Hard Apple Cider for BEGINNERS - Everything at the Grocery Store

[@spudhead169]

I'm not a brewer, never brewed a thing in my life. I watch this channel religiously though. You guys are just fun to watch and to see how the stuff you're making turns out. But Friday, on a whim, I bought my first lot of brewing kit and I'm going to give it shot. No matter how my first try turns out (not started yet) I just wanted to say thanks for the motivation.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Awesome! Enjoy!

[@zachary1417]

You should, my first two meads were garbage and I just over flavored my most recent with orange peels and destroyed the flavor. But, I have learned a ton and only wasted about $100 in the last two years. I am learning and there’s nothing better than taking a drink from your aged bottle and it being delicious.

[@poeticlouise]

In reference to your comment od mixed apple type ... I think that "colonial" (1600-1700s) apple cider was made with crab apples. Please research it

[@CitySteadingBrews]

@poeticlouise I have. Yes, cider is often made with crabapples.

[@spudhead169]

@@Zach-h2lI think the most positive way I can answer that is: My first brew was a "learning experience".

[@1bobvideo]

My dad made wine for as long as I can remember. I'm 55, and until now, I've never thought about trying to make anything like that. Something just struck me to try my hand at it. After watching a bunch of videos and visiting some local wineries, we stumbled across a brewery/bar that specialized in ciders. We tried several flavors and really liked it. So from there, I started searching for "how to" cider videos and found your channel. I just bottled my first batch of hard apple cider. I tasted it before bottling and it had very much a wine flavor. We'll see how it turns out after aging a couple more weeks. Thanks for all the info you guys share on here!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Awesome! Happy to help!

[@RedGreen1]

Y'all I just took a hydrometer reading and tasted my first cider (fresh pressed apple) and it's almost done fermenting! Thanks for being so inspirational and making it approachable.

[@ThomasWilliams-ee6li]

Minnesotan here and have 6 apple trees and 2 pear trees in the yard. My apple choices would have been way different and also the preparation of the apples. Macerate and heat the apples with a small amount of liquid to get the most flavor out of them. I did this with the pears and created juice with the thought of making cider. Unfortunately we discovered bourbon and fresh pear juice over ice. For two people that don't drink much, this has become the nectar of the gods. So, no pear cider this year. I think though that the apple trees can provide something to Thanksgiving with the help of this video. Thanks.

[@caninedrill_instructor5861]

May I ask? What yeast are you using?

[@ThomasWilliams-ee6li]

@@caninedrill_instructor5861 Bread yeast, just like this video.

[@caninedrill_instructor5861]

@ThomasWilliams-ee6li Thanks Sir.

[@stevenweir9437]

I recently picked 40lbs of apples and cooked then down to a concentrate to ensure that the only yeast would be the yeast I use. 5lbs honey and a bit of white sugar to adjust sg. Also 1lb bochet honey. Starting gravity of 1.111. It's been very active for two weeks showing no signs of slowing yet. It smells so good at the airlock. By next Xmas it should be nicely aged

[@tim-timman8868]

Just want to say thank you, thank you, thank you! I've watched and learned a ton from you. You explicitly saying - time and time again - to put the fermentor on a tray with lips really saved me from a big mess and damage with my first (accidentally) wild fermentering apple wine. The long and in-depth format with your videos, along with sprinkles of humor, is just great. And I really appreciate that you don't oversimplify the process - except when you purposely do it as an experiment. Thanks again ❤

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Happy to help :)

[@frankkeltch5260]

Last year I used store bought apple cider added white sugar and fermented. Then i added the apple pie moonshine flavor tin thats is available on Amazon. I let it steep with the spuces that were in the tin. Then bottled. I still have a few bottles and they still taste great. I did make 3gals at one time.

[@WalidFeghali]

Just made this. My god this was delicious. Making one more, but with cinnamon and some christmassy spices. Thanks guys

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Awesome!

[@cameroncowie8451]

We have carbonation Well done, 1st racking always works a treat When its beer or cider Cant wait for the next brew You should revisit the Braggot,but use a stout base And also try a german beer that uses salt to flavour called Gose Then theres the Graff, half beer Half cider I think you would be excellent tutors for the 3 brews i just mentioned, i love your professionalism and step by step methods Sending love from the Uk ❤

[@caninedrill_instructor5861]

