In-Cider Information

So I've been brewing cider at home for a few months now, and I'm getting pretty good at it. I just get a kick out of making something that I can enjoy and share with others, out of rather inexpensive and mundane materials. The system I have in place can turn out a fully chilled, carbonated and cleared 5 gallon keg in just under 3 weeks, and at a small fraction of what it would cost to buy something similar. Since I've made a few batches, I've decided to post some of the recipes I've tried and how they turned out.

"Shrade's Spiced Hard Apple Soda"

• 5 gallons of Musselman's Fresh Pressed Apple Cider


• 3 lb bottle of honey


• 16 oz bottle of Karo Light Syrup


• 1 packet of Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast, stirred and activated in 1 cup of lukewarm water for 10-15mins

Steep 2 gallons with a sachet of crushed whole clove, crushed cinnamon, rough ground nutmeg, crushed allspice and orange zest for 15-20mins, taking care not to bring the cider to a boil. Combine the 2 gallons of warm spiced cider, 3lbs of honey and the Karo syrup in the fermenting bucket, stirring with a whisk to mix it up well. Pour in the last 3 gallons and finish by pitching the yeast just before sealing the bucket and putting on the airlock. I let this sit for 10 days, then siphoned it off into a carboy for another week or so to clear. The result was a light golden-brown cider, about 8.5% abv, that tasted like the sparkling cure for a cold, gloomy winter day. The spices really stood out, without being overpowering, and the alcohol level was high enough to give you a warmth without being too potent to actually enjoy. This was a favorite of mine, and one I've since made a few more times.

"Shrade's Honey Perry"

• 3 gallons of Gerber's 100% pear juice (or 12 32 oz bottles, as the case was, see below)


• 2 gallons of GV apple juice


• 32 oz can of GV pears in syrup, blended


• 3 lbs honey


• 1 packet of Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast

D and I love Ace Pear Cider, so I decided to try my hand at one. This, however, proved to be a bit of a trick. See, just plain pear juice is really hard to find in any quantity without being ridiculously expensive. What I ended up having to do was raiding the toddler/infant food section at three different grocery stores to get just enough for 3 gallons. The rest I substituted with ye olde apple juice. Combine these in a fermenting bucket, stirring in the honey and the pear blend. Pitch the yeast before sealing and putting on the airlock. I let this sit only a week, then siphoned off and cleared for three days, as I wanted some of the sweetness of the pear to remain.
I also toyed with a new clearing technique: placing the carboy in the keggerator to clear. This chilled the cider to around 37-40 degrees, causing the yeast to go dormant and fall out fast. The result was a crystal clear sparkling pear cider, around 7.5% ABV, that was sweet and crisp. Perfect refreshment for a summer day.


"Cranberry Farm"

• 3 gallons of GV 100% Cranberry juice


• 1 lb of honey


• 16 oz Karo syrup


• Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast

When I asked D what flavor she'd want to try next, she quickly answered with "Cranberry." So cranberry it was. Combined the juice and honey into the bucket and pitched the yeast before sealing and airlock. I let this sit for nearly two weeks, in part because I got busy, but also because I knew there wasn't much sugar in there. Little sugar = little alcohol, so I wanted as much as I could get from this batch. It cold cleared in a carboy for only a day before kegging, and I sweetened it with the Karo syrup before sealing the keg. The result was something of a wine cooler. Think Boone's Farm, if Boone's made a cranberry. It was a little too sweet for my taste, but D loved it, and that's what I was going for all along, anyway. :)


"Apple Champagne"

• 5 gallons Treetop apple juice (highest sugar content per serving I could find)


• 3 lbs honey


• 32 oz Karo syrup


• Lalvin EC-1118 champaign yeast

I wanted to make a prosecco-esque batch of apple champagne. Combined 5 gallons of juice with the honey and one of the two bottles of Karo syrup. The idea was to get as much sugar as I could available in the mix. I let that sit for two and a half weeks, until the airlock didn't bubble anymore. I cold cleared it for a few days and poured in the other bottle of Karo Syrup just before kegging. The result was a very, very bubbly, but very dry, apple champagne, just shy of 13% ABV. At first, it was very hard to drink, as it was just really too dry. After a few days, it mellowed out a bit and was a lot more like a prosecco wine.

