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Apple cider with honey. Apple cider recipe for making at home (with and without gas). Cider drink

Cider is a drink made from apple juice, originating in France. Its taste characteristics are similar to champagne, but you can make cider at home. No special devices are needed, and the set of ingredients is available to everyone: apples, sugar and yeast.

Preparing apples

You can take any variety of apples for homemade cider: summer, autumn, winter. The main condition is that they must be sweet and sour.

Depending on which blocks you used, the finished cider can range in color from greenish to golden and taste anywhere from dry to completely sweet. If you only have sweet apples, the juice from them will need to be further diluted with water and the amount of sugar reduced.

It is very important to sort the apples and wash them. It is also necessary to remove all damaged areas and stalks. Cider is a low-alcohol drink with a high content of vitamins. In addition to preparing the apples, you must follow the recipe instructions exactly.

Original recipe

Wash the selected apples, peel them from the centers, cut them into slices and grind them using a food processor or meat grinder. Transfer the resulting mass into a deep bowl, pour sugar on top in a proportion of 15 g per kilogram of fruit.

We leave the result of our work in a warm place for three days, covering it with a thin cloth. The cake that has risen to the top must be strained and the pulp squeezed out, and the remaining juice must be poured into a large jar.

Add another 300 g of granulated sugar to the container with the juice, cover with a lid and leave to ferment for three weeks. After this period, you will have a drink that will surprise everyone with its taste and aroma.

Special Ingredients

Homemade cider can be prepared using a different recipe using yeast. Pour the ground apples with water and leave to ferment for two weeks, then strain the resulting liquid, heat it, add yeast and sugar to it.

The proportion of ingredients is as follows: 25 g of yeast and five glasses of granulated sugar per 4.5 liters of apple juice with water. After adding all the ingredients, the mixture should be left in a warm room to ferment.

You can make your own cider at home with the addition of honey. A few dried pears will add a refined aroma to the drink. When the finished cider is bottled, a couple of raisins can be added to each bottle for a special taste. The cider can be supplemented with a small amount of lemon or orange zest. Homemade cider can be enjoyed cold or warm. Warm cider is well complemented with cinnamon or cloves.

Video

Apple cider is considered a fairly popular low-alcohol drink. With its light taste it is a little like champagne. The technology for making cider at home is simple and straightforward. There are a lot of recipes, but it is better for novice winemakers to try the classic recipe for the first time. If everything works out, you can choose more complex options, trying to add new components.

What is cider?

Not only apples are used as the main ingredient, but also juice from pears, apricots, peaches, and all kinds of berries. Apple cider can be dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet, or sweet. Everything will depend on the degree of sweetness of the fruit used and the amount of sugar. Dry apple cider, which once became the national drink of England, gained particular popularity. Also in the UK they love perry, a cider made from pears.

How to select and prepare apples?

Regular fruits do not have enough tannins and acids, which are necessary to obtain the ideal taste of the drink. Experts advise preparing cider from assorted apples, mixing sweet and tart varieties, with a predominance of wild sour apples.

Homemade cider is most often made from winter apple varieties, which are picked from the trees in late fall.

Experienced winemakers love to experiment with fruit blends, choosing their own special option that will help create the perfect drink. If this is your first time trying to make apple cider at home, take the sweet and sour small varieties. You can make cider from ranetki: the small, tart fruits are ideal.

After being picked from the trees, the apples need to sit for a while. Late varieties are left for a couple of weeks in a dark, cool place. Other varieties can ripen in only 2-3 days.

The fruit should not be washed because the peel contains live yeast cultures necessary for the natural fermentation process. If the apple peel is very dirty, it is better to lightly wipe it. Be sure to remove damaged areas.

On a note! The higher the tannin content in the fruit, the more delicious the homemade alcohol will be.

How to make apple cider according to the classic recipe?

Making apple cider according to a standard recipe at home is not at all difficult.

Ingredients:

Apples – 10 kg;
Granulated sugar – 1-1.5 kg.

