Hard Cider

I finally found some un-pasteurized apple cider to make some hard cider, which will ultimately become apple cider vinegar. I pay around $9 for a quart of Bragg's Raw Apple Cider vinegar, and I bought this gallon of raw apple cider for $7, plus I paid about $1.50 for the yeast to ferment it, so $2.13 for a quart of raw apple cider vinegar by making it myself.

After reading many recipes and forums online about making hard cider, I opted to use the yeast used to make a lager since the reviews were excellent. I could have used a wine yeast like a champagne yeast, but the lager yeast will do better in the secondary fermentation at cooler temperatures than a wine yeast.

The other fruit wines I started in my quest to make real fruit vinegars are now sitting quietly, and (hopefully) mellowing towards spring for tasting and bottling. They are in my pantry but I may move them to the root cellar to free up some space. Moving them to a cooler temperature will probably add a couple of months to the finishing time, but that's okay with me.

There is nothing more to post on this hard cider until spring, because now it just needs to sit and perk. I will do updates on all the fruit vinegars when they become ready, or become compost!