Cider #15

1/5/22 - I bought three bags of apples at DeVoe’s Orchard the other day including two bags of macintosh-looking apples, then two of a more yellow big honey-crisp type. Two bags were enough to get the three-gallon carboy filled to below the top (to leave room to ferment). I added about ⅔ of the Lalvin EC-1118 wine yeast packet. I put the carboy upstairs in the closet. The cider is dark and delicious, with a specific gravity of like 1.044, for about 5.6% alcohol potential.

1/19/22 - The airlock almost completely stopped bubbling. There is a thick layer of sediment. I moved the carboy into the cold attic room to “cold crash”.

1/20/22 after a day of cold crashing, it looks very clear.

1/22/22 - I cleaned and sanitized transfer equipment and two mini kegs. I pushed a little CO₂ into each keg, then filled each one with the auto-siphon. When it started getting a little sedimenty, I put the rest into 2 little glass bottles, and a little into a pint glass. The mini-keg labeled with an apple is probably the one with slightly less sediment, but both should be good. The cider tastes good, but could use a little time to sit, there is a hint of off flavors, but barely, and I think it’s the type of flavors that go away given a little time. It’s always a little funky at this stage. Fingers crossed! 

I put the mini kegs in the cool room, then thought better of it and moved them to the upstairs closet to age a little.

1/24/22

I drank the more sedimenty bottle from the fridge, it was almost ⅓ sediment. It was fantastic! I’m psyched for what is to come!

1/28/22

The first mini is really really good. Light yellow color, clean refreshing taste, maybe the tiniest hint of something that gives it a little character.

1/29/22

The second mini keg tastes excellent, maybe even slightly cleaner than the first. I filled some bottles to give away and made some 4-pack beer bottle holders out of cardboard.