Hard Cider – Fermentation Update

The hard cider is fermenting like wild. It’s by far the most active fermentation I’ve seen, much more aggressive than beers I have made in the past. I pitched the yeast on Saturday, put the carboy away in my chest freezer (set to around 70 degrees), and by Sunday morning it had a life of its own. As you can see, it was bubbling like mad. It also smells pretty good, which is relieving because I read that ciders can put off an awful smell once the yeasties kick in. I’m thinking it’s because I used sweet mead yeast instead of cider or ale yeast.

By the time it hit Day 3, the foamy krausen had already dropped back into the cider and it had cleared considerably. You can see the difference in color and cloudiness below, as well as the yeast cake that has already formed on the bottom.

Today is Day 5, and the fermentation lock is still bubbling about once every 2-3 seconds. In a few days, once fermentation has slowed a bit, I’m going to siphon it off of the yeast cake to avoid imparting any off flavors, then allow it a couple of weeks to clear. I want to drink this stuff already! More updates to come!

Making A Simple Hard Cider

Despite the warm Southern California temperature, I’m kind of in a pumpkin’-eating-leaves-changing Fall kinda mood, so I’ve decided to make a hard cider. I said to myself, “Self, what could possibly be better than a tasty glass of apple cider on an Fall day? Perhaps a tasty glass of apple cider on a Fall day that gives you a good buzz?” Correct answer.

I homebrew beer on a fairly regular basis, but I’ve never tried to make a hard cider for some reason, so I decided that the time is now. Like Aristotle once said, “Life is short, make hard cider.” Game on, Aristotle…game on.

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a couple of gallons of fresh, delicious, unpasteurized cider from an apple orchard, but unfortunately they were long gone by the time I decided to brew up some hard cider. The nearest orchards are a couple of hours away, so I just decided to pick some up at the grocery store for this batch. I also made a run to the local homebrew supply shop to get a couple of things. Here’s what I used for my 2.5 gallon batch:

Getting Started Homebrewing Your Own Beer – Part 1

Homebrewing your own beer is an amazing, rewarding hobby. I wouldn’t lie to you. Seriously, what could be more rewarding than drinking delicious fermented malt water that you created entirely on your own? Nothing.

There’s a bit of a learning curve and some special equipment that is needed though, so I thought I would write a short series of posts about what it takes to get started in homebrewing. Ready? Okay, let’s jump in.

The first step you should take to get started in homebrewing is….ready?…Get excited!…

Making a KIND bar clone

So I stumbled across a much more successful and established blog than my own called Peas and Thank You (this is only my 2nd post, give me a break, man!). The lady who runs the blog posted a recipe for making something very similar to a KIND bar. If you haven’t heard of KIND bars, they are a fancypants $2 bar usually made of a combination of nuts, fruit, and some other fairly healthy ingredients. They’re pretty tasty and perfect for hiking or a mid-day snack, so I was pretty pumped to try out her recipe. It’s pretty simple and straightforward, and delivers some delicious results. Here’s what I used for my recipe, just slightly different than Mama Pea’s recipe:

• 3 Tablespoons of whole ground flaxseed meal (or you could use whole flax seeds)
• 1/2 cup of honey (you could also use pure maple syrup)
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of whole almonds, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup of peanuts, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup of cashew, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup of dried cherries (you could also use raisins or your dried fruit of choice)
• 1/2 cup of good chocolate chips

Equipment you’ll probably need:

• 8in x 8in pan to bake in (you could probably use something bigger and just pack the goodness into a smaller area)
• Parchment paper (makes for easy clean up)

First, chop up your nuts (Sounds dirty, right?), and put the nuts, salt, and dried cherries in a large bowl:

Yeah, I started a blog. Don’t judge me.

To be honest with you, I’m probably not the ideal person to write a blog about baking, brewing, and living a moderately cool life. For starters, I don’t know a hell of a lot about baking. And I’m not cool like James Dean, and probably not even mildly cool like James McAvoy. And brewing is a hobby of mine, but I’m far from pro. And I start a lot of sentences with conjunctions. And, blogs sort of annoy me. Whenever I hear someone even say the word, “blog”, I want to tell them to pack up their iPhone and Kashi crackers and get the heck out of my face.

Regardless of these facts, I have decided to start a blog about baking and brewing because I enjoy them both. I find pleasure in creating something tasty from scratch and I like the idea of sharing that with other people. Also, people tend to think baking is for women or fellas who are into other fellas. I have nothing against either of those groups, but I’m a late-twenties straight guy who appreciates baking and I think the world should know it. Or at least the 4 or 5 people who accidentally stumble onto this site should know it.

As long as this blog lasts (a.k.a. as long as I stay motivated to write it), I also intend to post about other topics and hobbies that I enjoy including:  drinking craft beer, traveling, photography, and living life.

Well anyway, thanks for reading this and maybe I’ll see you soon.