How to make homemade classic cider:

Prepare the fruit: remove rot, wipe dirty areas with a damp cloth, cut into quarters, chop together with the skin.
Pour ¾ of the total volume of the bottle into the container.
Add granulated sugar, taking into account the sweetness of the apple varieties used.
Cover the neck of the container with several layers of gauze. Place the wort in a darkened room for a couple of days, shaking the bottle periodically.
Then squeeze the juice out of the mass and pour it into a clean container. Pull a rubber glove over the neck, piercing a hole in one finger with a needle. You can use a water seal.
Fermentation will continue for several months.
Next, the drink is filtered and bottled.
Bottles should be stored in the refrigerator or basement. After 3-4 months, you can try a homemade classic drink made from apples.

A simple recipe for apple juice cider without added sugar.

The technology for making this apple cider is similar to the classic recipe. The recipe for apple cider from juice differs from the classic one in that it uses pre-squeezed apple juice without added sugar.

How to make cider from juice at home:

Using a juicer, squeeze out the apple juice and leave it in a warm room for a day.
Pour into a glass bottle, place a water seal or use a disposable glove.
The bottle is left for 30-35 days in a warm place.
After fermentation is complete, the liquid should be poured into another container. Cover it with a lid and leave it cool for several months.
All that remains is to filter the cider made from apple juice, bottle it and seal it. You can taste the drink after 2-3 weeks.

How to carbonate a drink?

A distinctive feature of the drink is the presence of small gas bubbles, thanks to which the drink resembles sparkling wine. After fermentation is complete, it is better to pour the alcohol into a plastic container, leaving a little free space on top. First, pour a spoonful of sugar syrup into each bottle or add a spoonful of sugar (for 10 liters of liquid, 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar). Seal the bottles hermetically and leave for 2 weeks in a dark, cool place.

Periodically you need to check the gas pressure in the bottles, releasing excess air. Finally, place the bottles of cider in a cool room or refrigerator.

How to make apple cider with honey?

This is a time-consuming method for making a homemade drink, but the end result is a fruity, sweet apple cider with a honey flavor.

Ingredients:

8 kg apples;
1.5 liters of natural honey.

Making cider:

Cut the prepared fruits into four parts and place in a large enamel bowl.
Dilute 0.5 liters of honey in 2 liters of warm boiled water. Pour the syrup into the apples, place a plate with pressure on top.
Cover the container with a clean cloth and place in a dark room for a month. The temperature should be room temperature.
Pour the resulting infusion into a separate container, pour the newly prepared honey syrup over the apples. Leave again for a month.
Repeat the same again using the remaining honey. The liquid drained all three times should be kept in the refrigerator in closed jars.
Pour all the liquid into a large glass bottle, close the lid tightly, and place in the cellar or refrigerator for 7-9 months.
Finally, filter, pour into glass or plastic bottles, and leave for a month until the drink has fully matured. The result is sweet apple cider with a unique honey aroma.

There is nothing difficult about making homemade apple cider with honey, but many winemakers are intimidated by the length of the process. However, it’s worth trying to make a drink using this recipe. Its taste is soft, sweetish, and can surprise the most demanding tasters.

Drink "Dragon's Blood"

The drink made according to this recipe turns out to be a deep ruby color, thanks to an additional ingredient - cherries.

What you will need for your homemade Dragon's Blood drink:

2 kg of sweet and sour apples;
2 kg of juicy cherries;
2 kg granulated sugar;
2 liters of water.

How to make Dragon's Blood cider:

If apples and cherries are too dirty, simply wipe them with a clean, thick cloth. Remove rot, twigs, leaves, seeds.
Make puree from berries and apples using a meat grinder or masher.
Transfer the puree into a bottle, mix, close the neck and place in a dry, warm room for a couple of days.
Squeeze out the juice, pour into another container not up to the neck, pour out all the granulated sugar. Stir until the sugar crystals dissolve.
Put a rubber glove on the neck, after a week, drain the liquid from the sediment and strain.
The last stage: the cider is bottled in glass or plastic bottles with tight lids.