Hello Brian and Ms. Derica, Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Why am I thanking you? Because after watching several of your videos, I had assembled a list for a Homebrew Starter Kit: Well, the final bit of kit arrived today. The wait was agonising... LOL Here's What I put on the list based on your videos: 1 32oz Star San ( 5.9g per 1 US gallon. Although, before I acquired the jeweler's scale, I went with 6g per US gallon. ) 1 3785ml/1 gallon ( US ) pitcher ( This thing is da bom!! I used it the day it got here to make Split pea milk ) 1 hydrometer ( I need to re-watch your Hydrometer video ) 1 100ml graduated cylinder 1 PH meter 1 Auto-Siphon ( I'm debating on cutting the hose into two equal lengths ) 1 Bottle filling wand ( With spring valve ) 1 Turkey Master Baster 1 Jeweler's Scale ( I already had a digital kitchen scale that can handle up to 4990g/11 lbs, but only goes down to a gram ). 1 TBBOS ( The Black Bucket Of Sanitisation a cousin to your TRBOS) 4 Carboys: 3785ml/1 gallon ( US ) + lids, bungs, and airlocks To the above I added: 4 Bottle brushes. 12 500ml/17oz swing top dark amber beer bottles ( I'd ordered these before I discovered your channel. May lay in a dozen 1l swingtop bottles, depends on how this experiment turns out ) 1 24 bottle air drying rack ( Safest way I know to airdry bottles without them being knocked over by my resident felinoids. i.e. Miss Reba, and Miss Cookie ) 4 Stainless steel fine mesh sieves ( 4, assorted sizes. I'll be honest, I bought these to aid in straining the plant base milks that I make every week. ) 1 Bomb shelter ( I didn't have to buy this, I have had it in my garage for a few years ). I started really getting into baking again in 2022. That's what led to me buying the kitchen scale and to use metric in my Domestic Culinary Laboratory aka the kitchen. Metric, is more precise and just makes a lot of sense. The hardest part is converting the measuring spoon size measurementgs to grams. LOL . So that is why you see the metric ahead of the imperial measurements in the list above. My first homebrew project is going to be Ginger beer. I'm going to attempt a head to head comparison between a Ginger Bug ( that I've started ) and Fleischmann's active dry bread yeast ( Three packet sleeve ) ( I have some Red Star active dry yeast in an unopened jar that I've kept in my refrigerator for a couple of years. So that may be used at some time ). I have some Red Star Active Dry yeast packets that I'll turn into yeast hulls as they've been sitting on my table for a couple of years so I'd rather not risk them in a brew for fear of failure.. Although, I may just use yeast now, and wiat until spring to restart the Ginger Bug project when it's warmer. As I generally during heating season I keep my house between 14.44C/58F and 18.88C/66F. During cooling season I keep it between 24.44C/76F and 26.66/80F. Project Ginger Bug UPDATE: We have FIZZ!! Looks like I'll be brewing tomorrow!! The head-to-head is on like Donkey Kong!! To prove that I've been paying attention, I know that your favourite yeast may not work so well here in the Midwest ( Hello from the Land of Lincoln! ) based on the temperature range that I maintian in my home. Which leads to my open question to my fellow viewers: Any community members from the Midwest, and/or Illinois: What Ale, or wine yeast has been your best producer, at cooler temps, at higher temps? I plan to bottle carbonate, then pasteurise. I think I've figured out a way to get around not being able to directly read the hydrometer. I'll snap a photo with my mobile then zoom it. A trick I use when grocery shopping to read those teeny-tiny ingredient's lists, or scope out prices on items too high up for me to see. This cider recipe looks doable. A quick side story on how TBBOS came to be. I'd ordered 2 white five gallon buckets with lids from Amazon to put cat food in. I received 3 black five gallon buckets without lids. Amazon did make it right with me, but they basically told me to keep the black buckets that I'd received by mistake. Being a former farmboy, I'm not going to turn my nose up at free buckets... LOL So TBBOS was born... Brian, and Ms. Derica, Thank you so very much for freely sharing this knowledge with all of us. As you can tell, I'm excited to begin this series of experiments.

[@collinmustain1718]

Just bottled first cider. Made with pears from my gfs parents and apples from her aunt. Fingers crossed it turns out well.

[@Khalrua]

I grew up in the finger lakes, apple country. In high school we took a bus over to Cornell University’s apple orchard to make cider. They taught us about the 3 flavor types of apples you need to blend to get a round profile. No joke they had a tree with apples that weighed over 5 lbs. they were each supported in nets so they could stay on the tree. We were allowed to pick any combination of apples for our cider. Mine won the “competition” we set up, to see who’s tasted best.

[@wendull811]

I'm not far away from the finger lakes, and I love this time of year. The apples and the smell of the fall leaves.

[@drewman747]

Hey small world! I grew up in Watkins Glen. I never took a trip to Cornell as a cider trip, but I have been to their gardens a few times. I love the Finger Lakes area at this time of the year. The foliage is amazingly vibrant and beautiful. I really do miss living there sometimes. Anyway, I tried a similar method as they did here, but I used a variety of juices instead of a variety of apples. I also used a little bit of frozen concentrate to add a more concentrated apple flavor. I did this because some of the juice was from concentrate. I also added some lemon juice to balance the acids. Anyway, happy brewing!

[@imd12b71]

I'm form new York too!! Hudson valley. in high school we used to get money from our parents to go " apple picking "lol... lets just say it was not with innocent intent that we made those trips haha. i don't think we ever ate one of those apples. i dont think we had ever gotten anything over 5% lol but the memories are priceless.

[@jamesb5863]

I want to thank you for your videos, I love watching the two of you chit chatting about brewing. You both bring a fun and laid-back element to your videos and brewing style. So the last gallon batch I made I used McCutcheons apple cider from Fresh market (and I got a nice fermenter out of it). Started it Aug 13th, bottled it Sep 16th. back sweetened it with sugar to taste, then added a bit more for the natural carbonation (and per your tip I added a tiny bit of yeast and mixed it all before bottling). Pasteurized them about 5 days later. The brew came out so good. Very good carbonation (maybe a bit on the high side) but just the right amount of sweetness. Now I have a mix of apple juice and tart cherry juice which fermented for almost 4 weeks and I just racked, I'll be back sweetening and bottling it next weekend. I have high hopes for this one. I tasted a little when I racked it and can definitely taste the tartness of the cherry but have the sweet hint of apple. I have a feeling it will be really good once sweetened more. I also started another plain apple cider from Publix apple juice, but this one I am trying a different yeast that i got from a friend, I've been using the Red Star champagne yeast in the yellow package but I made a trade with him for a Red Star blue package and I'll be curious how it will affect the taste. My first one I made with a Publix apple juice last year.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thanks for watching :)

[@jakobtonkin9712]

Just so y'all know how engaging you are. I started this while pasturising mead. I then forgot while being interested in the video. Thank god you mentioned it and I ran back to my stove to check. Thankfully no damage was done

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Whew! Glad nothing went wrong. I use timers because... Squirrel!

