here's a link on amazon to what I'm talking about] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/9q9/Home-Brew-Litre-Auto-Syphon-More-Sucking/B004KM4NHK/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1494891146&sr=8-1&keywords=auto+siphon)

Also if bottling this attachment makes life easy going from bottle to bottle

Now to carbonate the sugar is added to allow for a secondary fermentation. Once primary fermentation is done (aka the yeast ate up nearly all of the starting sugar and is now dormant) this new addition of sugar that is added before bottling causes the yeast to wake back up and start reproducing again. Well if this happens in the bottle the CO2 gas that's released has nowhere to go and will reabsorb into your beverage creating the lovely bubbles that you want in carbonated drinks.

I typically use Dextrose aka Corn Sugar. You can use really any type of sugar but I like dextrose because it's fairly flavor neutral and is very fermentable. Plain table sugar works just fine though.

Here's a link to a handy calculator to give you an idea of how much of different sugars you should use to get the carbonation level you want

Generally speaking I use roughly 1 oz of dextrose per 1 fluid gallon which when converted to metric (sorry I'm from murica lol) would be roughly 28 grams per 3.8 liters? So you can scale it from there to whatever batch size you have or use the calculator I gave you.

I'd say patience is key with making cider so don't be afraid to let it sit at least 3 weeks to even a month before you bottle it.

Unfortunately never tried making a ginger beer but maybe I'll do it one of these days! I do love ginger beer.

Like I said just let me know if you have any more questions :)

My first batch is also still in primary, so don't think I am an expert, but here's some opinions, for what they may be worth. If something I say makes no sense, I apologize, and feel free to correct me!

> I plan on cold crashing in my chilly Illinois garage. It’s attached, so it never really drops below 45 or so, but do temperature fluctuations influence the process?

Funny, I posted a cold crashing thread earlier today. That and this cold crashing FAQ have led me to believe that fluctuations after primary fermentation is complete are not a huge deal, as long as they are not extreme. If your garage stays above freezing (especially if it stays above 45), it should be good.

> I see people talk about semi-sweet or sweet ciders. My wife prefers a dry, while I prefer a sweet, so I planned on doing something in between for my first batch. What sort of FG should I be looking at, after I’ve back sweetened?

(All theory, rather than experience) To be honest, I would be more worried about it tasting to my liking than going for a specific FG here. The FG prior to bottling is important for carbonation. Obviously, you need some sugar to produce CO2 in the bottle. According to a book I've been using:

> 3. Bottling. Bottle up the batch, sugaring each bottle with two teaspoons of sugar, or, more efficiently, adding enough sugar to the dry bulk cider to bring the specific gravity up to 1.010, and then bottling. This amount of sugar will add 1 percent of alcohol to the finished batch of cider.

Of course, without pasteurization, the whole sugar will be turned to alcohol and CO2, and you'll still end with a dry cider. If you add potassium metabisulfite and keep it still, then it won't ferment and it will stay sweet. But yeah, if you don't carbonate, don't worry about the FG, let your taste buds be the judge.

> I plan on using natural ingredients (frozen juice, sugar) to sweeten since I’ve never really liked artificial sweeteners like splenda.

Splenda is used as it's non-fermentable. Even without pasteurization / potassium metabisulfite, it won't turn to alcohol/CO2, which is why it's so popular among homebrewers. Natural ingredients are not a problem, just consider the previous point about carbonation. You don't want exploding bottles.

> As a first timer, I’m a little hesitant to do a carbonated batch. Other than the fizziness, will I be missing out on anything with a still batch? Would it be possible to split off a gallon after the secondary fermentation to try carbonating a small batch?

Never had a still cider, so I won't give you advice on the taste, but I can't imagine it being significantly worse. As long as the yeast is healthy (i.e. you didn't kill it with KMS), I don't see why you couldn't carbonate only one gallon. Just separate it, make sure it has an appropriate FG and kill the yeast in the rest.

Good luck!

I would be interested to see what comes out without pitching any additional yeast. Wild yeast can make some great cider, but being wild it will be unpredictable. If you do plan on just using the wild yeast make sure you add some yeast nutrients. Apple juice is very poor in nutrients that yeast needs to thrive. I recommend Wyeast brand nutriants but any nutriants made for wine will work well with cider. For wild yeast add 24 hours after pressing or if your pitching you want to add it 24 hours prior.

You also want to make sure you are monitoring your free SO2 levels. You can buy test kits online. Accuvin is pretty accurate and a kit will run you $35. Keeping SO2 levels will discourage any bad bacteria from infecting your cider and give your yeast a good chance at achieving an optimal fermentation.

