Type of girl I am: A lazy fermenter who likes a wild ferment with minimal equipment, planning and effort.
Homebrew can be quite complex, but what we’re talking about today corresponds more to the above and is a pretty simple version of an alcoholic beverage that tastes good. REALLY good. It’s not the absolute simplest it could be, but my fancy little twist at the end is my new favorite thing and it adds a ton of flavor. I skip the hard parts like measuring alcohol production precisely, bottling in glass bottles and pretty much anything else that needs equipment. This recipe requires very little special stuff. It doesn’t require sterilization (do keep your equipment, hands and kitchen clean, though). Results will definitely, for sure, 100% vary and that is a beautiful thing. This is wild cider and your home yeasts may not be the same as my home yeasts and your local orchards apples may have different yeasts and bacteria, so do expect beautiful flavor variation. Mine tastes like the best apples and pears.
I’ve been tinkering with this recipe for two years (really just two fall seasons, so it’s not like I’m still drunk on 53 gallons of cider) and I’m quite happy with the tricks I’ve learned to make it better.
Here are a few key elements that I’ve picked up in my trial and error:
Container – Get a 1 gallon jug or a carboy (if scaling up). Whole Foods has these gallon cider jugs that work perfectly. A carboy or a narrow-necked vessel of some kind does work better than a jar with an airlock, but in a pinch, you could use two half gallon airlock style jars.
DO NOT USE THE CIDER FROM AFOREMENTIONED WHOLE FOODS JUG TO MAKE HARD CIDER – I cannot overstate that using the cider from this jug will make a far from delicious final product. I dump the cider from Whole Foods and use it to make a decent apple cider vinegar. I have tried several times. It’s not good. Using a high-quality cider to start with is key for a quality end product. The best cider you can find is the best cider to use. If you can get unpasteurized, awesome! If you can’t, pasteurized works great.
Them Apples – If at all possible, use a combination of ciders made from different types of apples. I get 1/2 gallons of cider from different, local fruit farms. They use combinations of apples in their cider and they don’t use the same combination. This worked out much better for me than single-apple ciders. Keep this in mind if you’re pressing your own apples. Variety is nice. A cider that is sweet and acidic will kick the ass of an only-sweet cider any day.
Use Sugar – Unadulterated things are nice, I agree. Still, adding sugar makes better wild cider in my experience. I’ve made my peace with that.
Don’t use an S-bubble airlock – This goes for all types of alcohol fermentation. If any schmutz gets in that thing, getting it clean is a big ol’ pain. A 3-piece airlock costs about the same ($1) and is infinitely more clean-able.
Do secondary fermentation – Whether you use my syrup step for tastier cider or not, maturing the cider definitely improves the complexity of flavor.
WILD HARD APPLE CIDER RECIPE
Yield about 1 gallon hard cider. Recipe scales easily, but consider using a more traditional home-brew process if you do a large batch. This method needs fridge storage.
The end product of this process is infinitely pleasing. It is lightly effervescent. It has some distinct notes and layers and layers of subtle apple flavors. And one pro tip on the airlock that comes from my friend Jimmy at Philly Homebrew Outlet: put vodka in the airlock rather than water. That way, if any cidery bubbles make their way into the airlock, the alcohol will act as a disinfectant and keep any mold from growing in the airlock.
Equipment
- A wide-mouthed gallon jar (pickle jars that don’t smell at all like pickles work great) or two half-gallon jars (four quarts would be okay, too, in a pinch)
- Long wooden spoon
- 1 gallon glass jug or carboy (see above)
- 3 piece airlock, available at any home-brew supply store or online
- Bung that fits your carboy or jug. Get it where you get your airlock.
- 2 plastic, two-liter soda bottles for bottling*
- Chopstick (for phase 2 only)
- Plastic Grocery Bags
Ingredients
For the Wild Cider
- 1 gallon local apple cider (see note above)
- 3/4 cup sugar
For Secondary Fermentation
- (Optional but recommended. For the second step following primary fermentation) 1 quart of fresh apple cider
How To
Pour your cider into a wide-mouth gallon-sized jar or container. Add sugar. Make sure that there’s a bit of space at the top, you’ll be stirring hard and you don’t want it to overflow! Stir vigorously. You really want to create a cyclone in there. Cover the container with a kitchen cloth secured with a rubber band.
