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Rack it!

From LizCrain — Blog by Liz Crain

January 10, 2009

Today I racked off our hard cider into a clean carboy. More importantly I got to try it for the first time since the early November press. The verdict: it tastes great! I am a little surprised to be honest. I’ve talked to a fair few local cider makers professional and otherwise and most agree that a good hard cider is the result of an interesting medley of apples. We used one type AND it was a fairly sweet fresh eat heritage red. Typically hard cider is made from a majority of tannic, sour and not-so-good-to-eat-fresh apples.

But it’s good -- honestly. And I’m hoping it’ll only get better as it ages and off-gases for another 1-2 months before add a final jump of sugar (the only thing we’ve added so far has been champagne yeast just after pressing) and bottle it. Then, another 1-2 months if we are really patient.

So all the thumb twiddling adds up to a pop and fizz March/April hard cider.
An ounce of patience is worth a barrel full of brains I guess...

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1. by Kim on Jan 14, 2009 at 11:06 AM PST

I can’t wait to hear how this comes out, Liz. I’ve just bought a bottle of hard cider to eat with cheese fondue, which I’m making soon. What will you serve this with in the spring? (I guess fondue is in season then, too, although it’s definitely a cold-weather food.)

2. by Liz Crain on Jan 14, 2009 at 11:21 AM PST

The friend who visited with the lemons that I Frittered about is Swiss and so we forced her to make fondue with us when she was here -- so good. I think we ended up with 4 different cheeses in the batch. We added some Czech plum eau de vie instead of Kirsch and it was fantastic.

I don’t know what we’ll drink the cider with once it’s ready. I just imagine sitting on the front porch in the spring with a bottle and passing it around with friends -- filling one another’s glasses. Maybe we’ll snack on a cheese plate or two, or three...

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