Apples are the most popular and beloved fruit, which is grown in almost every garden. After harvesting, very often there are a lot of apples left on the ground that are not suitable for storage and homemade preparations, and many owners simply have to throw them away. So that the aromatic fruits do not go to waste, you can make homemade apple cider.
This method is quite labor-intensive, but the result will certainly not disappoint you and you will not regret the time and effort spent.
Before making cider from apples, you should sort out the fruits very carefully. The most suitable apples for this drink are winter varieties. All fruits must be well ripened, without obvious signs of rot.
The prepared fruits must be crushed to prepare the wort. To do this, you can use a regular hand grater, meat grinder, blender or juicer. When using a juicer, do not throw away the pulp - making apple cider will be much faster with it.
Mix the juice and pulp, add a little sugar, mix and place in any container for fermentation. The wort can be prepared in any enamel pan, milk can or glass jars. Using this recipe for homemade apple cider, you can do without sugar, but then the fermentation process will be much longer, and the strength of the resulting drink will be significantly lower.
The wort for apple cider at home needs to be stirred daily and carefully monitored when fermentation begins. As soon as the first signs of fermentation appear on the surface, the pulp will need to be squeezed through a fine sieve or several layers of gauze. Pour the resulting juice into three to five liter jars, install a water seal on them or wear regular rubber gloves. Using gloves, make a small puncture on one of your fingers to allow excess carbon dioxide to escape.
You can make cider from apples as a weak alcoholic drink without adding sugar, but in this case the wort will ferment for several days longer.
Place the cans of cider in a cool, dark place where they will sit for 1-2 months. When fermentation has completely stopped, the drink will need to be drained from the sediment. You can strain the resulting cider using several layers of gauze.
Pour homemade apple cider into small containers - it is best to use half-liter bottles, close and put in the refrigerator. You need to pour the drink right up to the neck and close it tightly, otherwise, due to the ingress of oxygen, the cider may turn into fruit vinegar.
Apple cider prepared according to this recipe can be stored for three years. The longer the drink sits, the tastier and more aromatic it will be.
If you don’t have a lot of apples, but you want to try making a delicious aromatic drink, then you can use a simpler method of preparing it. The simplest apple cider recipe is to put the apple juice in a warm place and let it ferment.
Unfortunately, natural fermentation of juice is only possible if there is a special variety of apples and strict adherence to technology. Using regular apples, the cooking process can take several months, so it is advisable to add sugar and yeast.
Despite the fact that yeast is not used in the industrial production of cider, it will be quite acceptable for preparing a homemade drink.
A cheaper and more accessible option for owners of small gardens and personal plots is to preserve the natural juice for the winter, and make cider from the remaining pulp.
Fill clean three-liter jars with juice squeezes - about a third. Add a little white raisins or yeast to each jar, a glass of sugar and top up with cold, clean water.
Before preparing apple cider, prepare a water seal or rubber gloves - this is done so that the containers with the drink are protected from oxygen.
Cover the jars and place in a warm place for 5-6 days until fermentation stops.
Using gauze, carefully strain and pour the resulting drink into glass jars or bottles. You need to pour the cider very slowly so that the sediment that falls to the bottom does not rise.
Fill the containers to the neck and seal tightly with lids.
Apple cider prepared according to this recipe can be drunk immediately. Store the drink in the refrigerator only in closed bottles, so it is advisable to use containers no larger than one liter.
Each winemaker has his own special recipe for homemade apple cider. Homemade cider can be dry and sweet, with little or no alcohol content. You can use fresh apples or homemade apple juice, or you can prepare a drink with the addition of yeast, raisins or other fruits. If desired, you can mix different varieties of apples in different proportions and each time get new tastes and aromas to suit every taste.
There is no special technology for preparing this drink, so you can become the author of a unique, exclusive drink that can compete even with the most famous varieties of cider produced in elite wineries around the world.
Cider is one of the popular drinks that is created from apple juice. It is made in many countries, but historical cider was prepared in those parts where fertile orchards were located.