[@jakobtonkin9712]

@@CitySteadingBrews that would be wise. Sadly I am not a wise man

[@keithmcauslan943]

When you were talking about a different amount per different size bottle to carbonate, I immediately thought of a spreadsheet and do the math once and add it to the spreadsheet.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Why not just mix the amount into the full batch and not have to do any math?

[@russellfredrick6519]

You guys are the greatest! All the way through I was thinking how about a couple of cloves in there? Cider is my jam, you got me going on this one.

[@rayc5255]

First batch of our raw cider from Fujis (water boiled) was great with 5 cinnamon sticks and a couple shakes of ground cloves (was out of raw cloves). Sweetened just a tad with raw local sage honey after 1st straining. So good it was gone before even getting close to fermentating. Finished new batch must prep last night and getting ready to sanitize everything. Goal is having it fermenting in bubbler by this evening. Should be great!

[@Bobthebuilder.69]

I love the channel you guys. Thanks for all your hard work

[@rayc5255]

Found it Brian disregard pointer request in other vid. Weve got a prolific Fuji tree and finally made our frst batch of regular cider recently. Enjoying you two's channel immensely thanks

[@Paulnmoore]

I understand this is an ‘old’ video but: it’s new to me & I’m very happy I happened upon it. Being a 63 year old English man from the Wiltshire / Somerset county border area: cider is my juice; Neck Oil of The Gods!! If you ever go to the west country, you must go to Tuckers Grave Inn, an absolutely authentic countryside cider house. The more lumps’n’chunks & rats tails in your glass the stronger the cider😂 Living south of Boston for nearly 35 years, I’m very happy to see the explosion of cider making & the vast increase in availability. For at least 15 years, my annual cider intake was restricted to visiting the motherland. I’d go in most liquor stores to be told sorry, we don’t carry cider: there’s no call for it around here 😮 Now, I have so many Bud & Miller addicts converted to Cider-Heads 😊 After making home-brew for some years, my daughter gave me a cider making kit for Christmas last year, I’ve just this week got around to starting it. Apple farm ‘clean’ apple juice & yeast: all you need, right!! Hoping it’s ready for step 2 in about 10 days: update to follow!! Keep entertaining & educating us apple juice lovers with your Emmy worthy vids❤ Thanx & be well, Paul (aka Limey Bastid😮‍💨)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thank you and be well! Appreciate the story!

[@AdamFranklin500]

When choosing mixed apples for selection i totally agree with your choices Brian, one type of apple i would add to that selection as well though is Pink Lady. Pink Lady apples have a distinct, balanced sweet-tart flavour with subtle and complex notes of sweet honey offset with a hint of citrus and spice. They have floral aromatics reminiscent of vanilla and rose when perfectly ripe. Absolutely amazing for home brewed Cider

[@hardgrave2009]

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have just finished brewing this Cider, a little over 7 days. Stopped bubbling, and took readings, which stayed the same over 3 days. Approx 9.4% Alc. Back sweetened to my taste then forced carbonated in my mini keg. Drinking it whilst i type. Thanks again

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Awesome!

[@Simondadder]

This looks great. I’d imagine adding cranberry’s to this and some spices and you’d have an amazing Yule cider. Cheers guys.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Careful, those things can affect fermentation :)

[@pepperowl4034]

I am as i was told at a very young age,100 percent German, my ancesters would do sorta kinda what you are doing and let it freeze outside in the winter and have a small spicket type valve at the bottom of the wooden vessel it was stored in and the beverage they poured into there grog was awsome.

[@drdeathkitty]

Everytime I have watched one of your videos I hear the lecture about headspace to avoid overflow. i had never experienced that issue until i tried fermenting cherry juice... I have since been humbled and will start allowing more headspace for my brews.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It happens!

[@robertschroeder1978]

Great video, will be trying this method when I have a larger fermentation jar. As always, thank you both...

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Our pleasure!

[@evilbrewer]

Thank You so much - I learned so much and got a lot a lot of ideas for small batch brewing from You guys! I currently have to batches going - a cider and a ginger beer - doing much better than ever. I have a professional background in industrial brewing and fermentation but they never teach you the tricks and what to look out for in the home batches but You do! Looks like the professors don't have a real interest in the students getting there own brews party ready :). FYI: "Insurance Yeast" is a common procedure in industrial bottle fermentation. Often a different yeast to the main fermentation is used. So it would be interesting in small batch to use the backing yeast as insurance yeast after using another yeast for main fermentation. Thank You again!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thanks!

[@NapFloridian]

Your guys brews are hands down the best after sliced bread.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

LOL, thanks, I think? I have yet to try sliced bread wine though....

[@NapFloridian]

@@CitySteadingBrews hahaha, and the added sense of humor is priceless. It was a compliment btw...

[@CitySteadingBrews]

:)

[@HrafnirKrumr]

As a beer brewer, I was amazed by two things: how you care little about open containers (things dropping in, oxidation etc.) and mysterious carbonation issues. Glad you got some fizz finally!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I have yet to have an infection in any brew after hundreds of batches and years of doing it :)

[@HrafnirKrumr]

@@CitySteadingBrews guess brewing gods love you. Not so much with me, so the fermenter lid will stay in place till I'm bottling)

[@typhonnook8223]

apfelwine is one of the better homeade drinks we can make. this video should have more likes.

