3 Gallon Cider Experiment

My wife and I traveled to Ireland about a year ago where we found a delicious treat that is not duplicated in the United States. Bulmers (sold in U.S. as Magners), and Cashel were two varieties of hard ciders that are not like their American cousins Hornsby's, and Woodchuck. We found these hard ciders to be crisp, clean and refreshing without excessive use of sweeteners. Since I have not been able to find Magners in our local retailers, I had the idea of making our own version. Sometime in January, our local grocery store was trying to get rid of their final couple of gallons of apple cider for cheap. I grabbed three of them as well as some lager yeast and brown sugar.

Brewing the concoction was easy. I combined 1 gallon of the cider, 2# honey, 1/2# brown sugar, and 8oz molasses into a large pot and heated until the ingredients were mixed well. I poured the "wort" into the carboy and topped off with the remaining two gallons. After 3 weeks in the primary fermenter, we bottled the cider with some priming sugar to give it some carbonation. I did sample some of the still product before bottling and I had mixed feelings. It had certainly made great progress in fermentation as there was a considerable warm mouth feel associated with higher alcohol percentage. In hindsight, I should have taken gravity measurements to determine the final alcohol content, but forgot to while going through the initial processes. Other flavors were present including the sweetness from the honey.

The honey that we like to use around our house and for brewing has a great flavor and, best of all, is harvested in small batches from a family-owned business down the road from my parents in Ohio. It's always great to understand where the product is coming from, especially with ingredients such as honey where the product takes on the flavor of the surrounding environment. It's also exciting to support a small family-owned business that has similar practices.

Back to the cider. There was a smell and flavor that seemed to be that of the yeast that was not that dissimilar to the aromatics of baking yeast. I'm hoping this flavor blends away during the bottle conditioning process. I know that the final product will not be what we experienced in Ireland, but something close is what I'm aiming for. I'll provide an update (with pics) when we crack one of the bottles open. Hopefully, very soon.