You can prepare many different dishes from apples. These can be compotes, preserves, jam and marmalade. In addition to all of the above, aromatic wine - cider - is prepared from apples.
Reference! The most delicious cider is made in France, which is where the name comes from.
There is a wide variety of these drinks, which differ in strength, aroma, and sweetness.
You can make apple cider at home.
Alcoholic drinks made from natural ingredients are gaining more and more popularity. First on the list is apple cider. Many people, drinking this alcohol, do not know about all its beneficial and negative properties.
Apple cider contains many useful macro- and microelements, vitamins, which bring one benefit to the body. This is all due to the fact that during production all the beneficial properties remain.
Reference! Many healers used this drink to treat blues, diabetes and the gastrointestinal tract. Then the usefulness of the product began to be called into question due to the presence of alcohol in it. But experts confirmed the fact that cider is useful. The main thing is to take it in small doses.
Apple cider has a positive effect on the body:
Whether an alcoholic drink is rich in beneficial properties or not depends on the condition of the fruit and the type of apple. If the drink is prepared at home, it will be much healthier than one that is mass-produced.
Beneficial features:
If you drink cider in small quantities, you will notice how the appearance becomes better. The skin looks younger and fresher, the hair is healthy and shiny. Some people make medicinal baths and fill them with cider. After this procedure, the patient will feel improvements in the skin. The skin will be soft and smooth.
But in addition to the positive qualities, this product also has negative aspects:
Attention! Apple cider is a natural product that does not contain toxins, food additives, carcinogens, etc. With a low calorie content, the product contains a large amount of carbohydrates. But this content does not exceed the norm.
No other negative aspects or effects on the body were identified. There may only be an individual intolerance or allergy to any ingredient.
Watch a video about the history of cider:
Before preparing cider, you need to properly choose apples:
Reference! Unripe or overripe apples should not be used. Green fruits are very sour, and overripe ones contain a lot of pectin.
If you prepare apple cider according to this recipe, you will get a drink with sweet and sour notes.
Preparation:
The ripening period is three months. This is exactly how long it takes for the final taste to form. If the cider has been properly prepared, it can be stored in the refrigerator for about two years.
Reference! Also, cider can be made not from apples, but from apple juice. Fruit preparation is carried out using the same technology.
Not every person knows how to properly prepare apple cider. A product prepared at home is considered the healthiest.
Therefore, it is important to choose the appropriate recipe to properly prepare an alcoholic drink.
The simplest and most classic recipe. There are no unnecessary ingredients except apples and sugar. The main thing is to monitor the ratio of fruits. There should be more sweet apples than sour ones.
To prepare you need:
Cooking method:
The fermentation process takes two months. Drain the drink and filter. Pour into clean containers and place in the refrigerator or cellar for three months.
The video describes the classic method of making apple cider at home:
The difference with the traditional recipe is the absence of sugar, and also that apple juice is used for fermentation.
The cooking technology is similar to the previous recipe:
How to make cider from store-bought apple juice is shown in the video:
This recipe uses sweet honey instead of sugar. Making this cider takes a very long time.
Ingredients:
Cooking method:
This is an alternative cooking recipe, where instead of fresh apples, regular dried fruits are used.
You need to prepare:
How to cook:
How to make cider from dried fruits is described in the video:
Ingredients:
You need to take one orange. You will also need a liter of apple juice, five pieces of cinnamon, one ginger root and sparkling water (two liters).
Cooking method:
Ingredients:
You need to take one kilogram of fresh apples and twenty grams of raisins.
Cooking method:
You don't need to use fresh fruit or apple juice to make apple cider. Dried apples work well.
Preparation:
Ingredients: natural apple juice, yeast mixture (wine).
Preparation:
There are some rules on how to properly drink apple cider. Whether to follow them or not, everyone decides for himself.
Rules of use:
Cider is not only tasty, but also a healthy alcoholic drink. There are many ways to prepare it at home.
In order for the drink to turn out, it is important to observe all proportions and strictly follow the recipe. And with what and how to use cider, everyone decides for himself.