"Dragon's Blood" is infused for three months. Many winemakers prefer to add strong drinks to cider: rum, cognac, brandy, Calvados. This must be done carefully, in several stages. If you add a small amount of strong alcohol, it will not spoil the homemade drink; on the contrary, it will give it a new, sophisticated taste.

Mulled apple cider wine

A ready-made low-alcohol drink can be used as a base for hot mulled wine. In the UK it is considered a traditional drink at Christmas, and in our country people like to drink mulled wine on cold winter evenings.

The following ingredients will be required:

A liter of ready-made apple cider;
4-5 tbsp. natural honey;
Several cinnamon sticks;
6-7 dried clove inflorescences;
3-4 allspice peas;
Zest of 2 oranges and 1 lemon.

Making Christmas homemade mulled wine:

Pour cider into an enamel bowl, add spices, honey, grated lemon and orange zest.
Place over low heat and wait until the liquid begins to boil. Do not boil under any circumstances!
Pour mulled wine into tall glass cups with handles.

Hot mulled wine helps to warm you up in cold weather and is also an excellent means of preventing colds.

Pros and cons of cider

Made from natural ingredients at home, apple cider has a number of benefits, such as:

Contains a lot of vitamins and microelements;
Helps relieve fatigue, treats depression;
Positively affects the functioning of the stomach;
Improves appetite;
Rejuvenates the body due to its high content of antioxidants;
Dilates blood vessels.

But do not forget that homemade cider, even of the highest quality, is an alcoholic drink, so it should not be consumed during pregnancy and lactation, as well as for diseases of the nervous system and alcoholism. A high content of fruit acids can cause worsening of gastritis and ulcers. The drink is not recommended for those who suffer from cholecystitis and pancreatitis.

In any case, you should not abuse homemade drinks, even if there are no contraindications.

How to make cider from peaches or apricots?

Quite rarely, winemakers use peaches and apricots to make cider. Meanwhile, peach cider, like apricot cider, turns out to be aromatic, sweet, with a velvety delicate taste.

You can prepare cider from apricots and peaches as follows:

Remove the seeds from three kilograms of fruit and mash the pulp with your hands (no need to cut off the skin).
The fruit pulp should be transferred to an enamel pan, pour in 10 liters of warm drinking water, add 1.5 kg of granulated sugar, and mix.
Cover the pan with several layers of cloth and place it in a warm, non-sunny room for several days.
Periodically stir the contents with a wooden spatula, as if drowning the skins and pulp that will rise to the surface. After 12-15 hours, signs of fermentation will appear: hissing, air bubbles, a characteristic smell.
Squeeze the juice from the pulp, add 0.5 kg of sugar, mix thoroughly.
Pour the liquid into another container, filling it 2/3 full.
Pull on a glove or install a water seal and place in a warm, dark room. After 5 days, add 0.5 kg of sugar. To do this, drain a glass of apricot juice, stir sugar in it and pour the syrup back into the bottle.
Next, the process of preparing apricot or peach cider is exactly the same as in the classic recipe using apples.

To carbonate a drink, you need to do the following:

Apricot cider is removed from the lees when it has stopped fermenting.
Sugar is poured into pre-washed and dried plastic bottles (10 grams of sugar per 1 liter of drink).
The drink is not poured all the way to the neck, leaving about 6 cm of empty space.
The bottles are placed in a dark room at room temperature for approximately 2 weeks. To prevent bottles from exploding, you need to constantly release excess gas by opening the caps slightly.

The apricot and peach cider recipe is very similar to the apple cider recipe, so don't be afraid to experiment and feel free to use other fruits.

There are many other drink recipes:

Recipe for making cider from concentrated juice;
Dried fruit recipe;
Recipe for cider from white filling and other varieties of apples;
Non-alcoholic recipe;
A recipe that uses special yeast for apple cider, and many others.

