Today, we started a new batch of hard cider. It is my tenth batch of hard cider and slowly I’m getting a better feel for the craft. At its simplest, hard cider making is very easy. Get a carboy full of cider, throw in some yeast, put a vapor lock on it and let it sit for about two or three weeks. Then, rack off the cider into bottles and when you are ready, drink them.

Then, you start getting into the details. Do you want to just use the natural yeast in the cider, or do you want to add specific types of yeasts? You can never be sure what you’ll get if you use the natural yeast, so I’ve always used some fine yeast from a brew store. My first batch used champagne yeast. This yeast eats up as much sugar as it can and results in strong dry ciders very much like a white wine. It isn’t the sort of cider that I’m interested in, so I’ve ended up mostly using ale yeasts. With them, I’ve gotten some nice ciders similar to English ciders.

Then, there is the question of whether or not to add sugars to make a stronger cider. Many people like to add brown sugar. Many of our batches have been without any added sugars. I’ve liked the way they’ve came out. However, we have also experimented with adding maple syrup. We add about half a cup of maple syrup per gallon of cider. We’ve made some great hard ciders that way, and our preferred cider is probably made with ale yeast and maple syrup.

With our basic approach pretty standardized, it is time to start exploring finer points. Last year for Christmas, my wife Kim bought me a hydrometer. This year, I’ve been measuring the specific gravity of the fresh cider when I start and the hard cider when I’m done. The first batch started at about 1.052 and ended up at about .998. To some of that, we added two cups of maple syrup which raised it back to 1.019. We let it work a little longer and ended up at 1.012 when we bottled it. This is a sweeter cider than we usually make and we expect it will have some nice fizz to it.

Besides thinking about the specific gravity, I’m now paying attention to when it is fermented and the apples used. The first batch started in mid September, and we had some warm days. It fermented quickly, eating up most of the sugar. The apples were a combination of Honeycrisps, Macintoshes, and Gala. The fresh cider had a light sweet applely taste. When it came time for the second fermentation, there wasn’t much yeast left and it didn’t work as much. We deliberated whether to bottle it, or let the second fermentation go for another week or two. In the end, we decided on a sweeter, more fizzy cider.

I’ve just racked off the second batch to its second fermentation. This batch was also at 1.052 specific gravity. It was made up of Macintosh and Macoun apples. My wife really likes Macouns and we’ve decided to do this as a straight batch with no added sugars.

The third batch which we just started is a combination of Empire, Macintosh and Macoun apples. As we get later into the year, the sugar content is creeping up and this batch started at a specific gravity of 1.056. The days are getting cooler and it may take longer to ferment. A new experiment for this batch is using the yeast and some of the cider from the previous batch as a starter for this batch. The idea is similar to how people would make sourdough and always keep some for starter for the next batch of sourdough bread.

We will watch how this cider ferments. We will taste it when we rack it off from the first fermentation to the second and decide whether to add sugars, whether to bottle it while it is still a little sweet, and other things to try and create the story of this cider batch. Then, it will be time for another batch.