[@user-brownie_bear_1974]

I made this and followed your recipe, except I used sugar to back sweeten. Then carbonated......10 of 10. Absolutely delicious

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Umm.... those could possibly explode. Sugar will continue to carbonate past the point of too much pressure for the bottle. That is unless you stopped it in some way.

[@user-brownie_bear_1974]

@CitySteadingBrews I pasteurized at 140 degrees for 20, after it read 20 psi on the tap regulator.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

@@user-brownie_bear_1974 ahh gotcha, well done.

[@user-brownie_bear_1974]

@CitySteadingBrews thank you, I have learned so much watching you and your beautiful wife. Please keep up all the good work! 👍

[@jamespreston7823]

Scrumpy is rustic, basic, punchy, and/or rough cider. Often made for the farm hands. Often from windfalls. Scrump (noun) is anything undersized or withered, especially apples. Scrumping (verb) is stealing in general; especially sneaking in and taking scrumps (originally limited to windfall). A practice that only has any "roguish charm" when left to children in Enid Blyton books 😆

[@1014p]

So guessing the word undersized did not exist at the time. Then use similar word to mean something not even related, English at its finest complicating things.

[@angelscott4526]

I am working on a store bought juice batch right now. I like the idea of mixing up flavors by adding different kind of apples. Start with my prison wine and move on to more fancy ciders. Thanks for the videos.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Prison wine is dangerous...

[@angelscott4526]

Yeah. This is my first batch. On day 3 5. It seems very active. I followed all the sanitizing steps for the equipment. Basically what I have learned from your videos. Store bought juice and safeale yeast. I do have some froth at the top and don't know what to do with that. Used vodka in the airlock. Everything seems tight so I hope it isn't the wrong kind of bacteria and end up with acv.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

If you sanitized and added yeast it should be fine. That's not prison wine :)

[@A_Healthy_Fit_Lifestyle]

Cracked open my first bottle today and it carbonated! Three weeks start to finish; SG 1.040 FG 0.990. It tastes like cider. Back sweetned with erythritol and I made it a touch more sweet than I would have liked but very drinkable. This was my first one and I will def do it again.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Congrats!

[@robbo1967]

I always put some strong black tea in my batches of cider, and normally some raisins as well, it makes a massive difference.

[@stevenchristie9474]

Thanks for sharing your experience, thoughts & story’s behind all your Brews. Amazing & I’m definitely going to try repeating your recipes. I just need to adjust for the conversions from Imperial to Metric as we do in Australia. In addition to driving on the wrong side of the road ~ Cheers

[@joshdoesathing]

It's the season! My local Costco has Apple cider that doesn't have any preservatives

[@Tallnerdyguy]

They specifically said that in the video

[@natedog207]

A week into a 5 gallon cider with trees from our yard, and two half gallons with Serrano pepper and ghost pepper(mixers). Hoping to put the 5 gallons on tap and bottle the pepper ciders. Love your videos.

[@tbones1979]

...I am just gonna use black tea. LOL! Thank you Awesome channel, guys. My new favorite youtube channel AND reasonable data source for home brewing. 💪❤

[@barrytdrake]

I loved seeing the cat appearances in this video. Thank you! My "Dad's Hard Cider" (honeycrisp apple wine) is still bubbling in secondary.

[@kylel4799]

Great video and excellent Douglas Adams reference.

[@keithmcauslan943]

I recently had some craft sour kraut (VT, Von Trapp) and am considering making my own. I see the vinegar in the background that includes the mother, Which I will be using for my kraut.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Sauerkraut isn't made with vinegar though...

[@Tallnerdyguy]

Sourkraut is just cabbage and water

[@DawnBush]

@@TallnerdyguyAnd salt right?

[@Jp21577]

Thanks!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Wow, thank you!

[@LiBrian2]

The was recently a study done in Michigan where they basically cataloged several hundred varieties of apples and categorized them for the purpose of cider production. They indicated that the preferred apples for cider/ hard cider production fell in the bitter-sweet category and would be of the sort you would spot out if eaten. They also have names you'll probably never see in a grocery store (granny smith might be the closest grocery store variety to this category).

[@poeticlouise]

THANK YOU!!!! Have you ever thought of offering a certificate program??? Lol😂😂😂😂 you two are AWESOME 😎😎😎😎😎

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Certificate program?

[@markhaseley3304]

Thor = Slumber = Snoring = Thunder. You gave me a fun laugh for the day, thanks!

[@jkuhl2492]

I did something similar but from a local orchard. Guy was growing a whole bunch of apple varieties, I just grabbed 1 or 2 of each, sliced 'em up and added sugar and made apple wine with them. Literally just finished racking it off the fruit 10 minutes ago.

[@A_Healthy_Fit_Lifestyle]

Pilot G2 user here. Nice to see there is another aficionado out there. ✌🏼

[@CitySteadingBrews]

G2 users unite!

[@kutr412]

I started brewing a not long ago without any equipment so I had no idea what the SG of my first cider was. I was curious what the alcohol content of my first cider was so I found a neat little tool called a vinometer. It shows the ABV of whatever liquid you put in it. It's a handy little tool to have in the kit and it's cheap. I was wondering if you've ever seen or used one.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

They are very inaccurate. Like could be +/- 3-4 points.

[@reclaimtheframe]

My cat Loki came over to torment me when he heard about your cat Thor.

