I’ve finally decided to try out home brewing apple cider. (The alcohol containing kind.)
Yesterday at the farmers market, I bought 1 gallon of Apple Cider – unpasteurized and no preservatives added – from Cherry Orchards in Crooksville, Ohio.
After the market, I went to the Athens Do It Yourself Shop – a home brewing shop in Athens – and bought a 1-gallon Vinter’s Best winemaking kit.
Once I got home from the market, I tore into the kit and found the recipes and started in on the process. Around 3pm or so I poured the 1-gallon of cider into the primary fermentation bucket and added the crushed Campden tablet to the mix.
Today, around noon, I added 1/2 a package of yeast to 1/2 cup of lukewarm water and added it to the fermenter. I’m excited at this point, because now is when things start to happen! I’ve got the lid on tight, and the airlock installed.
I just used the yeast that came with the kit. It’s a Red Star Montrachet “Active Dry Wine Yeast.” I’ve heard and read that champagne yeast is the best to use for cider making, but I just wanted to use what I already had.
Home brewing is something I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while! Especially after I went to the store the other day to buy some beer and everything was so damn expensive. I’ll probably do some cider for now, maybe try some wines but I definitely want to try out some beer soon too.
I am going to try to post updates as things happen!