Elephants in captivity have been known to gather apples given to them by keepers and hide them. After a while, these apples ferment and the elephants eat them to get drunk. What this says about the mammalian urge to get wasted is impressive enough but it also points to the general wisdom of elephants. After all, fermented apples are awesome and this is the right time of year to be sipping ciders, hard or otherwise.
Harvest festivals and apple presses are in full swing. Apple cider can be bought in the grocery store for about $4 per gallon, though the swill likely to be picked up at the Safeway or Giant is far inferior to that produced by local farms.
No preservatives and a more variegated source of juice are the best reasons to drive out to the County to places like Weber’s Farm (though picking up your Halloween pumpkin, apple cider doughnuts, and large amounts of root veggies for baking are also good ones.) These days, cider pressing is a far cry from what it used to be. Flash pasteurization is the norm, as opposed to the rawer product that our parents and grandparents grew up drinking. E. Coli scares and general paranoia about food borne illness as well as the sad preponderance of the devolved, degenerate Red Delicious apple have robbed much of America of the traditions of our forefathers. And while being concerned with health is laudable, small cider presses can no longer produce product in accordance with our now very stringent health laws, so the big companies get to sell all of us what amounts to sugar water with very little actual apple flavor.
My first foray into crafting libations was hard cider. The process is incredibly simple in comparison to making beers, though it requires significantly more patience. Press some apples and pitch yeast into the resultant cider and you’re already three quarters of the way done. Farm suppliers like the aforementioned Weber’s produce un-preserved cider that is perfect for producing very, very alcoholic hard ciders.
Finding un-pasteurized cider without pressing it yourself is difficult now, but finding juice that isn’t treated with sorbates is relatively easy. Google “Cider Mill,” include your area in the search, and coming up with reasonably fresh cider usually only requires a short drive.
One of the only remaining steps involves choosing yeast appropriate for the kind of cider you want. There are a fair multitude of options; my favorite is Nottingham’s dry ale variety, which you can find at any decent homebrew shop. Deciding if you want to add even more sugar in the form of honey, which technically makes your hard cider a cyser, or apple mead, is about all that’s left.
Patience becomes important once yeast is pitched, as a good batch of hard cider usually sits in primary fermentation for between three and six months, depending on the yeast. From that point, cider usually tastes best when allowed to sit for a long time. I try to make a six gallon batch per year, intending to always have some on hand.
Kegged and properly carbonated, my cyser lasts all year. I can serve it cold like a beer or warmed with some cinnamon or mulling spices depending on my mood. Cold nights are good cider nights. One glass is usually enough for two people. The five pounds of honey I add to the initial ferment bumps the final alcohol content up significantly enough to induce near-berserker rages.
Annie Proulx, author of the story made into the movie Brokeback Mountain (among other things) is also the author of a book detailing the variations in style and processes for fermenting hard ciders. This book or any of her pamphlets on the subject are good resources for jumping into making ciders.
If you look closely at this picture from last night’s game, you’ll see that not only was Belichick wearing his trademark oversized, dirty sweatshirt, but he was wearing it with torn sleeves. Makes me yearn for better days.
