Not much tops a nice cold glass of home made hard apple cider on a hot Perth summers day. In this recipe I use a small 2L fermenting jar with a built in one way airlock. It makes just the right amount to share with a few friends over Sunday lunch.
As with my hard apple cider method, in a 5L demijohn, I don’t do a secondary fermentation and that means a flat beverage. I don’t mind and on the plus side I can simply take a jar that has been fermenting for about 4 weeks and chill it a few hours before I need it. No mess, no double handling and no decanting necessary.
Note: Please only follow this recipe if you are of a legal age to drink in your country. Don’t attempt this in an air tight glass jar, it will explode!
You will need:
- Ingredients:
- 4 apples (I use unpeeled apples that are passed their best)
- 1 small lemon or lime
- ~6 raisins (to add some wild yeasts to the mix)
- chilis to taste, sliced (optional)
- 1 teabag (to add some extra tannins to the mix)
- ~ half a sachet of yeast (I use bread yeast)
- 1 cup raw sugar
- boiling water (to sanitise everything)
- cooled boiled water
- Equipment
- a small bowl
- a fork
- a chopping board
- a long sharp knife
- a teacup
- a juicer for the lime
- a wet mixer
- a 2L fermenting jar with a built in one way airlock or similar
Steps:
- Sterilise everything with boiling water. I fill the fermenting jar with boiling water and let it sit while I prepare everything else. When it is cooled somewhat I empty half of it out. I also run boiling water over the fork, knife, measuring spoons etc.
- I also take some of the boiled water that has cooled to the point of being warm and get my yeast mix started. Bubbles let you know it is working.
- You can either puree the apples or chop them into chunks and then add to the jar. Try both methods and see which one you prefer 🙂 . I don’t use the cores but I do use the skins.
- Make a weak cup of tea and allow it to cool before adding to the jar.
- Juice your lemon or lime and add the juice to the jar.
- Add the 6 raisins, optional chilis and 1 cup raw sugar to the jar.
- Top up the fermenting jar with cooled pre-boiled water, leave a bit of room at the top though for the bubbles to come.
- Give it all a good stir with a fork and pop the lid down.
- Leave the fermenting jar somewhere out of the way until it starts bubbling well and then find a nice, dry dark place for it for about 4 weeks. In Perth you won’t have to worry about keeping it warm enough to keep the fermentation going. Most of the 4 weeks is about letting the flavours mature post fermentation really anyway.
If you ask me, cloudy is good 🙂.
Enjoy,
PK
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