Saturday, Beardsley’s Cider Mill in Shelton, CT made more cider than it ever has in a single day. Sunday, I was there to get some of the cider. Here’s the story.

A couple of years ago, after we had been pumpkin picking at Jones Farm, we stopped at the Cider Mill to get some cider and donuts. We noticed a Hard Cider Making Kit that they were selling and my wife said that probably we had all the tools we needed to make our own hard cider. Her first husband had been a brewer and we could probably have one of his old “carboys”; a big glass jug.

So, we picked up a carboy and started making our own hard cider. It’s pretty easy and I encourage first time readers to go back and read through the Hard Cider brewing section of my blog to read my experiences and pick up a few tips.

Beardsley’s gets a lot of people coming into their store after pumpkin picking and when the weather is good as it was this year, October can be a great month for them. As the later apples ripen, often with higher sugar content, many claim the cider gets better for fermenting. I must admit that I really like the hard cider brewed from some of the first apples of the year, but that is a whole different story.

So, as the pumpkin traffic dies down and the later apples start coming in, the folks at Beardsley’s Cider Mill make a special batch of sweet cider. Besides the Northern Spy and Winesap which make up most of the apples in the cider, they throw in some other apples and even a little bit of quince to make the cider a little tarter. Then, hard cider enthusiasts from around the state descend on the cider mill on the first Sunday of November. They line up their carboys waiting to get them filled.

As they wait, they share some of their best batches from previous years along with stories and tips about how to brew it. Personally, I like to make a very simple hard cider. I like to use an ale yeast, do two fermentations, and either add a little maple syrup, or nothing at all. This year there were a lot of people sharing ciders they had made with honey added. There was also a really nice raspberry cider that I’m thinking about trying next year.

Last year, the cider mill made 350 gallons, and it got sold out before everyone get their carboys filled. This year, they doubled the batch and made 700 gallons. On Sunday, they sold 440 gallons, so they still have some available.

If you’re a hard cider brewer, or thinking about brewing hard cider, this would be a good week to get over there and get some of this cider before its gone. For that matter, it is also a great fresh cider, so you might consider picking up a gallon or two just to drink as is.