Cidermaking is part of a rich tradition that dates back hundreds of years. Now readers can make themselves a part of this tradition by becoming an at-home cider maker. This book teaches readers everything they need to know about the process of making hard cider from any kind of apple.
This new edition of the best-selling Craft Cider Making is fully revised and updated. Packed with essential advice and information, it gives step-by-step instruction for small scale cider making. It retains the best of traditional practice but also draws on modern understanding of orcharding and fermentation science. Written by an award-winning cider maker, it guides beginners into the rewarding world of cider making and helps those with more experience expand their skills to enjoy the craft more fully. Includes a guide to cider apples, as well as advice on growing and caring for them. Packed with essential advice and information and step-by-step instruction for small scale cider making.
"Combines the best of traditional knowledge and techniques with up-to-date, scientifically based practices to provide today's cider makers with all the tools they need to produce high-quality ciders"--Page 4 of cover.
“Not just a thorough guide to the history of apples and cider in this country but also an inspiring survey of the orchardists and cidermakers devoting their lives to sustainable agriculture through apples.”—Alice Waters “Pucci and Cavallo are thorough and enthusiastic chroniclers, who celebrate cider’s pomologists and pioneers with infectious curiosity and passion.”—Bianca Bosker, New York Times bestselling author of Cork Dork Cider today runs the gamut from sweet to dry, smooth to funky, made from apples and sometimes joined by other fruits—and even hopped like beer. In American Cider, aficionados Dan Pucci and Craig Cavallo give a new wave of consumers the tools to taste, talk about, and choose their ciders, along with stories of the many local heroes saving apple culture and producing new varieties. Like wine made from well-known grapes, ciders differ based on the apples they’re made from and where and how those apples were grown. Combining the tasting tools of wine and beer, the authors illuminate the possibilities of this light, flavorful, naturally gluten-free beverage. And cider is more than just its taste—it’s also historic, as the nation’s first popular alcoholic beverage, made from apples brought across the Atlantic from England. Pucci and Cavallo use a region-by-region approach to illustrate how cider and the apples that make it came to be, from the well-known tale of Johnny Appleseed—which isn’t quite what we thought—to the more surprising effects of industrial development and government policies that benefited white men. American Cider is a guide to enjoying cider, but even more so, it is a guide to being part of a community of consumers, farmers, and fermenters making the nation’s oldest beverage its newest must-try drink.
Best-selling authors and acclaimed fermentation teachers Christopher Shockey and Kirsten K. Shockey turn their expertise to the world of fermented beverages in the most comprehensive guide to home cidermaking available. With expert advice and clear, step-by-step instructions, The Big Book of Cidermaking equips readers with the skills they need to make the cider they want: sweet, dry, fruity, farmhouse-style, hopped, barrel-aged, or fortified. The Shockeys’ years of experience cultivating an orchard and their experiments in producing their own ciders have led them to a master formula for cidermaking success, whether starting with apples fresh from the tree or working with store-bought juice. They explore in-depth the different phases of fermentation and the entire spectrum of complex flavor and style possibilities, with cider recipes ranging from cornelian cherry to ginger, and styles including New England, Spanish, and late-season ciders. For those invested in making use of every part of the apple, there’s even a recipe for vinegar made from the skins and cores leftover after pressing. This thorough, thoughtful handbook is an empowering guide for every cidermaker, from the beginner seeking foundational techniques and tips to the intermediate cider crafter who wants to expand their skills.
Discover the pleasures of making and drinking cider. From choosing the right apples through reaping the liquid rewards of a successful pressing, this classic guide has you covered. With detailed drawings of cider-making equipment, methods, and set-up, even a novice juicer will enjoy sweet and spicy gallons in no time. Annie Proulx and Lew Nichols provide insightful, time-tested advice enlivened by a smattering of historical anecdotes. Whether you like your cider sweet or hard, you’re sure to find a recipe that satisfies.