Stir vigorously twice a day. You really want to create a cyclone in there, drawing yeast from the air into the depths. Leave it cloth-covered at room temperature and repeat every day until you have a nice layer of foamy bubbles on top, generally 3 days. If you stir more frequently, this will happen more quickly.
Once you have a nice bubbly liquid, break out your narrow-mouthed jug or carboy. Pour the mixture in filling to the bottom of the bottle neck. Place the bung and airlock in the jug opening and place the whole shebang in a room temperature area away from direct sunlight. Let it ferment for about 10 days. Once the bubbling has pretty much stopped, you’re ready for the next step, whether it’s been ten days or two weeks. Sometimes fermentation has slowed and it’s hard to tell, but watch the airlock for a full minute. If you see a bubble bloop, it’s still going. Leave it until it’s no more active than that.
Rack the cider, by which I mean get it out of the container you fermented it in and into your growlers, bottles or soda bottles while leaving the sediment in the bottom of the container undisturbed. You’ll lose some cider, but that sediment contains excess and dead yeast that can result in unpleasant off flavors. Some people rack using a racking cane (again, get it from the home-brew shop). You can also pour very carefully and extremely slowly over a fine mesh strainer, keeping the yeasts from rising up into the liquid as much as possible. This is an imperfect methodology, but this is usually how I do it. Just remember the goal is to refrain from adding any sediment into your new container. You may need to repeated stop and let it sit for a several minutes until the sediment has settled again if you .
If you’re not going to take the next step (and I think you should) you’re pretty much done! Let your cider sit on the counter until the bottle sides are hard (aka it’s carbonated) and then store it in the fridge for 1-2 weeks before consuming. SEE END NOTE ON BOTTLING*
For Secondary
Pour the quart of fresh cider into a saucepan. Using this method, boil it down into syrup. Using a chopstick as a gauge is extremely helpful. You want to end up with 1/3 of the volume of cider that you started with, so place your chopstick upright in the pan with one end the bottom. Mark the chopstick at the top of the liquid level and then at what approximately 1/3 of that would be. Place it into the pan every so often to see how things are reducing.
Bring the cider to boil, then reduce heat until it’s at a low simmer and stir frequently. It will take 45 minutes to an hour to reduce to 1/3rd.
Once it hits the 1/3 mark on your chopstick, it’s sufficiently reduced. Let it come down to room temperature before adding it in to your bottles. Seal your bottles and shake to dissolve the syrup. Burp them and then reseal.
Let them carbonate at room temperature (12-24 hours) before putting them in the refrigerator. When the bottle sides are rigid, stick them in the fridge. Let them age in there for at least 10 days. SEE NOTE ON BOTTLING*
*When using this very informal “bottling” technique, I do no recommend bottling in anything other than plastic. I do recommend refrigerating as soon as the plastic becomes rigid and letting the aging happen there. Burp bottles at least once a week during aging in the fridge. There is always the risk of explosion when sealing fermented beverages, so be diligent about burping and keep your bottle inside a double plastic grocery bag to mitigate the risk of mess. For the record, I have never had anything explode in the refrigerator, even with long aging, but please be aware that this is a risk.
Georgie says
I’m a little confused, is this a recipe for making flat cider into carbonated cider? I’m thinking maybe cider means something different in the US and UK…otherwise this is the strangest cider recipe.
Can I make this starting with apple juice instead of cider? If I can this certainly makes cider making less scary.
I’ve just found your blog and I love it! I’m going to try your recipe for fermented kale stems. Until now I’ve been terrified of fermenting! I make kimchi a lot but I’ve also been put off fermenting anything else since recipes always include warnings about weighing down the vegetables & skimming off mould which isn’t an issue with kimchi but I think I will start with the kale stems since unless
I can be bothered to chop them really small I usually compost them. I imagine kimchi doesn’t need weighing down due to it containing lots of garlic, ginger & chilli (in addition to the salt) which keeps away bad bacteria or possibly because it produces so much juice? Anyway thanks for setting out your recipes in such an easy to follow manner!
