Monday, November 23, 2009

Cider Making Lesson #1

We all knew it would happen, when one just willy nilly starts brewing something new, there is bound to be a lesson learned. I kegged the cider on Friday and poured up a sample glass on Saturday and sure enough the taste was bone dry. More or less like sucking on a mixture of water, alcohol, and apple skins. The yeast fermented the cider down to a gravity of 1.002 (for non-brewing nerds, that's basically water, i.e. Coors Light). Well not to fear I had an idea. I boiled some water and threw in about a pound of light brown sugar. Once the sugar dissolved nicely, I added this to the cider (or "apple beer", as Mrs. HolzBrew refers to it). Shook up the keg and repressurized. By Sunday, the cider was tasting pretty darn good. Another day or two at higher PSI and it should be fully carbonated, just in time for Thanksgiving.

Crisis averted (probably not the last),

HolzBrew

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