[@tomsadowski]

I recently started watching your channel. I have always been interested in brewing, ever since I was in my teens, but never really did it. After recently finding your channel I had some American Cider (AKA Cloudy Juice) start to turn in my fridge on it's own. So since mother nature decided to start it for me, I figured why not, and I bought an airlock and bung and just whacked it into the plastic jug that the cider came in. After two weeks I just racked it. So I bought another jug of cider from the grocery store and tried it again, this time on purpose, using bread yeast, still in the plastic jug though. The first full jug I tried wasn't starting though, and I checked the ingredients and found that they had put in Glycolipids. Which upon investigation is a preservative! So I went to a local farm (Western NY) and got some of theirs, which was just exposed to UV light for sanitization, and it started up a right treat. Thoughts on using the plastic jug and the Glycolipids?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I am not a fan of plastic... works in a pinch. Glycolipids I have not researched, sorry.

[@bobs6536]

Looks great 👍 , im definitely gonna try to make something like this

[@Exit_343]

Super cool. Can you use a 750Ml wine bottle and cork it!? Eill the cork hold the carbonation !?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Yes!

[@jimscott4539]

I do a similar…But, I peel and chop the apples and slow stew with some cider to break down the apple chunks. Then mash and add into my primary. It seems to give more fermentable sugars and flavor. I also drop in a few apple zinger tea bags. Never a disappointment :)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You are likely concentrating the sugars a bit like we did in concentrated wine, but other than that... yeast will get to the sugars :)

[@jimscott4539]

@@CitySteadingBrews I guess I’m just speeding up the fermentation process then. My other way is using my juicer to separate the juice to fine pulp. All goes into the primary and done fast ! Usually @1.70 starting. So, about 7.88 finish abv before priming. That’s with 1lb honey and 4 oz of brown sugar. Splendid brew for sure :)

[@raist315]

The grocery store mead video got me to make my first mead. Now after this I'm ready to make cider. And for me, cider just needs to be cloudy. I've skipped clear ciders in the store. They just don't seem right.

[@DonaldCraig-l8g]

Living in western NY, there is no shortage of apples and in fact we have several trees of our own. I'm part way through building my own cider press now and should have it ready by the fall so I can press out all of the juice I can handle. I may can some of it plain just to have juice around for those that don't like the hard variety but there will most definitely be hard cider in the works for me :)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Nice! Bit jealous actually!

[@Poughdg]

Great video! Congrats! I noticed there was no talk at ALL here about degassing. What, in this example, got rid of the early fermentation gas funk?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Well... we are learning there's no reason to :)

[@rayc5255]

OK first comment but been watching for a while. Great content thanks. Got the supplies. Sanitizer, Air Lock, gallon jug, Hydrometer, Cider yeast etc. In youth (am 64 now) we wod buy raw cider from local orchard, Dad let it sit in frdge and it would naturally ferment after a month or two. Trying to replicate that wonderful not carbonated beverage. We have a prolific Fuji tree and Costco nearby. Tips?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Make a cider and let it degas :)

[@rayc5255]

@@CitySteadingBrews The key!!! 🤣 got it thx

[@tygrahof9268]

Interesting. I'll have to try...

[@stevelamb5760]

here in the uk scrumpy usually comes from the west country ie gloustershire down to devon and cornwall .in yorkshire where i am from scrumping is when as kids we pinched apples from orchads

[@Jp21577]

I am on day 4. I degassed my mead and accidentally swirled my cider…did I screw this up? I’m sure I have to wait for all to settle down now. Live and learn! Thanks for getting me into this hobby!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Nope, it's fine. Degassing isn't a bad thing during fermentation as long as you don't introduce more oxygen.

[@tobin_nathan]

Love the idea of adding fresh apples to store bought juice! I came here to say regarding varieties, my first and best cider was half honeycrisp apple juice. Looks like target has it in season, so I’ll be giving that another try. It was leaps better than my attempt with regular apple juice

[@sandycove777]

Nice reference to Douglas Adams. ❤

[@rainasue]

Super glad KZbin recommend your channel, I'm loving you guys and your videos, and this video is convincing me to take the plunge into making cider. I've got one question since you didn't mention it in the video and I can't find anyone asking it in the comments, do you know if it's fine to eat the apples after the fermentation is over? I would assume the only issue would be something like an off flavor from the yeast, rather than anything harmful, but you never know. Thanks!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You can... much of the sugars are gone though and they are covered in yeast... some bake them into things.

[@carlsharpe2811]

I’m making my first attempt at using actual apples 😊 But instead of on the hob I’m using a freezer to breakdown them down for juicing. Freeze, thaw, freeze repeat 😂 Quite fun. Could you guys give that ago on a future vid maybe?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You can freeze them if you like. That doesn't sanitize though.

[@carlsharpe2811]

Yup understand that 👍 I belong to a few FB groups that go for natural ferments, and on the whole very few have an issue. I usually go for “from concentrate” but this’ll be an experiment using locally collected apples. There again I might chicken out considering the amount of bloody effort it’s taken so far 😂

[@void_hunter94]

Just got most of my hardware supplies (starsan, pump, yeast), just need to get my fruit product & fermenting jar, & I'll be starting my first brew! 😁 Gonna practice with 3 simple brews first, hard apple cider, honey mead, & strawberry wine, just to get the hang of things. Wish me luck!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Woohoo!

[@caninedrill_instructor5861]

Best of luck!

[@danielgarcia-nm9ly]

This has to be the best video for beginners ciders!! Thank you, im will definitely try this recipe. Caould you strain with a super fine mesh instead of siphoning? Could I use honey instead of table sugar for carbonation? Thanks in advance advance

[@CitySteadingBrews]

No, mesh will not remove lees. Please siphon. You can use honey for carbonation but... why? It's not going to alter the flavor and it's much more expensive.