A light low-alcohol drink made from apples or other fruits and berries will quench your thirst in the heat, warm you in the cold, lift your spirits and relieve fatigue. Try making delicious apple cider at home; this does not require special professionalism or numerous ingredients. The secrets of making apple cider are simple, and once you have mastered the classic recipe, you can safely experiment by trying new interesting recipes.

Cider is apple wine produced by fermentation without yeast and pasteurization.

It has a beautiful amber color and retains all the beneficial properties of fresh fruits.

Very popular in Western countries, and Germany holds a festival in his honor every year.

Various varieties of apples are suitable for preparing the drink:

Summer - melba, white filling, box.
Autumn - ayla, boletus, anise, Slavyanka, Chinese, papirovka, taiga.
Winter ones - Antonovka, Karsil, Tartu Roosi and others.

All unclaimed harvest should be left for several days for complete ripening; preference is best given to fruits that have fallen to the ground - they no longer need to be aged.

When mixing different varieties, the taste becomes more intense.

Professionals use fruits with a high tannin content, and amateurs use those that are available.

Sugar is added depending on the variety and desired strength of the future drink.

Chilled cider, prepared at home, is very tasty and perfectly quenches your thirst.

In addition, it can be called a healing elixir that will cleanse the body of toxins, strengthen blood vessels, stabilize the functioning of the heart and intestines, speed up metabolism, which will allow you to get rid of extra pounds.

There is never a hangover after drinking natural cider.

The simplest recipe

Take any ripe apples (you can mix several varieties), remove the stems, cut out any damage.

Process into a homogeneous paste using a food processor or meat grinder.

Transfer the resulting mixture into a regular glass jar, filling 2/3 of the volume.

If the fruit is sweet, you can dilute it a little with water.

To increase the intensity of fermentation, add 100 grams of sugar and a handful of raisins.

Put a rubber glove on the neck, which will become an obstacle to the flow of oxygen, as well as a kind of indicator of the fermentation process.

Leave for a week in a warm place (22-30°C).

When the glove is inflated, strain the contents through gauze folded in several layers.

Squeeze out the pulp and discard.

Pour the liquid into a clean container and leave it in the cold for three days - during this time a sediment will form, so the drink must be carefully pumped using a hose or medical tube.

The new vessel should be filled to the top, otherwise the air entering will again provoke fermentation - the finished cider will become vinegar.

This drink can be stored in a cool place for up to one year.

In a similar way, you can prepare a recipe for cider from apple juice at home, the only difference is that it will ferment longer - about 3-4 weeks, but if stored properly, it will not spoil for 3 years.

We offer you a video with a step-by-step recipe:

Other cider recipes

Most people think about making cider at home in the fall, when apples ripen massively and abundantly, requiring urgent processing.

For the classic recipe:

You need to chop 8 kilograms of fruit, remove the core and damage.
Add the zest of 2 lemons, sprinkle with sugar (2 kg), add a bucket of clean, good quality water.
Cover with a clean cloth and leave to ferment at room temperature for a week.
Then strain several times, bottle, and store in a cool place.

The following recipe requires patience:

Cut a bucket of apples into several parts, put them in a fabric (cotton) bag, and tie them tightly.
Place the resulting knot in a basin and press it with pressure from above.
Dissolve one and a half kilograms of honey in 6 liters of water, pour over the apples, cover with a towel.
The mixture will ferment for about a month, after which the separated juice is poured into a clean container, and the pulp is again filled with syrup. Repeat the same procedure a third time. Mix all three liquids, leave for 9 months, pour into bottles, keep in the cold for a month and can be consumed.

Losing weight before the start of the swimming season is the No. 1 task of many girls, women and even men. But this does not mean that you need to torture yourself with hunger strikes. One way to reduce it is to change your diet.

To prevent your favorite pizza dough from drying out and remaining soft, you can prepare it with kefir. All technology is described

Another option for making apple cider at home using wine yeast, which must be made in advance:

A glass of unwashed berries - rose hips, strawberries, raspberries or others - is crushed, poured with 100 grams of warm water (boiled), adding a spoonful of sugar.
Leave for three days in a dark place at a temperature of 20°C. Stir daily and use immediately after ripening.
Add wine yeast to apple juice, leave for a week, then filter, pour, and seal.
Leave it in the cold for a couple of months and the cider is ready.

