If you’ve ever wanted to make you own hard cider at home, the best way to get started is with a Hard Cider Brew Kit . An affordable, all-in-one kit includes the essentials: reusable equipment, professional ingredients and user friendly instructions for a stress free introduction to cider making. Instead of sourcing multiple components from different websites, opt for a Hard Apple Cider Kit that includes everything you need in one box. Approachable enough for first time cider makers and perfect for gifting, Craft a Brew’s hard apple cider kit is one of the most affordable on the market without sacrificing quality or delicious taste.
A gallon of dry, sparkling cider – about ten bottles – is ready to drink in just 20 days (~45 minutes of active hands on time) and 4 basic steps. Cider finishes at a just-right ABV of between 4.5 – 6% and is naturally gluten free!
Let’s review what goes into a batch of apple cider, what comes in our Hard Apple Cider Kit and how to make it yourself!
The base of hard apple cider is natural apple juice – the main source of fermentable sugar. You’ll choose your own juice to use with our hard cider kit – source from the store or even a local orchard! If you’d like to make a more traditional cloudy hard cider, opt for unfiltered apple cider or even a fall spiced apple cider. If you prefer a cleaner tasting, clearer hard apple cider, opt for regular apple juice.
For a 1 gallon batch of hard cider you’ll need 1 gallon of juice. You must use juice that is without preservatives and is 100% natural. Preservatives, like Potassium Sorbate or Sodium Benzoate will prevent fermentation from happening by killing the yeast. Ascorbic Acid is okay, though.
Yeast is a living organism that is technically a fungus. It grows and multiplies by consuming the natural sugar in apple juice and converting that sugar into alcohol during fermentation. Yeast will also help carbonate your hard cider in bottles by releasing CO2.
Hard cider can ferment using a variety of yeast strains, including beer yeast, champagne yeast and more. Every Craft a Brew hard apple cider kit includes 3 packets (for 3 separate batches) of a popular English ale yeast strain that is commonly used in cider-making. It’s a perfect strain because of its quick fermentation time and the enhanced clarity it provides.
The process of making hard cider at home involves just a few standard tools. You certainly don’t need a sophisticated set up to start – you just need a few basics to get up and running. Our Hard Apple Cider Kit comes with the essential equipment that lasts & can be used to ferment other beverages like beer or wine.
Bottling is an important step in the cider-making process – it’s how your sparkling cider will become carbonated! When it comes to bottling your cider you’ve got options:
At its most basic level, hard cider is fermented apple juice. Because the ingredients are so simple, the process is also simple and speedy – ready to drink in just 20 days!
This is the basic process for making hard apple cider. If you’d like to see some variations or flavoring ideas, proceed to our Variations & Flavor Ideas section for ideas. You’ll need to plan your variations BEFORE you start the fermentation process.
The Craft a Brew Hard Apple Cider Kit comes with enough sanitizer to clean your equipment and enough yeast to ferment THREE separate batches. Be sure to only use one packet of each per batch. Don’t be afraid to try new things with each batch, whether you use a different juice base, fruit or fall spices.
Proper sanitation is regarded as the most important step in making hard cider at home. Yeast is the only organism you want touching your cider. Any other bacteria will compete with the yeast for the fermentable sugars and will multiply quickly, making the cider sour and undrinkable. Be sure that everything that touches your cider is properly sanitized with the included sanitizer packet.
To sanitize your equipment for fermentation you will use only half of a packet of sanitizer – save the remaining half for bottling day. Mix half the packet of powdered sanitizer with about a gallon of water in a pitcher or bucket. Sanitize your fermenting equipment – carboy, rubber stopper, airlock & funnel – by soaking the components for 60 seconds each in the mix before placing on fresh paper towels to drip dry. This oxygen-based sanitizer doesn’t require you to rinse off the sanitizer. Instead, you can allow all components to drip dry on paper towels. They don’t need to be completely dry before proceeding.
After you sanitize your equipment you’ll add one gallon of apple juice directly to the carboy with the included funnel. Use clean scissors to open one packet of included yeast and add contents directly to the jug.
Now you’ll need to make sure the yeast has an oxygen rich environment in order to multiply and ferment – so you’ll need to aerate the juice. Take your sanitized rubber stopper and plug the top of your full carboy. Take a clean thumb and place it over the hole in the rubber stopper. Shake the carboy vigorously for more than a minute. NOTE: oxygen is essential at the very beginning of fermentation, which is why you must aerate the juice. But once the yeast gets to work, oxygen is the enemy. You should NOT disturb your carboy, swirl or agitate it until bottling day to prevent oxidation.
Take your sanitized airlock and remove the cap. Fill the reservoir with water until you reach the “fill line” as marked. Place the cap back on the airlock and insert into the rubber stopper. The airlock does not need to poke all the way through the hole to make an airtight seal. Now, place the rubber stopper into the carboy.
Choose a location in your house that where you can maintain a stable fermentation temperature – between 60 – 75 *F – for the next 10 days. The carboy should be out of direct sunlight as well. Keep in mind that a garage’s temperature may fluctuate too much and a basement may get too cold. Your cider will stay in one while it ferments for 10 days. As fermentation continues, yeast will fall out of suspension and accumulate in a layer at the bottom of the carboy.
Throughout these 10 days you will notice that fermentation activity might take a few days to really take off. You might also find that fermentation activity trails off. This is normal! You just want to make sure you see some sort of activity & bubbling in the airlock – this is a sign that the yeast is consuming sugars and releasing CO2.
