One thing I love doing more than anything else, is brewing my own alcohol. It's such a rewarding past-time, and generally great value for money. I think I once worked it out to be around less than $2 per 700ml bottle for a GREAT tasting beer (depending on the recipe, of course).
The beers I've done so far have been of the extract variety, meaning someone else has done the hard work of converting the grains and malt etc to a gooey substance you just add water, sugars and yeast to. Not very exiting, but great for the beginner brewer.
These days I want to expand my brewing skills and move away from Extract brewing and into All Grain brewing, where I take the grains and malts etc and mash them up and extract the sugars from them etc myself. When my dream of owning my own land finally comes to fruition, I want to take it that extra step and actually grow my own grain...but that's a while off yet.
Because I'm currently still travelling, my options for brewing are all but non-existent. I don't have the space, nor inclination to buy or borrow the equipment needed for even the basic extract brewing, but I do have the space and equipment to make my own cider...from juice purchased at the store.
Here's what you'll need:
- 5L Fresh apple juice (make sure it has no preservatives*).
- Bread yeast
- Sugar
- 1 balloon with pin-holes in it
- a warm place to store it (on top of the fridge is good).
Here's what you do.
- Pour a cup of apple juice into a jar or something.
- Add a few tablespoons of sugar
- Add a teaspoon of yeast
- Mix it up vigorously (to aerate the mix and dissolve the sugar).
- Let it sit until foam appears on the top (about 2-3 hours, maybe more, maybe less)
While the yeast starter is sitting:
- Pour the rest of the juice into a pot (big enough to contain it all of course).
- Add 1 cup of sugar
- Bring the juice to a boil and dissolve the sugar
- Let cool.
- Pour the liquid back into the bottle it came out of.
Now all you do is pour the yeast mix into the bottle, stick the balloon over the opening and leave it in a cool dark place (it might be an idea to put into a bucket or tray as it may foam over and make a mess.
As the yeast starts doing it's thing, the balloon will expand (the two bi-products of yeast feeding off the sugars in the mix are ethanol (drinking alcohol) and CO2). Leave it alone for about a week to two weeks then stick it into the fridge to de-activate any yeast that may be still active.
Your cider is now ready to drink - however, you may want to syphon the liquid into a new container because there'll be a lot of sediment at the bottom of the bottle from all the dead yeast. It's not bad for you, but a clear glass of cider is nicer than a murky one.
The alcohol content should be anywhere between 5-9% - it's hard to measure without a hydrometer. The longer you leave it to ferment, the stronger it will be, but the dryer it will be as well. A week or two is good for a sweet cider.
That's it. That's how easy it is to make cider (or hard cider as the yanks call it).
Enjoy responsibly and with friends.
* If the juice contains Potassium Sorbate, you can still make cider. It may take a little longer to get started is all, but check out this Instructables enty or search for the "April 24th, 2007" entry on this page for more information.
While we're on the subject of cider, once your cider's ready to drink, it's also ready to make applejack with, and for the thrify travelling home brewer, all you need is a freezer, some thick paper towel and a cheap lettuce spinner.