To saturate the drink with carbon dioxide, sugar is added again in the form of chilled syrup before bottling.

Special care is needed here - if the mixture turns out to be too sweet, the container may explode, unable to withstand the high pressure generated during the fermentation process.

Another video recipe for cider at home:

Anyone can try to prepare a drink to their own taste and choose experimentally the most acceptable recipe to suit their taste.

It is important to remember that all utensils used in production must be washed well, or better yet, sterilized.

A 40 liter container filled to the top with apples will yield about 4 liters of cider.

You can add spices to your taste - cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, allspice, zest or citrus slices.

In the West, hot cider is very popular, which will help you warm up during the cold season and give you a good mood.

This drink contains various seasonings or sweets.

Heat apple juice or cider over low heat, add any spices and pieces of fruit.

Use with cinnamon or a little rum (brandy).

Once upon a time, cider was considered an imperial drink, but today its aroma and subtle unique taste have won the hearts of people from different countries all over the planet.

And, of course, we again can’t just pick you up and let you go, so we suggest you watch the next video:

The technology for making a low-alcohol drink from apples has been known for several centuries. Real cider is made without adding yeast and without pasteurizing the finished product.

Preparatory stage

If you are seriously interested in how to make cider, then you need to decide what will be useful to you in the process of making it. First you need to choose apples. Sweet and sour varieties of these fruits are best suited for these purposes. To prepare the drink you will also need sugar, water and a fermentation container. The composition of additional products depends on the recipe you choose to prepare. In addition to the above, you will need a regular medical rubber glove or a special cap.

Before you figure out how to make cider at home, you need to prepare your apples. They need to be rinsed with water, the core and seeds removed and chopped on a grater, in a food processor or with a knife. There is no need to peel apples, and you should also not pour boiling water over them or use detergents to clean them. The peel of these fruits contains yeast that promotes fermentation.

Preparing the drink in the standard way

One of the most common apple cider recipes is the following. It is necessary to prepare the fruits in the manner described above and fill a washed and sterilized glass container with them approximately 1/3 full. You also need to add sugar at the rate of 100 grams per liter of apple mass or, as it is also called, pulp. You can also pour some raisins into the container.

If it seems to you that the apples are not juicy, then water should be added to the container with the pulp at a 1:1 ratio. Now a regular medical rubber glove is put on the neck of the jar. From it you can judge how the fermentation process is going. In addition, it is needed to block the access of oxygen, otherwise the pulp may simply turn sour. Now the container needs to be placed in a dark place where the temperature is maintained around the clock at 21-30 degrees Celsius. It should stay there for about a week. You can consider that making cider at home has been successful if after the specified time you see an inflated glove on the can. The time has come to remove it and strain the resulting drink into a jar.

But that is not all. Now the strained liquid must be placed in the refrigerator and wait for a precipitate to form. After this, all that remains is to drain the clean cider without grounds using a hose, pour it into bottles and seal tightly.

Correct Method

Those who want to learn how to make cider according to the classic recipe will have to find ripe wild apples. You will need to squeeze out pure juice from them. It is the basis for preparing a classic low-alcohol drink. The juice is poured into a glass container so that it fills it 2/3. The jar used is closed with a special lid - a water seal. When using it, air does not enter the container, but the released carbon dioxide can escape from it.

The jar must be placed in a dark place for at least three weeks, in which the temperature will be at 22 degrees. After this, it is necessary to drain the clean liquid through the hose so that the sediment remains in the container. This fermented juice must be poured into jars, covered with a lid and stored for 3-4 months at a temperature of 10 degrees. Only after completing all these steps will the cider from the juice be ready, it can be bottled, tightly closed and stored in the refrigerator for up to three years.

Please note that no sugar, raisins or yeast are used in its production. This product is considered natural.