Once your cider goes dry, rack it into a sterile vessel. Make sure you fill it to the top to keep oxygen off of the cider. This will discourage acetic acid bacteria from turning your cider to vinegar. Stopper the vessel with an air trap. I like to fill traps with a little white spirts as it's sterile vs. tap water. Give it a taste and if it's tasting good, give it a few months to mature. Rack as needed it you see a build up of particulates on the bottom.

If you need more technical information there is a great book called the New Cidermakers Handbook that covers the art and science of making great cider.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1603584730?pc_redir=1411309332&robot_redir=1

I hope it works out! Make sure to report back on how it tastes.

ShipCider.com has a great selection and reasonable prices (before shipping), if you know what their tastes are (at least dry vs. sweet). If you decide to go that route, and know a bit of their likes & dislikes, I'd be happy to suggest some (I'm familiar with most of their inventory as I live in Seattle and they ship from Portland). I'd make sure its not something they can get locally if you're going to pay for shipping though.

Some cider clubs are trying to start up, but currently I believe they are only offered by individual cideries, so like winery clubs and such, I think are only a good option if someone likes everything a cidery makes.

Some nice glasses and expanding bottle stoppers is another more general option too (tulip shaped glasses are popular, but I'm partial to brandy snifters).

Something like these for stoppers works on most bottles:
http://www.amazon.com/Flip-Top-Stopper-Creates-Airtight/dp/B0077D7W8G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1449713597&sr=8-2&keywords=expanding+bottle+stopper

These are some nice looking glasses (by comparison, I like the brandy snifters I got for $4 each at Cost Plus World Market):
http://www.amazon.com/Libbey-3808S4-Piece-McIntosh-Drinkware/dp/B010NOA84A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449713667&sr=8-1&keywords=cider+glass

Here is a variety set of glasses:
http://www.amazon.com/Libbey-Perfect-Cider-Assorted-Glass/dp/B00NLMG7D8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1449713667&sr=8-3&keywords=cider+glass

S-04 has great reviews on this sub and other places when it comes to cider, even the top Amazon review mentions it.

But I haven't personally tried it. I started making cider this year and I was cheap and got 10 packs of Cotes Des Blancs on Amazon for $8.

Cotes Des Blancs is known to be drier but it also produces fruity tasting esters which add to the flavor and it does sometimes stop at 1.002 in my experience so still a bit of leftover sweetness.

I'm interested in trying the S-04 next but the Cotes Des Blancs is just so cheap lol.

Honestly when you look up Cotes Des Blancs it's regarded as keeping the apple flavor or at least making esters that go well with the apple flavor, so it might be good for you too.

In fact the description on midwestsupplies.com is:

> Cote des Blancs is also known as Epernay II. It is recommended for Chardonnay, Riesling, mead and cider, as well as fruit wines, particularly apple. it imparts a fruity aroma in both red and white wines. A slow fermenter that works best between 50 and 80 degrees. This strain will not ferment to a dryness at the low end of the range, leaving residual sugar resulting in a sweeter wine.

I think they mean leaving residual sweetness when it's used for making wine (higher abv so the yeast will die faster?) but in my experience it's stopped fermenting at 1.002 a couple times and when I calibrated my hydrometer it might have even been more like 1.004.

In my experience it's not a slow fermenter though, I ferment at about 78F (can't get any colder yet I live in the South) and it's done in about 7-8 days.

Thanks for the response. I used half a teaspoon of Home Brew Ohio Acid Blend after reading some recommendations that adding such an acid can help add a more "crisp" flavor to the cider.

I didn't want to go overboard with the honey, since it was just a 1 gallon batch, but it sounds like I may have underdone it. I know the honey won't add much, if any lasting flavor right now, but I just wanted one of the batches to have a higher ABV than the other, but sounds like I may not have added quite enough. I was thinking of adding more honey to that same batch after racking, to carbonate.

I have really been enjoying home brewing, my first beer, a sweet porter came out well and I'm hoping my first cider does too!

I will keep the black tea "trick" in mind!

Well if you live in Canada like I do, get the President's Choice Fresh Pressed Apple Cider from Loblaw's/Superstore. It's $5 for 3L and works awesome as a base for all my ciders. I almost always use Lalvin BM 4X4 yeast, which ferments nice and dry at basement temps, good body, retains a lot of fruit characteristics. Most of the time I use plain ol' white sugar to bring up the SG. The PC cider on it's own will get you to around 4-5% ABV, but I like to bring my ciders in around the 8-10% range. If you want to split the difference and go for, say, a nice 7% ABV you're looking for between 1.050 and 1.055 SG. Ferment it out for a few weeks until you see little to no more activity in the airlock. Rack to secondary and add any additional flavours you want. From there it's just a waiting game depending on how long you want to age before bottling, the clarity you're looking for, etc. For bottling I use either 750ml flip tops or 650ml beer bombers. I use two of these tabs in each bottle for conditioning. If I'm worried that there's not enough residual yeast left at bottling time, I put a few grains of dry BM 4X4 per bottle before filling. I go at least 2 months before cracking open the first one.

