Growing Apples for Homemade Cider

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Keep your full carboy at room temperature for the primary fermentation. Keep the cap off the air lock at this point, for the jug will froth and foam vigorously for a few days. When this boiling-over stage is complete, wipe down the sides of the carboy and thoroughly rinse the air lock. Utilize some of the Campden tablet solution for the water seal in the nowclean air lock; this prevents vinegar bacteria from getting into the cider while at the same time allowing carbon dioxide gas to escape during the secondary fermentation. A regular bubbling will continue for three months or more, depending on holding temperature and the vigor of the yeast. A smoother cider results from a slower fermentation at cooler temperatures in the 40 to 60°F range. When the bubbling subsides, the cider is ready for a first taste and to be bottled.

Siphon the cider from the carboy with a flexible plastic tube so as not to disturb the sediment at the bottom. Rinse all your bottles and caps with the precautionary Campden tablet solution—recycled wine bottles work well; but if corked, set them on their sides so the cork stays swollen. Allow neck room for temperature expansion in a glass bottle with a screw top—I once gave to friends a full gallon jug of cider from my cellar stores that shattered soon after being placed in their warmer kitchen. A hard cider with a minimum alcohol content of 5.7 percent will keep for years and get mellower with age. Limit your annual productions for personal consumption to 200 gallons though (in a household with two adults), to stay within the confines of federal law. A bottle of hard cider should be consumed within a week or two of being opened, for once exposed to air, vinegar bacteria will take the cider to a final conclusion.

Making Cider Vinegar

Cider vinegar is the end result of cider left to sit in the open air. The alcohol converts to an acetic acid in the presence of vinegar bacteria, classified en masse as acetobacter. My first attempt at making vinegar was simply setting aside a few jugs of sweet cider that had gone fizzy to "do its thing;" in the hopes of producing a few interesting gifts for friends. Some months later one jug was a delightfully clear vinegar, but the other two remained cloudy and off-tasting. There are numerous strains of bacteria that made foul play of the sugars in these latter jugs of partiallyfermented cider. I was lucky in the one. The surest way to make good vinegar every time is to make hard cider first and then rely on "mother."

A vinegar mother is the gelatinous mass of acetobacter to be found floating on the top of a finished crock of vinegar. You can purchase a "Mother of Vinegar" at many health food stores, or start your own. Simply pour some hard cider into a pint jar, cover with cheesecloth to keep out fruitflies, and place in a warm dark place. The acetobacter will form a motherly layer on top in a few weeks and you'll notice the distinct smell of vinegar.

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