Weekend Intelligence: National April Fools' Day Weekend

For one day a year, every year, a certain degree of shenanigans and tomfoolery is not only expected, but welcomed. I take this day off every year, in part as a way of celebrating having PTO again, but also to celebrate the day with some relaxation and shenanigans of my own. So, in typical weekend intelligence fashion, here are the highlights.


Friday (aka: National April Fools' Day)


D decided to take the day off with me, and we both got up early to take the kids to daycare and head out to Calaveras Lake for some April Fishing. I'd had pretty decent luck out there in the past, and the weather was pretty good for fishing: cool (but not cold), cloudy with hints of fog and drizzle. There was one other guy who was out there since the crack of early, so there was plenty of room on the dock.


After getting the rigs in place and the lines cast, D and I updated our Facebook statuses to reflect the national holiday. We even had one of our friends believing that April Fools' Day was actually a national holiday that everyone had off from work, leading her to wonder why her husband was working. We left that to him to explain. :P


In the end, though, it was the April Fish that had the best prank of all - we didn't really get a single bite all morning. Even the guy that was out there before the sun only had one catch all day. We packed up by noon and had a lunch at the Flying Saucer before crashing for an epic nap: a very relaxing way to spend a day!


Saturday (and what was left of Sunday)


Some good friends of ours were throwing two parties on the same day. The first was for their son, who just turned two, while the second was a birthday/housewarming party for later so the grown-ups could celebrate their gorgeous new house. I took Clara to the first one while D took a nap. It was your standard toddler birthday party in South Texas: lots of children and family and presents, BBQ and queso, cake, ice cream, a pinata and the relentless San Antonio sun. They had set up a trampoline in the back yard as well for the children to jump around on, complete with a guard net so they could literally bounce off the walls. Needless to say, Clara had a blast.


Later, once the family had departed and the children were out of the house, the grown-up party started. Colin, Clara and Elizabeth (Kevin's daughter) spent the night at Noni's while we all went over to bring the party. And boy did we ever. We brought a bottle of Black Cask, half a dozen Monsters and the piece de resistance: two 5 gallon kegs of my fine homebrew - one with "Apple Champagne" and the other with what I referred to as "Apple Pie Cider." Someone had brought a karaoke machine with Billboard DVDs, and they had set up a dart board since the birthday party.


So after a cup of cider or seven, and much squawking on the karaoke machine, I decide that the trampoline is looking mighty inviting. A few other people agree, so we all dart out the door to the back yard, take our shoes off and go crazy. It had been many, many years since I was last on a trampoline, but in that state, it all seemed to come back to me really easily. Hell, I could still handle doing flips and splits!


But you know what couldn't handle them?


My shorts.


Yup. That's right. On my final jump, I split my shorts all the way down the right inseam; my gray boxers the only thing shielding my business from the eyes and elements of the outside world. But I stayed classy (intended to be viewed together, and only with the finest Scotch and Cuban cigars). I mean, it's not like I was going to drive home to change like that, and D and Kevin were in no shape to drive me anywhere, either. Just had a good laugh of it, another drink, some darts and some karaoke. Several of us crashed out around 2am, only to have the birthday girl run around the house hollering around 4am to wake everyone up to party some more.


Not so much. At one point, she went to Kevin and yelled at him to get up, only to have him briefly laugh at her and continue his snoring. The party ended about 5am, with the few people still there passed out randomly around the house. D and I took an air mattress in the living room and slept until it was time to pack up the kegs, (much lighter by that time, the cider was a big hit) get the kids and Sunday donuts. Naps were pretty much the order of the rest of the day for Sunday, even trumping the weekly grocery and supply run.


We just didn't have much else after a party like that. But it's all good: I can't think of a better way to finish off the weekend that celebrates fools than to be one.