Agreed. Get them to cold place (outside?) and open/drink them ASAP. If you had a hydrometer you would be able to know how much has continued to ferment since bottling and calculate the volumes of pressure and know if you're safe or not with the bottle you used. Buy a good quality hydrometer.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALLA-CIDER-HYDROMETER-/380567137311?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item589b91ac1f

Hint: In the future use high quality champagne bottles (you can cap with a crown) to allow more pressure / sparkling more safely.

Hint 2: This book is the only book you'll need to make great cider. http://www.amazon.com/New-Cider-Makers-Handbook-Comprehensive/dp/1603584730/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1420595963&sr=8-1&keywords=cider

I'm sure everyone will frown upon this...but I've been experimenting with store bought juice ciders and have found the best results with Cider House cider....http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N2WGUPW/ref=sr_ph?ie=UTF8&qid=1458092462&sr=1&keywords=cider+house+cider

I'm still producing ciders that are a bit more sour than I like, but I get the sweetest results from this brand.

Note: have tried Nottingham and K1-V1116...but still like Cider House better. Just my two cents ;)

I'm not sure what your budget is or where you are located, but maybe something like this could help?

​

https://www.amazon.com/FastFerment-Conical-Fermenter-Fermenter-fermenter/dp/B077X2261T/

​

It has attachments to catch a lot of the lees in a mason jar, and some other "upgrades". Hopefully, this helps. Best of luck on your journey!

The New Cider Maker's Handbook is an amazing resource. It may be overkill if you are just starting out. It covers the cider making process but also covers apple growing as well.

My wife and I purchased an orchard last year and hope to start a small cidery in the future. This book has been an incredible amount of help. It is basically a textbook for cider making.

What growing zone are you? Slovenia ranges from 6b-9a + probably has microclimates. This is the same as England but perhaps with more sun and less rain?

Buy:
The New Cider Maker's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for Craft Producers

https://www.amazon.com/New-Cider-Makers-Handbook-Comprehensive/dp/1603584730/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1541706360&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=cider+makers&dpPl=1&dpID=61Zf0oSwl-L&ref=plSrch

There is an excellent section on apple choices.

If you want faster production buy pre-grafted, well feathered bare root trees on the rootstock of your choice. This is usually hard to find.

If you can lose 3 years then but the rootstock of your choice and buy the scion wood/bud wood of the varieties you want and graft them yourself.

Focus on the bitter-sweets and the bitter-sharps. You can probably buy the sweets and sharps locally and then just blend.

Does the shop stock any cider books? Seems like a win-win if they'd let you borrow a book or two.

Start at the top of this list and work your way down. Reading a few of these books will be a far superior learning experience to browsing online and trying to piece information together.

Cider Appreciation and History
World's Best Cider: Taste, Tradition and Terroir, from Somerset to Seattle
The Naked Guide to Cider
Cider - CAMRA
Ciderland
Golden Fire: The Story of Cider

I also enjoy Alan Stone's cider books, but the best one is currently sold out.

Apples and Cider Making
Haynes Cider Enthusiasts' Manual: The Practical Guide to Growing Apples and Making Cider
Craft Cider Making
How to Grow Apples and Make Cider
The Apple Orchard: The Story of Our Most English Fruit

ordinarily id say safale s04 , nottinghams or one of the other ale yeasts, but this relatively new cider yeast has been getting great reviews.
https://www.amazon.com/Cider-House-Select-Premium-Yeast-3/dp/B00N2WGUPW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1482339812&sr=8-1&keywords=cider+yeast
I havent tried it personally yet, Ive got a batch going in soon with it and Im looking forward to the outcome.

check out the yeast experimentation thread on homebrewforums by cvillekevin. lots of good yeasts to try there too.
here it is
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=83060
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=83060&page=84#post5710045

For mead "the compleat meadmaker" by Schramm is considered the bible and IMO is just an awesome all around brewing guide. This guy

https://www.amazon.com/Cider-Hard-Sweet-History-Traditions/dp/1581572077

Is an excellent cider primer. The sidebar also has some good links.

There is a lot of interesting choices these days on our beloved mega-online-corp site for ~$100 or less.