Ancient recipe

But these are not all the ways to make cider. To make the drink using the old method, you will need a canvas bag and a wooden barrel. If necessary, the barrel can be replaced with a large enamel pan. Washed and cored apples are poured into a bag, which is placed in a prepared container. After this, you can start preparing the syrup. It is made from 6 liters of water and 1.6 kg of sugar (if desired, you can use honey instead), this amount is needed for 8 kg of fruit. The top of the apples is covered with a lid - it can be either solid wood or mesh. A pressure is placed on it so that the apples cannot float.

After these steps are completed, the container is placed in a dark place for fermentation.

When the process is complete, the liquid is drained into a clean container using a flexible hose. With the same apple pulp, these steps can be repeated several times. That is, you again need to prepare the syrup and pour it over the fruit, and after a month, drain the clean liquid. The drinks obtained from several approaches are mixed and settled in a cold place for at least six months. Only after this the low-alcohol cider wine is considered ready.

Recipe with yeast

Many people believe that using additional components will help speed up the process of preparing the drink. But it is not always the case. It will take more than six months to make cider with yeast. It is done as follows.

The apples are finely chopped, placed in a jar and filled with water so that they are completely covered. This container is placed in a warm place for fermentation for about two weeks, during the process the liquid must be stirred regularly. After the specified period, the resulting juice is filtered and slightly heated.

Now you need to add sugar and yeast. The main thing is to maintain proportions. So, 25 grams of yeast and 5 glasses of sugar are mixed with 4.5 liters of fermented juice. Now you need to put it in a container and cover with a lid. As soon as the liquid begins to ferment, it must be poured into a barrel; after the process is completed, it is sealed and sits like that for about six months. Only after 6 months will homemade apple cider be ready and can be bottled.

Quick recipe

Another option for making a low-alcohol champagne drink is the following.

For it you will need 8 kg of apples, 2 kg of sugar, 10 liters of water and the zest of two lemons. Note that you can make cider from these ingredients in just a week.

A homemade recipe with accelerated technology looks like this. Small apples are selected, cored and cut in half. The fruits prepared in this way are placed in a container, covered with sugar and filled with water with the addition of lemon zest. The container is covered with gauze, previously folded in several layers, and placed in a warm place. After a week, the drink can be strained and bottled, it will become cider. The accelerated home preparation method, of course, does not coincide with the technology established by specialists for making this drink without adding sugar and other components, but you will be able to drink it within a week.

There is another way to make this low-alcohol drink. It can be made from freshly squeezed juice from non-acidic apples. Please note that packaged drinks sold in supermarkets cannot become the basis for cider.

To prepare it, you need to add 100 grams of sugar, wine yeast or a special starter for each liter of juice. By the way, it can be made from unwashed raspberries, water and sugar. To do this, crushed berries are poured with half a glass of warm water and covered with a spoon of sugar. The container is closed and placed in a warm place for three days. At the same time, it must be shaken every day.

The juice, mixed with starter and sugar, is poured into a jar and closed with a water seal. The container is kept in a cool place until the release of gas bubbles stops, but this is not cider yet. A homemade recipe for this drink requires that the liquid be carefully drained without sediment. After this, you need to wash the container, pour the base of the future wine back into it and put it in a cold place for three months. After this period, the cider can already be bottled.

Dried fruit drink

If you are excited about making this drink in the middle of winter, then don’t be upset and wait for a new apple harvest. For the drink, you can buy inexpensive fresh apples, which are sold all year round, and dried fruits. Cider is made from these components as follows. A layer of dried apples is placed in a jar or barrel, and on top of them are prepared, cut into large pieces of fresh ones. The fruit should fill about half of the container you plan to use to make cider. A homemade recipe for making a drink from these components is that they need to be poured with boiled, cooled water and sealed for about three weeks, leaving in a dark place for successful fermentation. After the specified period, the cider can already be drained. The base for this drink can be filled with water and infused at least three more times. But keep in mind that you will get a rather sour drink. It can be sweetened before use.

