Wicked Hard Cidah!

The weather in Chicago has been on the cool side, and that means fall is here! Time for NFL football, baseball playoffs, and time for Wicked Hard Cidah!
Here are the stats:


3 gallons Organic apple juice, no preservatives
1 gallon 100% organic Gravenstien apple juice
1 vial White labs English cider yeast

I will ferment this bad boy for a couple weeks and then rack to secondary for 4 weeks. I'll back sweeten with apple cider and force carb in the keg. I will also add a touch of cinnamon and clove flavored simple syrup.

Cider and IPA Kegging Sessions

Well I decided to keg The IPA and the Cider, after I finally gathered all the kegging equipment. The IPA came out nice and hoppy, with a lot of malt character. At first It seemed a little too sweet, but as it aged a bit, and settled at the proper carbonation level, it actually turnned out not too bad. I don't think this stuff will last very long!
As for the Cider....
I ended up back sweetening with some apple cider that contained preservatives, some apple juice, and a simple syrup that I boiled with some cinnamon and clove. It tasted real nice, with good crisp apple flavor. Its got a nice tannin level that balances with the tartness and the sweetness of the cider.
The final gravity fell to 1.000, so with a starting gravity of 1.050 its should be around 6.5% ABV before I added the juice and sugar. The ABV should be a little lower after the addition.
Next time I might add some french oak and some honey or sugar to the recipe.

WICKED HARD CIDAH

This is the inaugural batch of hard cider. I have been wanting to do this for some time, and now that I'm fully stocked up on beer I thought I give it a go. I'm not a big fan of a lot of the American commercial products on the market. Unlike the European ciders, I feel they are too sweet and although it is impossible to determine the exact blend of apples, a Magner's Clone is what I am aiming for.

Wicked Hard Cidah

2 gal Wild Oats Organic Apple Juice

2 gal Hy's Apple Cider

4.5 Quarts 100% Gravenstein Apple Juice

Wyeast Cider Yeast

Making Cider is as easy as you want it to be. I just smacked the yeast pack the night before, let the juice warm up to 64 degrees, poured the juice in a sanitized bucket, pitched the yeast, aerated, and that's it. Some say to use yeast nutrient, some say to use Campden tabs to kill any wild yeast, and some say to make a starter. I wanted to start from a simple recipe and build upon it. I may add some oak in the secondary. All the juice had been pasteurized and none had added preservatives.

The next day it was bubbling like crazy!

The cider sat in primary for 2 weeks and secondary for 3 months.
When I kegged this I added about a quart of simple syrup that I made with clove and cinnamon sticks, along with about a half gallon of pasteurized apple cider. The best way is to add this in stages, and taste as you go to get the right sweetness level that you are looking for.