Amanda says
Hi George,
Thanks, and sorry! In the US, we refer to cider as “hard cider” and apple juice can either be cider or juice. I know, it’s confusing even to us sometimes. So no, this isn’t just making flat cider fizzy, it’s making juice into booze. Here’s a post from The Kitchn on how confusing our terminology is even to us!
As for your other point, I totally get it! It can totally be scary to start this process. We’ve all been raised to believe that foods left at food temperature are only one thing: dangerous. Fermented foods are actually more safe at room temperature than they would be if left in the fridge. The fermentation process kills off bad bacteria and for vegetables, that process is best done at room temperature.
Kimchi does tend to ferment for a shorter time than most other fermented vegetables which is a good reason it isn’t prone to mold or surface yeast. The other, as you say, is the ingredients, many of which are anti-fungal (Ginger, garlic, capsaicin). However, I definitely DO recommend keeping things under the surface. It’s not difficult to do, but not doing it can result in surface yeasts, depending on how long you ferment it. Surface yeasts are nothing to worry about but they can be disconcerting for new fermenters. They’re also generally very easy to avoid by submerging.
Make sure to check out a couple recent posts on cloudiness in brine, tools of submersion and what surface yeasts may look like (The Wrath of Kahm). Hopefully those will help to calm any concerns you may have!
Thanks for reading!
Jill says
I’m confused a bit about the second step. Are you taking the entire gallon to make a quart of syrup? Is the final product, that you drink, apple cider syrup?
Or are you making part of it into syrup that you add back to the batch of cider?
Amanda says
Pour 1
quart
of new, fresh cider into a sauce pan and reduce into syrup per the instructions. I hope that clears it up!
Aaron clausen says
Can I use a apple juice concentrate? That already is a apple syrup that I would add water to make juice
Amanda says
You could definitely try that! It will definitely not be as sweet or concentrated as this syrup, however.
Rich says
Thanks for your help! I’m going to keep the first batch for vinegar. I picked up some airlocks and will try it again with another batch.
Jennifer Coombe says
I am searching everywhere for the apple cider vinegar recipe you mentioned making with the Whole Foods Cider that is not up to par for this awesome recipe!!!
Thank You!
Jen
Marisa says
Oooh. This looks wonderful. I hope to try it next year.
If one has a carboy half filled with an attempted hard cider project from last year (yeah, 2013) still, uh, fermenting, is that salvageable or in need of tossing?
This mouth-watering post just so happened to remind me of last year’s efforts languishing in my basement.
Amanda says
Hi Marisa,
I would guess that it’s just fine. I’m pretty sure there are a large number of brewers out there who would be very jealous of your year + aged cider. If it looks okay and smells okay, you should be fine!
Mr. D says
Many thanks for your easy to follow not to mention “Real” site. I’m brand new to fermenting and very impressed with my product so far.. My kitchen has been a science project since I really began cooking in grade 4. I had a very difficult time in the early 1950’S my parents and teachers were pulling there hair out!! In the fourth grade returning home after school I said to my mother “I want to make muffins”. With out a hint of hesitation my mother took the ” Joy of Cooking” trom the cook book shelf looked my square in the eye and proclaimed “then you must read”
At age sixty five I have enjoy a very rich relationship with food, its preparation, its enjoyment and its being fuel to our body. My kitchen always has something soaking, something to stir. Something cooling, something aging and now something fermenting !!
I’m on my way out the door to gather cider living on the New Hampshire Vermont border mixed organic unpasteurized cider is plentyful..
All best, Mr. D
Amanda says
Thanks for sharing, Mr. D! I love to hear stories of people’s passion for fermentation and for great, homemade food!
Chris says
Hi Mr. D,
This is obviously a couple years later, but living in the same border lands as you do, I’d be very interested in learning a few more locations to get fresh unpasteurized cider. I only know of Poverty Lane.
Pro tip… If you go to Poverty Lane on their last weekend of the season they often give away the rest of their fresh cider, if it didn’t all sell. I have 6 gallons awaiting bottling as I write this.
Thanks for any help!