Drinking culture

Once you understand how cider is made, it's also a good idea to figure out how it should be consumed. It is believed that the dry drink is ideal for various seafood, such as shrimp and oysters. It can also be successfully combined with various cheeses, low-fat kebabs and vegetables. But sweet varieties are best drunk with desserts. This cider goes well with baked goods, yogurt cakes, sweets, chocolate, and mascarpone.

This drink has many benefits. It does not contain any chemical additives; in addition, it is not only a source of vitamins B6, B1, C, but also iron, calcium, potassium, and pectin. They also say that cider can normalize blood pressure and have a positive effect on the functioning of the stomach and intestines. But do not forget that the fermentation process produces an alcoholic drink, so you should not abuse it.

Apple cider: recipe

Homemade apple cider, the recipe and preparation technology of which has been passed down for centuries, will be refreshing in the heat and will become an integral attribute of bathhouse gatherings. His recipe surprises with its simplicity, and its taste with subtle notes of freshness and apple aroma.

Type of dish: homemade cider.
Subtype of dish: apple drink.
Output volume: 7 l.
Cooking time:
Nationality of the dish: French cuisine.
Energy value:

proteins – 0.04 g;
fats – 0.07 g;
carbohydrates –10.9 g;
saturated fatty acids – 0.047 g;
potassium – 295 mg;
sodium – 7 mg.

Making apple cider in jars

Ingredients for making homemade apple cider

apples – 10 kg;
sugar – 4-6 glasses.

How to make homemade apple cider

Refreshing cider is, in fact, ordinary apple wine, since the technology for their preparation is identical. It is better to choose several varieties of apples as raw materials. It was noted that apple cider has the best taste, during the preparation of which the juice was obtained from 1 part of sour fruits and 2 parts of sweet ones. Sweet and sour wild apples are great for making cider from apples.

Sweet and sour fruits for making cider

To get real cider from apples, it is recommended to let the selected fruits rest so that they become softer. It is worth checking their appearance daily to ensure that rotten areas do not appear. Making cider from apples is very simple, the whole process can be described in the following steps:

Preparation of raw materials. Collected apples must be wiped with a dry soft cloth (do not wash them!) - this will preserve live yeast on their surface, which promotes the fermentation process. Place the apples in a warm room for a couple of days. Then clean the fruits: remove the stems and leaves.
Grinding of raw materials. Cut the apples into several parts, then pass through a meat grinder or puree using a blender.
Preparing a container for cider fermentation. For these purposes, it is recommended to take large glass containers (for example, 9-liter bottles), but plastic bottles, basins, and large enamel pans are also suitable. Wash the containers well, pour boiling water over them and wipe dry.
Laying out the apple mass into containers. Pack the ground apples into clean containers so that 1/3 of them remains free - this is necessary for the formation of foam and carbon dioxide. Add sugar there - 100 g (maximum 150 g for very sour apples) for each kilogram of apple mass. It is better to add sugar gradually, constantly stirring and tasting the wort. It should be sweet, but not cloying.
Preparing for fermentation of apple cider. Cover the neck of each container with thick gauze and secure the sides with a strong thread. Place in a room at room temperature, where sunlight should not penetrate.
Control of the primary fermentation process. Over the course of 4 days, it is necessary to regularly stir the fermented mass, drowning the pulp in the juice.
Preparation for the secondary fermentation process. When the hissing is clearly visible and the characteristic smell of the fermented mass is felt (about 3-4 days), it needs to be squeezed out and poured into another container. Install a water seal on its neck or put on an ordinary medical glove (sold at a pharmacy), with a hole made in one finger for the free release of carbon dioxide.

Apple cider: fermentation process

Fermentation of apple juice. Place containers with future cider in a dark place where the air temperature will be in the range of 18-26 degrees. There they will be stored for up to two months, until fermentation stops completely. This will be indicated by a deflated glove or the cessation of air release from the water seal.
Merging. Remove the resulting drink from the sediment and pour into another container. Experienced winemakers use a thin tube for this (like a dropper). Strain the cider again through thick cheesecloth.
Bottling of the drink and its ripening. Prepare bottles and caps in advance: everything needs to be thoroughly washed and sterilized. Pour the strained apple cider into bottles (jars), seal or seal well. Place them in a dark place with a temperature of 8-12 degrees. The temperature must not be allowed to drop below 5 degrees, otherwise the cider will not acquire the necessary properties. After 3 months, apple cider at home will be completely ready for consumption.