[@The0neGreatest]

As someone who reaches first and foremost for a cider, I have tried every version of a cider you can possibly imagine. That being said, I believe that Angry orchard is by far the best cider you can find off the shelf. I don't know if you guys have tried Angry Orchard, although it's homebased here in the lovely upstate NY, but it is generally available throughout the US. If you have any insight as to how it stands up against this, their website reads their indication on apples choice as such: "It is a perfect balance of sweetness and bright acidity from culinary apples and dryness of traditional cider making apples, resulting in a complex, yet refreshing, hard cider." We've brewed cider a few times now in our household, including from straight juice. You articulated well as to the difference between previous apple brews and this brew, but I'd love to know how it compares to my favorite off the shelf cider. If I had the ability to emulate Angry Orchard at home, it would make me a happy brewer.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It's been several years since I had Angry Orchard, but I agree, it's good stuff. I'd have to say this is in the same theme as that cider since that's what I mostly model things after when I make cider.

[@stoatyboy]

UK scrumpy is a delicious cider that is almost always cloudy, anywhere between still through sparkling, it has a deep woody, delicious funk I always think smells and tastes like silage, a fermented green crop that is fed to cattle over winter months. You can smell it permeating the countryside at certain times of year. Scrumpy is usually between 7 and 9% and has very little processing beyond pasteurisation. If you ever come to the uk and get to travel around some of the south west counties you might chance upon a farm selling scrumpy from one of their barns, which is an absolute treasure. It’s really hard to fully define, except you really know it when you find it.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thanks for the description!

[@sirj3487]

40 years ago used to get gallon cartons (like plastic milk cartons) past date and on sale after Halloween. Put them in the refrigerator for another month and, presto! Hard apple cider! Can't do that any more.

[@PeterWasted]

My understanding of the term Scrumpy is that it refers to cider made with any random apples while true cider is made with selected apples. Orchard owners would pick cider apples when ripe. As apple varieties reach maturity at different times, different cider batches would use a selection of varieties to anticipate the desired balance of tartness and sweetness. As a commercial product those ciders, would be the premium. Cider made from the leftover apples, windfalls etc would vary in taste and quality and consequently would be less "processed". That was scrumpy and was originally sold from the barrel / tank at the cider houses. Scrumping is the petty theft of apples and presumably refers to the indiscriminate nature of the theft. Scrumpy now seems to refer to a type of cloudy and typically flat cider. I suspect "real" scrumpy might still be available in the cider making regions of Somerset and Herefordshire.

[@Caprifool]

I think you're on to something about scrumpy there. The one's I've had in the Black Country were flat, cloudy and pumped from a barrel at room temperature. And presumably quite fresh/young. While the local farm ciders I've tried in Kent, were barrel aged and clear.

[@caninedrill_instructor5861]

Hello Brian and Ms. Derica! The final bit of kit has arrived. Completing my Starter Homebrewing Kit!! I assembled the list from watching your videos.

[@kmarshall1025]

Hi Brian and Derica! Love the videos, thank you for sharing all your brewing adventures with us. I have been watching all your videos and decided to try this recipe after getting a starter kit for my birthday at the beginning of the month. Can you provide more details on the process of ensuring the apples stay hydrated during fermentation? You mention in the video pushing the fruit down each day, is that really just as it is? Just open the fermentation vessel and with a sanitized spoon or something and gently push the apples down a little bit and then recap and repeat each day? Should I do this every day after the start of fermentation until complete? Thanks again!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Yes, that's all there is to it.

[@kmarshall1025]

@@CitySteadingBrews thanks for the reply! I appreciate the information.

[@j.sobers1996]

Hi Derica & Brian. Not new to your channel but still new to brewing. I've made a couple of your recipes, including this one and they came out great. TYSM!! I have a question. I would like to make a double batch of this cider. What adjustments do you recommend for the ingredients? Thanks again for your recipes. I love watching them. 🤗

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Just double everything but yeast.

[@j.sobers1996]

@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks!!!

[@Skullsonthewrist]

The family and I went apple picking this week, so i thought its time to make an apple wine. 1 gal apple juice, 5 diced picked apples, montrachet red star yeast, yeast nutrient, 2.5 cups sugar, and a cinnamon stick. It was 1.100ish starting gravity. It bubbled good for 3-4 days but now activity seemes to have stopped. It must have stalled right? All my other meads and wines would still be bubbling. Think i should toss some fermade o in there? Oh yeah, i did rinse, soak in starsan, and rinse again the apples. Its curious when a brew stalls. 🤔

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Take a reading. :)

[@Skullsonthewrist]

​@@CitySteadingBrewsright you are! The answers are always so simple.😅

[@Skullsonthewrist]

@CitySteadingBrews when you're right, you're right. And you, you're always right! apple wine definitely went dry! 1.000. Tossed another cup of sugar in and the yeast are having a party! And since I had everything out I started a grape cherry wine. Why not!

[@2400Ace2]

Thanks to your videos I have been making mead dating back to May of this year and now about to try a Cider. I think I'm 7 batches of mead in so far. (Edit for typos)

[@TheBagpypr]

Scrumpy, according to my relatives in Scotland, is a crudely distilled apple brandy or liqueur that can reach 90-160 proof. You read that right. It is usually served in wee cups at Christmas and Hogmanay. It is comparable to the Irish potin and just as amazing. I had it once in my youth and it was very sweet and hot and I don't remember anything after that including where I left my clothes...

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I have never heard of it being distilled. It's normally essentially cider from many types of apples.

