Conference turris::cooks

Apple cider is just apples that are chopped up, then pressed in a cider press. 
Macintosh apples make about the best cider.  Typically, you can use drops, or
small or blemished apples.  Unless you have a cider press, or lots of apple 
trees, you are probably better off buying cider from a farm stand or orchard.
Look at the label, and DON'T accept any pasturized or filtered ciders or 
anything labeled "Apple Juice," cuz it ain't the real thing.  

If you go to an orchard, ask about the variety of apples used.  Also ask for a
taste.  A good local fresh pressed cider in the fall will have a sweet taste
with a bit of the apple tartness still present.  In the winter, cider is made
from siloed apples, and lacks the tartness.  Winter cider is a bit thinner
than fall cider, too.  By the way, you can freeze the cider you buy in the
fall and save it for the winter time. 

If you buy unpasturized cider, make sure you refrigerate it.  DON'T let it 
ferment in the plastic jugs it is sold in.  If you want cider to harden 
(ferment), put it in glass.

Mulled cider is just cider and spices that are brought to a simmer to allow 
the spices to steep into the cider.  Once it is mulled, it can be served cold 
or hot (better), with or without booze in it (Burbon or Dark rum are best!).
Use "apple pie spices" to mull cider, but look for whole ones (cinnamon 
sticks, alspice berries, ginger root, star anise, cloves), or buy a package of 
mulling spices from the store.  A good cider will have lots of sediment as it 
cooks.  This sediment is good, and should be stirred up into the cider before 
it is served (it's the stuff that is missing when you buy pasturized cider or 
juice).

						     
							- JP

ps- If you are not from the apple country of New England (or perhaps the 
Pacific Northwest), a lot of these options may not be available locally.

    I like to age my cider.  Unfortunately, by the time it's gone, it
    hasn't aged much :) .
    
    Why should the fermentation process be restricted to a glass container
    and not the original plastic jug?
    
    Frank

    This isn't the official answer to the plastic/glass question, but...
    
    I once had 6 gallons (plastic) of cider that had started to turn in my
    Volkswagen and was rear-ended and pushed into the car in front
    of me!  All six jugs *exploded* and as the cop walks up to my door,
    I am sitting there with hard cider dripping off the ceiling - Whew!
    the smell!  And the gnats that showed up the next day! Yecch!
    
    It's been glass for me from then on!
    
    Terry
    

I remember reading somewhere that the fermentation process interacts with the 
plastic used in the jug to form some sort of toxins.

						- jp

    Years back someone told me if you get a jug of cider, put a
    handful of raisins in it, set it outside to freeze, remove
    the ice that forms, what you are left with is applejack...
    
    Anyone ever hear of this.....or better yet, try it?
    
    Rick

     RE: .5
    
>    Years back someone told me if you get a jug of cider, put a
>    handful of raisins in it, set it outside to freeze, remove
>    the ice that forms, what you are left with is applejack...
    
    My father used to tell me about placing a jug of cider in the snow
    thoughout the winter and in the spring you'd have applejack, but
    I never heard of putting raisins in it.
    
    Moe
    

I had heard that freezing hard cider (already fermented) and filtering out the 
ice produced apple jack.  If you put out plain cider, it would get too cold to 
allow fermentation, then it would just freeze up.   Of course this recipe 
might be counting on the thaws and warm days to help a bit, but it seems like 
it would be too easy for the stuff to go by (turn to vinegar).  

The raisins probably help with fermentation by adding sugar, and maybe some 
yeast?

						     
							- JP

Here's how it was explained to me.

Cider that is allowed (or helped) to ferment, and thus produce a small
alcolohic content, is HARD CIDER. It probably has less alcohol than wine.
Enough, though, to turn a quiet get-together into a guitar-picking,
singing and hand-clapping party.

Then, hard cider is allowed to freeze (by whatever means). What freezes
is mostly water; what *doesn't* freeze is mostly alcolhol, and that's
APPLE JACK. As I recall, my friend told me he freezes ten gallons of hard
cider and gets maybe a quart of apple jack.

Art

    
      ref .9	"it probably has less alcohol than wine"
    	boy are you wrong there.
           
    I made hard cider last year and will make 10 gallons this year.
     My inlaws have been making cider for years and the hard cider we
    make has more alcohol than wine.  i will post the recipe here for
    all who wish to partake of the essence.
    