Like:

- https://www.amazon.com/Pressurized-Beer-Mini-Keg-System/dp/B07DQ7CLKP/ref=sr_1_5

- https://www.amazon.com/Nostalgia-CBG64-HomeCrraft-Growler-64-Ounce/dp/B074RF71TL/ref=sr_1_13

- https://www.amazon.com/YaeBrew-Ounce-Homebrew-System-Home/dp/B0732ZQ8RM/ref=sr_1_28

​

But almost all of them are spotty as well. And not a lot of non-mega-corp website reviews. =(

Thanks again for the tips!

I just found this Gravenstein apple juice at Wholes Food as well: https://primenow.amazon.com/dp/B074H6YNP8?qid=1540990704&m=A1VASERKDRIISR&sr=1-145&ref_=pn_sr_sg_25_img_A1VASERKDRIISR

Looks like there have been some single varietal Gravenstein ciders made, so I might go with that.

> Any help would be appreciated, even a book or website with information.

The sidebar...

As for a book, The New Cider Maker's Handbook

Making Craft Cider - A Ciderist Guide (Simon McKie, 2011)

Craft Cider Making (Andrew Lea, 2008)

Cider - Making, Using and Enjoying Sweet & Hard Cider (Proulx & Nichols, 2003)

I have that one too and really like it.

http://smile.amazon.com/Cider-Hard-Sweet-History-Traditions/dp/1581572077/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1457138715&sr=8-4&keywords=cider

That's a good one

Get a Fruit Crusher and a apple press and have a great time.

The book Everything Hard Cider does a great job covering tons of different options and only $16 on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1440566186/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521755902&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=everything+hard+cider&dpPl=1&dpID=51GMaGAyTAL&ref=plSrch

http://www.ciderworkshop.com/links.html

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/cider-workshop

and the book, or should I say The Book https://www.amazon.com/New-Cider-Makers-Handbook-Comprehensive/dp/1603584730 by Claude Jolicoeur

The book written by Andrew Lew is also worth mentioning
https://www.amazon.com/Craft-Cider-Making-Andrew-Lea/dp/1785000152/ref=pd_sim_14_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CVG59HK1FJPH45NP3A6N

Both guys are active at mentioned google forum.

• 4 ½ gal Costco apple juice
  
• 30 oz frozen apple juice concentrate
  
• 5 campden tablets
  
• 5 tsp yeast nutrient
  
• 9 grams Cider House Select Premium Cider Yeast-3 Count
  
• SG: 1.068
  
  Probably somewhat unrealistic but I'm hoping to have this done by Christmas to give out as presents. Holy cow 5 gallons is a lot of liquid.

I came here to recommend the same book! Here's a link to it on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Cider-Makers-Handbook-Comprehensive/dp/1603584730/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=1P8SN20X1P4XJRWMP1SD

This one's my recommendation: http://www.amazon.com/Everything-Hard-Cider-Book-making/dp/1440566186/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1449552939&sr=8-3&keywords=cider+making

Plus, the author is in this sub all the time :)

The New Cider Maker's Handbook is a good start.

Oooo I want to try this. How many grams of yeast for six gallons? Do I need to buy a special sanitizer?

This is what I have in my cart right now:

[Airlock](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A6TRKO4/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?
smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1)

Yeast

6 gallon carboy

Anything I'm missing beside the juice?

This appears to be the same crusher under a different name. Reviews are mixed, though Fakespot says they're mostly-real. Anyway, lots of the 1- and 2-star reviews seem to indicate other folks have the same issue. Maybe flip through the 4- and 5-star reviews and see if anyone has suggestions for improvement? One I saw said adding more rows of "teeth" using screws made it more functional.

I have this:
https://www.amazon.ca/New-Cider-Makers-Handbook-Comprehensive/dp/1603584730
And this:
https://www.amazon.ca/Craft-Cider-Making-Andrew-Lea/dp/1904871984

The basic keys to avoid bad batches (I found out by making bad batches) are:

• Avoid contamination... get sulphite into it asap, keep everything hospital-clean.
  -Keep primary fermentation temps low, like 12-15 deg. celcius
  
  I didn't use any splenda, so mine is very dry, pretty tart... but no vinegar or off-flavors....
  
  Honestly, I didn't even check the spec. gravity when I racked... But I think cleanliness and temps are way more important than most other factors.

Probably more than you want to spend, but this would do it- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000XB5UHE/ref=asc_df_B000XB5UHE5192541/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B000XB5UHE&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167124686369&hvpos=1o4&hvnetw=g&hvrand=5708612962213490304&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9030456&hvtargid=pla-273475308682

https://www.amazon.com/New-Cider-Makers-Handbook-Comprehensive/dp/1603584730/

This is still the book I refer back to for all things cider: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1580175201/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=51odcvsVbwL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL100_SR100%2C100_&refRID=0X1YNTJ7A7G4W6D4RHEA

one book I borrowed from rev Nats library in the tap room

another local portland cidery's book on homebrewing cider