Robb says
Before seeing this I attempted a wild fermentation with pasteurized cider I got at the store (first attempt). It didn’t contain any preservatives, but I ended up with mold and it ruined the gallon. I think my issue was that I didn’t stir frequently enough, but I also didn’t add any sugar. Going to try again following you instructions exactly, hopefully no mold this time!
Robb says
My second batch went well and tasted quite good. However now I
‘am going through the process again and after four days there is no bubbling to indicate yeast activity and I see traces of a film that I am afraid may become a mold again. The juice I have been using is definitely preservative free, I added more sugar this time than last time trying to get a higher alcohol content (roughly 1cup granulated sugar + 10 ounces of honey) so there is definitely enough carbohydrate for yeast to thrive. I have been mixing vigorously three times a day. Not sure what I am doing wrong and why the process seems to be hit or miss. Do you have any tips on preventing mold and/or encouraging faster uptake of wild yeasts when the environment seems to contain low counts of them?
Currently, in an attempt to save the current batch I am stirring vigorously about every 30 minutes that I am home, roughly 15 times a day, hoping that this will help things along.
Amanda says
I can’t tell you exactly what’s wrong, but if you’re stirring that frequently and not seeing any activity at this point, it does sound like something is off. Depending on how much fruit/juice you started with, that seems like an appropriate amount of sugar, so no worries that you used too much or too little in this case.
It’s possible that the honey is an issue, since it can be anti-bacterial and anti-fungal, although I’ve never had any trouble, and obviously wild meads exist, so it’s not super likely. I don’t know where you live, but if the temperatures are very cool, that can keep fermentation from initiating. Stirring vigorously from the start is essential in the early hours of fermentation, so if you did that and the above are definitely not problems, it’s a big mystery.
Wild fermentation can be unpredictable, but generally that’s just with flavor output, not with fermentation failing to initiate, which is why I’m confused about what’s happening. I’m pretty sure that it’s literally impossible for mold to form if you’re stirring with that frequency, so I wouldn’t really worry about that. Most likely it’s Kahm yeast (sometimes referred to as a pellicle in home-brew circles). It can impart its own distinctive flavors but is otherwise harmless. However, it generally forms after the early, vigorous stage of yeast fermentation has died down, and with vigorous stirring I’ve never seen that form either, so, yet another odd piece of the puzzle.
Sorry I can’t be of more help. Without seeing your process, I really can’t be sure why fermentation completely failed to start in this case.
Robb says
Well, the good news is that I think you were absolutely right and that it wasn’t mold at all, just a strange floating yeast. I eventually saw some bubbling and transferred to my carboy. It bubbled away and I only just tasted it for the first time after the fermentation seemed to have stopped.
The bad news is that my goal of obtaining a more alcoholic cider did not work out at all. In fact, there is so much residual sweetness that it barely tastes alcoholic at all. I haven’t invested in a hydrometer yet so I don’t know exactly what the estimated alcohol content is but the taste is almost as though I just added honey directly to apple juice and served it.
What are the typical alcohol tolerances that you see with wild yeasts? I prefer a dry cider and if I knew better what the yeast could survive I could plan better to achieve maximum alcohol and dryness.
Or do you think that perhaps I need to add yeast nutrient? SO many considerations.
Amanda says
You could try adding commercial yeast. I like to use champagne yeast, but there are lots of options. Good luck!
Rich says
Hello, I wanted to use wild yeast to make my hard cider. I have three apple trees and I want to put them to use! I was told to put some peel in cider to make a starter (2-3 weeks). The source I used said the wild yeast will be on the peel. I did that, but I didn’t use an airlock… Just covered it with cheesecloth. I didn’t add any sugar. It’s been four or five days, I haven’t stirred it and it is bubbling. It smells like vinegar though. Should I scrap it? They’re late fall apples so I have some time but I want to get ready ahead of time. Thanks for your time!
Amanda says
Hi Rich,
The process you describe is totally the process for making apple scrap vinegar. If want to avoid vinegar microbes, you’ll have to keep a close eye on it and use it as soon as it starts bubbling, or at least get it into an air-free situation. I would guess you’ll want to start using it at 1-2 days, but that depends on temperature and a few other variables.
The process I detailed here is a wild yeast preparation, so that’s always a possibility!
Good luck!