This accessible home-brew guide for alcoholic and non-alcoholic fermented drinks, from Apartment Therapy: The Kitchn's Emma Christensen, offers a wide range of simple yet enticing recipes for Root Beer, Honey Green Tea Kombucha, Pear Cider, Gluten-Free Sorghum Ale, Blueberry-Lavender Mead, Gin Sake, Plum Wine, and more. You can make naturally fermented sodas, tend batches of kombucha, and brew your own beer in the smallest apartment kitchen with little more equipment than a soup pot, a plastic bucket, and a long-handled spoon. All you need is the know-how. That’s where Emma Christensen comes in, distilling a wide variety of projects—from mead to kefir to sake—to their simplest forms, making the process fun and accessible for homebrewers. All fifty-plus recipes in True Brews stem from the same basic techniques and core equipment, so it’s easy for you to experiment with your favorite flavors and add-ins once you grasp the fundamentals. Covering a tantalizing range of recipes, including Coconut Water Kefir, Root Beer, Honey–Green Tea Kombucha, Pear Cider, Gluten-Free Pale Ale, Chai-Spiced Mead, Cloudy Cherry Sake, and Plum Wine, these fresh beverages make impressive homemade offerings for hostess gifts, happy hours, and thirsty friends alike.
The Pilgrims drank cider as they sailed to America aboard the Mayflower. John Adams had a tankard of cider every morning at breakfast. After a long day on safari, Ernest Hemingway liked to kick back beside the campfire with a glass of cider. And Robert Frost saluted his favorite beverage with a poem titled ?In A Glass of Cider.? Neck and neck with brewing beer at home is the resurgence of making cider. Whether sweet, hard, blended, or sparkling, trend watchers say cider, once the preferred beverage of early America, could very well become the drink of the future. (Hard cider is the fastest growing segment of the beverage industry.) Keeping pace with the commercial cider producers are small-scale and individual cider makers who have discovered how easy it is to make their own. After all, the only ingredient you need is an apple. In this updated edition of Cider, Annie Proulx and Lew Nichols take you step-by-step through the process that renders fruit into a refreshing drink. In addition to learning about the equipment you?ll need to make a glorious cider, Proulx and Nichols also discuss the pros and cons of various types of apple presses ? from traditional heavy grinders to sleek hydraulic presses. You?ll also learn about the glass bottles vs. wooden barrels debate; how to filter, fine, and rack your cider; and where and how to store it. Proulx and Nichols provide detailed recipes for making six types of cider: still, sparkling, champagne, barrel, French, and flavored, with advice on which apples to use to achieve a tart, aromatic, astringent, or neutral quality in your cider. In fact, this book is brimming with expert advice on cidermaking. If you want to plant your own apple orchard, this book has an entire chapter that lists which cultivars of apples thrive in which parts of the United States and Canada, along with each cultivar?s characteristics and when it is ready for harvesting. Another chapter explains how to care for an orchard, from improving the soil to pruning and thinning the trees to fighting off pests and wildlife. Once a cidermaker has learned how to make excellent cider, he or she is likely to look for further fields t o explore. With that in mind, the authors include a chapter on making cider vinegars and brandy and using cider in cooking. Finally, Proulx and Nichols walk you through the latest federal regulations covering the production and sale of homemade cider in the United States and Canada, and they familiarize you with the kind of impact state and provincial laws can make.The clear, simple language, numerous illustrations, and detailed step-by-step directions make it easy for even novices to become skilled cidermakers. This revised edition of the classic handbook is a complete guide for anyone who wants to discover the pleasure of making ? and drinking ? fresh cider.
Easy to brew, easy to customize, and enormously delicious! Looking for a crisp, clean, and scrumptious alternative to beer? On a gluten-free diet or allergic to the grains used in brewing beer? Want to experience the pride that comes when your friends crack open one of your bottles and exclaim, "You made this?" Then welcome to the world of hard cider. Suddenly it's everywhere--it's on the menu in pubs and restaurants, and there's a dizzying array of ciders available in stores. And some cider lovers, just like craft beer drinkers, are looking for ways to create their own brew. The Everything Hard Cider Book takes you step by step into the fermentation and bottling process, with tips on finding the proper equipment, sourcing ingredients, varying flavors, and creating unique packaging. You'll also find advice on advanced techniques, like evaluating the finished product, varying recipes for your own taste, and even growing fruit for cider. And with thirty-five essential and adaptable recipes for apple and other fruit ciders, you'll find everything you need to make your own distinctive and delicious beverages.