[@stevenwhitaker5477]

I'm a soon to be new brewer. I have all my basic equipment on order from Amazon with the exception of "The TRBOS". Any idea of where I can purchase one. The shape of the TRBOS in your photos, just makes so much sense, verses a straight sided bucket.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Try Lowes or Home Depot maybe? Amazon has been sold out for a while.

[@BusinessEnglishSuccess]

About the scrumpy thing ... firstly, scrumping is the term used for stealing apples from the orchard (has nothing to do with cider though). Scrumpy cider is usually a bit rougher and less refined. Traditionally made with alternating layers of apples and straw to press out more juice. A few dead rats isn't a requirement but if there were some rodents in the straw, nobody seemed to mind or care ;-)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

lol

[@RogerS1978]

Pretty spot on, not carbinated, apple bits and the rats are fine, the'd probably dissolve in a good scrumpy

[@blu3l3vithan86]

I used martinelies apple juice from Walmart and some Walmart apple juice concentrate and it came great once I can't get waiting to get back from my deployment to get back to brewing and a cider is first on my list

[@anthonylundgaard6575]

My local grocery store has a home brewing section now it has wine kits, beer kits, yeast, sanitizer and other stuff

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Wow, where?

[@anthonylundgaard6575]

@@CitySteadingBrews so I'm from Canada and it was @ a national grocery store chained called superstore that's owned by Loblaw's they had beer kits for $20 that makes 6 Gals, wine kits like 10 different kinds for $45, yeast nutrients i think, sanitizers, brew bags It's a brewing supplies company called ABC Crafted so I'm assuming is their private label

[@anthonylundgaard6575]

@@CitySteadingBrews If ya want to make videos about i could get it and send it to you

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thanks was just curious!

[@doctorskelestein6068]

This video would have been most helpful to me yesterday. 😅

[@TheRealUnagiRoll]

Keep up the awesome content. 🙂

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thank you! Will do!

[@hearoldcurry8323]

I have a question. I have a cyser in secondary and decided to clean, freeze, thaw and add two apple that were sliced thin. One reason was for flavor and other was to take up head room but I did not remove the seeds. Do I need to worry about the seeds being in the brew?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Two apples? Nope.

[@hearoldcurry8323]

Thank you!

[@julietardos5044]

You'd have to eat the seeds from 10+ apples at one sitting to start to have negative effects from the cyanide.

[@rj4313]

Question: you added yeast for carbonation and it seemed to work very well, So what is the hurry to bottle, if one forces fermentation for carbonation?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Covering all the bases.

[@wendull811]

Thanks for all your advice. I have my 2nd brew going and used a dap nutrient. I wanted to use fermad-o, but my local store doesn't carry it. What a difference the nutrient makes with the fermenting process. It is way more aggressive and I hope it shortens the fermenting time.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It's just not something I want in my food personally.

[@wendull811]

@CitySteadingBrews yeah I didn't want to use it but I also want to support my local brew store. So it was a tye for me.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Ask for fermaid O. It's a very very common nutrient. No DAP, and they should carry it.

[@JackieScott-ru2bz]

Watch this channel more than any other thing. Just started my first mead using what I've learned. When taking the top off to push down the apples did you have to de gas first?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I generally don't, and I don't even remove the lid. Just give it a swirl.

[@Jp21577]

I found this channel and I am hooked. Best channel by far.i am also attempting your mead recipes. I have organic apple juice that ingredients read: water, apple juice concentrate. Will that be ok? You 2 are great!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Seems fine.

[@JBurke88]

Brian have you tried the sharpie s-gel pens? They're great.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I have... they wore out really quick!

[@JBurke88]

@@CitySteadingBrews well dang it, I must not use a pen as much lol

[@brisci]

This is a great episode! I am only making apple cider for the most part. Just perfecting the process, thanks for your time and energy to give us more knowledge. One production note - did something change in your audio recording? I have watched most of your videos and this one seems a bit muffled. Just from an audio for video nerd. Made videos for most of my life.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We didn't change anything, but I noticed something too. Could just be angles of our faces to the mics.

[@brisci]

@@CitySteadingBrews Sometimes that little difference can be just a battery in the mic getting weaker, that is how I would know when to change them out on a commercial shoot. Another question based on your previous fruit fermentation videos, would there have been any advantage to freezing the apples after cutting? I have been using the dried apples in secondary method I learned here, to good effect.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Freezing is fine if you're not going to cook them.

[@robthekit]

Hi city steading brews, I love watching your videos. Just made my first mead and currently brewing a pear cider. I wanted to bottle it in a couple of days. I want to carbonate it. I tought by putting fermentable sugers and pasteurizing it with a sous vide. So also using fermantable sugers for taste and stop the natural fermentation by pasteurizing it. But sindse you've used non fermentable sugers I'm not sure if my method is good. Does the carbonation go flat when pasteurizing? Also is it better to use an x amount of sugers and not pasteurizing it? How to calculate the amount of sugers per liter/ gallon? Kind regard, Robin

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You can use fermentable sugars to carbonate and sweeten but... you have some risks involved. You have to guess when carbonation is done and when to pasteurize. People will say to use a soda bottle to test when it's ready but honestly it hardly works. It's safer to use non-fermentable sugars for sweetening and sugar for priming and be done. Super easy.