It is worth considering that if you plan to make cider from very sour varieties of apples, you will need to add a little water to the ground mass at the rate of 50-100 ml per 1 kg of applesauce. Adhering to this recipe, you will get a very tasty low-alcohol drink - its strength is not that of apple cider. exceeds 8%. If you add a little cognac to it, it will taste good.

Sparkling apple cider

Ingredients:

apples – 10 kg;
sugar – 5-7 glasses.

Delicious sparkling apple cider

To make apple cider at home, you need to do the same as for making still cider. Similarly to the first 8 points of the first recipe, prepare the raw materials for fermentation and wait 1-2 months until this process is completely completed. Then proceed as follows:

Prepare glass or plastic containers for storage in advance. Wash them well and dry them.
Remove the cider from the sediment by pouring it into another container using a thin straw.
Pour sugar into the bottom of each bottle at the rate of 10 g per 1 liter of container volume. This will allow the weak fermentation process to start again, due to which the cider will be saturated with carbon dioxide and become carbonated.
Pour apple cider into bottles, but do not fill them completely. There should be approximately 6 centimeters of free space left to the neck of the container. Screw the bottles tightly with caps or caps.
For 2 weeks, move them to a room at room temperature, deprived of sunlight. Throughout this period, check the gas pressure in the containers daily. If too many gases have accumulated, they need to be partially vented (released).
For storage, such cider should be moved to a cool, cool place, maybe in the refrigerator. There he must lie for at least 4 days.
The chilled drink is a little reminiscent of kvass - it’s also very refreshing in hot weather.

Homemade apple juice cider without sugar

Ingredients:

apples in any quantity.

Making apple cider without sugar

He is called classic cider and it is especially valued among those who prefer exclusively natural and healthy products. The technology for preparing it at home is quite simple:

Get apple juice using any of the available methods. The fruits should not be washed beforehand - it is important to preserve the natural yeast.
Place in a dark place for a day to settle. The temperature should be room temperature.
The next day, remove from the sediment, strain and pour into a fermentation container (with a narrow neck). Install a water seal or wear a medical glove.
Place for 1-2 months (until fermentation ends) in a dark, warm place, the temperature should be between 20-27 degrees.
Using a thin long tube, pour the fermented drink into another container, without touching the sediment, and strain.
Pour the cider into bottles, seal tightly and place in a dark room with a temperature of 6-12 degrees. So the cider should ripen in 3-4 months.
Filter again and bottle, roll up or close tightly.

It remains to place the bottles in the cellar or refrigerator for another 3-4 days, after which you can begin tasting. In such conditions it can be stored for up to 3 years.

Apple cider: video recipe

Another very simple and tasty recipe can be seen in the following video. Its author suggests preparing a drink using apples, sugar and raisins.

How and where to store apple cider

The finished drink should be stored in a cool, dark place with an air temperature of 5-8 degrees. It should not be exposed to direct sunlight, otherwise it will lose its properties. A refrigerator or a cold basement is ideal as a storage location. It is worth protecting such supplies from temperature changes, movements and other influences that may affect the carbonation process - saturation of the drink with carbon dioxide.

Secrets of storing apple cider

If the jars were sealed with a cork stopper, then they should remain on their sides for the entire shelf life. If the containers were rolled up or screw-on lids were used, they can be held in any position. For bottles with cork stoppers, it is especially important to maintain the required humidity in the room - 65-80%. If you create suitable storage conditions and do not violate the required temperature and humidity indicators, the drink will be stored for up to three years. But it is still recommended to use it after 6 months of ripening and no later than a year from the moment the bottles are sealed.