Richard says
Can’t agree with about Whole Foods organic 365 apple juice. I made a Cyser out of that that scored 43/50 in competition. Makes great tasting cyser/cider/wine!
Amanda says
I’m so glad it worked out for you, but I’ll definitely never use it again for cider.
But who knows? It could be better with commercial yeast? And also, with a mass produced product you’re bound to get a year that’s better than others (think of the fruit quality variance in 2 buck chuck, for instance).
Mark Sayworth says
I don’t get what the boiling down of the fresh cider is for. Is that to be mixed with the already brewed cider to sweeten it? Or is that a separate fermentation altogether?
Ami says
Hello! I’m not sure if you can help me through the cyber webs… but about a month ago, I pressed some apples, from two different trees, after only rinsing them, and they yielded a gallon, which I put into my fridge and completely forgot about. I assumed I had to throw it out, until I opened it, and found a delightful fragrance, sweet little bubbles and it’s just calling me to drink it! It smells amazing. I’m not sure if I should, though… I’ve always thought that if it smells ok, it’s good to go, but then I read what you said in your post about leaving things in the fridge. Even if I can’t drink it, could I cook it somehow? Maybe make that syrup? Secondary ferment with Honey? Can I add yeast at this point? Thanks so much for so much great information!
Jenine Serviolo says
Hi – I just found your site and am very psyched! I am looking for a wild yeast ferment hard cider recipe that starts from fresh apples. I know I could make cider then follow your recipe for hard cider but have read about large production hard cider that basically starts with the smashing of less than beautiful apples – which i have hundreds off from my non-spray apple trees. I would love a shortcut from apples to cider… if you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them.
Amanda says
Not so much for quantity, unfortunately! I used to have a juicer, so I would buy bulk seconds and juice (that will ferment spontaneously, with very little work). Now when I go straight from apples, I go 1) coarse chop 2) food processor 3) food mill on finest 4) fine mesh strainer. It’s a pain, so I generally buy cider :). You’re so lucky, though! I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Jenine Serviolo says
Thanks for your reply. As I haven’t found a “crush and leave” recipe to go from apple to hard cider, I am trying to make cider using the quartered apples boiled with cream of tartar. Leave overnight then strain, add sugar. If that works good for the basic cider, I will then try to harden following your steps. I will let you know how it turns out! Thanks again for your great site!
Amanda says
Hi Jenine,
Definitely don’t boil the apples if you want to go the wild route! Fresh cider is a much better candidate for wild fermentation. It’s just difficult to find, which is why I offer a solution for dealing with pasteurized varieties here.
Jill says
I’m using cider I pressed from some very ripe pears. The first stage, in the wide mouth gallon container, only took about a day and a half and the second stage took about the same amount of time! I guess it’s because the pears were so ripe they were probably already producing alcohol, I didn’t pasteurize the cider, and the pears were grown only a few miles away so their natural yeasts were already used to this climate. I’m curious to see how this affects the finished taste. Will it be like bread – slower fermentation is better? I am going to rack the cider in a few hours. Do you think the next stage will happen faster too? I’m worried that the yeasts will have nothing left in there to eat!
Jill says
And thank you so much for posting this recipe! I didn’t know what I was going to do with the huge load of pears I was given.
Tim M says
I have been using your recipe for a few years now and have had great success. I have a few questions I hope we can figure out:
1) If I am using a larger carboy, do I need to start my secondary fermentation when the bubbles reach a different rate? That is, if a gallon jug is ready at 1 bubble a minute, would a 3 gallon carboy be ready with 3 bubbles per minute = 1 every 20 seconds?
2) None of the experienced cider makers or the guy who sold me the airlocks can figure out why your secondary fermentation is done in the fridge. They say that will stop it from happening. But it turned out great in there. Now that by carboys are too big for my fridge I am trying it outside. Though some people recommend doing it in the basement so it goes slower which they say gives better flavor. Sweet cider started its fermentation just fine in the fridge when I was a kid.
3) Why not use an airlock for the secondary fermentation? Is that just to keep it fizzy? That you eventually stop burping it and leave some bubbles in there?
Tim M says
So I notice in my 3-gallon carboy, that in a 70°F room I get a bubble every 8 seconds, but in 60° room it bubbles every two minutes.