[@robthekit]

@CitySteadingBrews oke recap on what I've done. So I listened to your advice. I used erythritol for sweetening and then used cane sugar as prime sugar. I've filled a plastic bottle just in case, and I had a barometer so I could see the pressure in the bottle. After bottling I found out I miscalculated the sugar amount... oops. I've put in a little bit too much. I didn't know if I had to be worried. So today I pastaurized it just to be sure. I've seen the pressure in the bottle go up to 1 bar or 15 psi from the fermentation in the bottle, temperature was at 19 or 20 degrees Celsius or 66 to 68 Fahrenheit. From that moment I couldn't dent the plastic bottle and went to pastaurizing. I warmed the bottles till 60 degrees Celsius or 140 Fahrenheit. The pressure in the bottle almost went to 4 bar (3,9 bar or 56 psi). After 15 minutes I removed the bottles. I had no explosions. I wanted to share the numbers because maybe it gives some insight in the proces. I don't know if these numbers are concerning. Thanks for the advice and making the video's 👍🏻

[@jadbouchebl4367]

Hello :-) Thank you for all the videos. I tried this recipe (different types of apples + apple juice + yeast), and after it fermented I got a vinegar-like taste. I haven't sweetened it yet, as I don't know if the result is vinegar or just the taste is not pleasant because I haven't sweetened it yet. I appreciate your feedback and advice if this gallon can be saved or not: maybe add honey/sugar and restart fermentation? Note that I am not planning to carbonate it. Cheers and thank you in advance!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Many people describe a vinegar like taste to young, dry brews. It likely isn't vinegar as that takes weeks to create.

[@Lefty825]

I love your videos and have tried some of your recipes. I'm in upstate New York and it's apple season. We're making cider today ( that's what we call the fresh pressed apple juice here). Because it isn't pasteurized should I add Camden tablets or pectic enzymes when I'm making wine or mead or hard cider?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Many will say you should. It's dependent on whether you want a wild ferment or you are adding yeast, how close to "bad" the apples were, etc.

[@Lefty825]

@@CitySteadingBrews thank you.

[@KrazyMitchAdventures]

40:49 my understanding of Scrumpy is a type of cider originating in the West of England, Traditionally, the dialect term "scrumpy" was used to refer to what was otherwise called "rough", a harsh cider made from unselected apples. Also why did you leave the apples in large chunks? Everytime I made cider, I have always used a food processor, and made really small chunks, not mush, but close to it

[@CitySteadingBrews]

When cooked it doesn't matter. Yeast are microscopic.

[@ericadams5019]

Great vid! One point wasn't clear. Should I use green tea or black tea? Haaa. :)🤣

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Ha!

[@rossr6616]

I thought he said to use Red/Green Tea, no? 😂

[@MarshallBond]

Hey guys, You are fantastic!. I just started watching your videos. I'm going to start my first batch of cider. I have fermented grains before using bakers yeast. I have a heater in my fermenter and always kept the wash at 90F. I noticed you never mentioned maintaining a certain temperature. Does it effect the taste?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It does. 90f fermentation temp is really high except for kveik strains and may produce off flavors.

[@ricksalt6987]

I like to fill one or two clean plastic 500ml (pint) bottles, along with my quart glass lock top bottles. I squeeze them until the liquid is nearly to the top and then cap it. When the bottles are fully "inflated " and hard, I know the carbonation is done, and I move it all to my cold room to chill. I leave it there for at least a few months. The result is lovely bubbly and tasty hard cider.

[@benway23]

You two are so inspiring but both my fermentation vats are "busy." I was wondering, when I use whole fruit in my brews I tend to chop it much finer, almost a mince feeling flavor and sugar are more fully extracted. Am I just wrong? It does make clarification significantly more difficult. Please educate my brain fat. Oh, always thank you.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

If you freeze or cook the fruit, it's overkill to cut that tiny :)

[@benway23]

Okay, yeah. I use mostly frozen fruit to break those cell walls. Cooking is something I haven't tried yet. Thank you and have a wonderful day.@@CitySteadingBrews

[@WskyHustle]

When it comes to cider, is it best to use pectic enzyme in primary, or secondary? Thanks for all the help, and videos! 🤘

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It works best in primary but we don't always use it.

[@WskyHustle]

​@@CitySteadingBrews thanks! Not sure if I'll use it long term, but i wanted to do a "taste differences" test to see if cloudy adds/takes away from the flavors. Honestly I'm a "less complex the better" kinda guy, but... Science. 🤘

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I doubt there will be any noticable difference.

[@decayrl8279]

I have been wondering how to make soju (Korean rice wine) recently because it tastes AMAZING! I was wondering since it is distilled if you have any videos on the channel that involve distilling?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Distillation is illegal for us at home, so we do not.

[@decayrl8279]

@@CitySteadingBrews if distillation is out of the picture I do reccomend possibly researching maekgoli, it is a korean sparkling rice wine which from videos i have seen is quite easy to make, but you two always make the best, most detailed videos. I would love to see something like that on the channel

[@gardevoirwaifu6437]

I'd love to see you try to make something with any type currants (Aalbes in Dutch ) because I don't see it often in alcohol/fermenting , also like the content you make

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We did with the juice. They are hard to get here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGHbYmR5hpeMo7ssi=je3wQ-U2b6JXdjq2

[@Aaron-hk6st]

First timer here and i have a few questions. I used a 5 gallon, plastic fermentor bucket and airlock that a friend gave me but only put 1.5 gallons of juice in. Other than the pain of cleaning it, is there any issues with using an over-sized container? Is it possible to have too much head space? I only have screw top wine bottles on hand. Is there any problem with using those? I'm not going to carbonate this first batch. I'm not ready for that! Ha! You guys are awesome and i have enjoyed every video. Keep up the good work!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It's not a problem until fermentation is done. You don't want that headspace at that point.