    CAUTION PLEASE DRINK THIS STUFF WITH ANOTHER MEANS OF GETTING HOME.
 
       ingredients
    5 gallons sweet cider
    3 lbs brown sugar
    3 lbs honey
    1 pkg champagne yeast
      
   directions.
    using 5 gallon glass carbuoy strain 3 gallons of cider into carbuoy.
     the finer the mesh the better, pulp will make the concoction smell
    rank.	strain approx .5 gallon in pot on stove and heat enough
    to allow the sugar and honey to be disolved thoroughly.  pour mixture
    in carbuoy and finish filling the carbuoy to just bellow the neck.
    you will have some cider left over so don't waste it drink it.
    pitch the yeast and stopper the carbuoy with an airlock.  watch it
    go and when fermentation stops bottle cider in what ever size jugs
    you want.  be sure the fermentation process has stopped before
    bottling.  in 12 oz bottles add .25 tsp sugar, for quarts add .50
    tsp and for gallons add 1 tsp.  this will add a little carbonation
    and prevent spoillage (vinegar)                
    
    	have fun
    	froggy
    

    
    	I recently purchased some cider and did not notice that it was
    pasturized until I got home. My question is, can I still turn this
    into HARD CIDER ? To do this I would guess that I would need to
    add some kind of yeast. Can I us regular yeast or do I need brewers
    yeast and if I need brewers yeast where in the Detroit area could
    I possibly buy some ?
    
    
    
    				Thanks,
    
    					jim

RE: .13 (about cider and applejack)

Cider is the juice from pressed apples, with no filtration (the filtered and
processed stuff is apple juice).  If the juice hasn't been pasteurized, then
the yeasts and bacteria that normally live on apple skins will be present,
and if the cider is kept warm enough, they will start fermenting the sugars
in the apple juice.  This is exactly how they make wine in Europe (where the
right kind of yeast grows wild on the grapes in the vineyards), only with
apples instead of grapes.  The fermented cider is called "hard" (meaning
alcoholic) cider.  If you ferment it naturally like this, you have to drink
it at the right time, after the sugar has been fermented to alcohol, but
before the vinegar bacteria get started in fermenting the alcohol to acetic
acid (leaving you eventually with cider vinegar, or "turned cider").  If
you use pasteurized cider, there won't be any yeasts or bacteria present, 
so you must add your own yeast to get fermentation started.  Use champagne
or beer yeasts, which are meant to produce alcoholic beverages, rather than
baker's yeast.

Most apples aren't as sweet as wine grapes, so cider normally doesn't get as
alcoholic as wine.  I'd guess it gets about 6% or so (whereas wine is usually
in the 10-13% alcohol range).  You can get more kick in your cider if you
sweeten it first, which is the technique in the recipe in a previous reply
to this note.  If you're doing this, I'd use a yeast starter culture rather
than relying on the natural bugs, otherwise the chance is high that it will
start to turn to vinegar before reaching its full alcoholic glory.

Applejack is distilled cider.  Its fanciest form (made in a still and aged
in oak and all that) is called Calvados and comes from France.  It's as refined
(and expensive) as fine cognac.  The home stuff is usually made by freeze
distallation (since operating home stills is illegal in the U.S.).  You let
the water freeze out as ice and the flavorings and alcohol remain behind.
The purpose of the raisins is to provide a surface for the ice crystals to form
on.

--PSW

We bought some cider recently (no preservatives, never pasteurized), and put
it  in  the fridge. We didn't finish it, and now the half that's left smells
exactly like hard cider. I'm wondering if it is safe to drink it. If so, I'd
like  to, because I'm a real fan of hard cider. Reading this note, it sounds
like,  apart  from being in the fridge, it has been treated pretty much like
cider that is intentionally fermented.

- Brad

    
     I would say it is safe to drink. Hard cider is one of my favorites
    too!!! 
    
     -mike
    

    
    
      Well, a friend of mine and myself made this last week. The results
    are fantasic!!! The only think we did different was to add two packets
    of yeast instead of one. It took about 2 1/2 weeks before the bubbling
    stopped. Be carefull though. During the bottling process we each
    consumed about 20-25 oz of the stuff. By the end of the night we were
    both totally PLASTERED. This is powerfull stuff!
    
    
    						Joe