Home Brews: Cider

With the growing popularity of home beer brewing and homemade wines, it has recently become popular to make your own cider. In the fall, when apples are harvested, you can find many people scouring fruit stands and farms for choice apples to make homemade cider.

Apples used in cider making are the same ones we eat. There are specific apples grown for cider, but most home cider makers choose to use regular eating apples as they have great flavours. The first step is scratting, a process that involves grinding down the apple to a pulp. The pulp is layered for a block, and the juice is extracted from this block of pulp.

After the liquid has been pressed from the pulp, it is strained, and then undergoes a fermentation process. Home cider makers will need to allow their cider about three months to ferment. For a more powerful cider, it can be fermented for up to several years.

Homemade cider makes a great gift during the holiday season. The cider maker has had time to select his apples, process them, and allow the cider to ferment just in time for the holidays. Beautiful glass bottles are available at brew stores that will make your cider look very attractive, which of course is only a preview of how wonderful it will taste. Beer bottles also make great bottles for homemade cider.

As cider is non-alcoholic, the home brewing process can be a family event and you can get the kids to help. Children naturally love to cook, and the process involved in making cider will delight them. So what are you waiting for? Go out and get some apples and start pressing!