Apple cider is a delicious drink that you can make yourself. The classic recipe for apple cider at home is quite simple, and it is recommended to try it for the first time. Next time you can experiment with the ingredients, preparation methods and infusion time.
According to the classic recipe, you will need a minimum of ingredients from which you will get a clean, aromatic drink.
Let's start making apple cider. Any variety of apple is suitable, the main thing is that they should be fragrant. We wash all apples well, cut off rotten areas and other damage, and remove the core. Next, we chop them finely and put them in a three-liter bottle. Having folded half of the product, sandwich it with some sugar, fold in the other half of the fruit, and add the remaining sugar. Add raisins on top - they will give the desired fermentation process. Fill the top with spring (if possible) or distilled water in a volume of 200 ml.
We close the container tightly and insert a special water seal into which we pour 60-degree moonshine or vodka with a volume of 40-60 ml. Leave for 10 days. When bubbles begin to appear in the bottle, fermentation has begun; when they stop rising, the process is over, you can begin filtration.
Take a sieve and a container for pouring. Insert a funnel with a piece of cotton wool to filter the sediment. Pour the drink and close tightly. Store in a dark place.
On a note. Instead of a water seal, you can put a sterile medical glove on the jar, after first piercing one hole with a needle so that the gas escapes. When the glove is inflated, fermentation has begun; when it falls, it is over.
This recipe for apple cider will be relevant in the winter season - the drink is drunk hot, like mulled wine, for example. Quick apple cider warms you up after a walk in the cold.
To begin, cut the apple in half, peel the seeds and stick cloves into it, cut the orange into circles, and grate the nutmeg on a fine grater.
Let the juice heat up. Once the juice is hot, add brown sugar and stir until dissolved. Then add the rest of the prepared ingredients. Bring the drink to a boil and cook for ¼ hour. Then we catch pieces of fruit.
The drink is ready to drink. It is served hot.
An option for quickly making delicious homemade cider from simple store-bought juice:
As a rule, store-bought juices contain quite a lot of sugar, so there is no need to add any additional sugar.
We use a sterilized three-liter jar as a container. Pour apple juice into a container. Pour half a teaspoon of dry yeast into 50 ml of warm water and leave for 15 minutes. When the yeast is ready, pour it into a jar of apple juice and place it under a water seal. Leave to ferment at room temperature for a week.
We filter the fermented juice and pour it into clean bottles for storage. Store in a cool, dark place.
Honey cider made from homemade apple juice is very tasty and... quite alcoholic. Quite a lot of time passes from the start of preparation to the possibility of tasting. Nevertheless, the drink is worth it, we recommend trying it:
First, prepare the honey base - pour the honey into water and begin to cook slowly. It is important to remember the water level, since after cooking the honey water there will be much less and will need to be added.
When it starts to boil, foam will appear, which must be collected. Continue cooking over low heat for 1.5-2 hours until foam stops appearing. Add drinking water to the original level and bring to a boil. Afterwards we put it in a bowl of water to cool, it will be faster.
While the honey base is boiling, prepare the juice: peel the apples, cut them and pass them through a meat grinder, then squeeze out the juice using gauze.
By this time, the honey syrup (full) will have cooled down and will be a little warm. Add sugar and stir thoroughly.
In accordance with the dosage indicated on the bag, dilute the required amount of yeast in warm water and leave for 15-20 minutes.
In the meantime, pour the honey into a sterilized bottle, then add yeast and set the water seal. Let it ferment at room temperature for about a month.
After a month, carefully pour the drink through the filter and leave it for another 2-3 days so that the last sediment falls out. During this time, the drink will become more transparent.
Prepare bottles for carbonation. For a liter bottle you will need a teaspoon of sugar. Pour for carbonation - formation of gases. Carbonation lasts about three weeks.
On a note. If the apples are sweet or sweet and sour, you will need to prepare 1.5 liters of them. If it’s sour, 1 liter is enough. The best option is 1.5 liters from different types of apples.
Mixed cider made from apples and pears is very aromatic and unusual:
Fruits can be taken in different varieties. Wash it thoroughly. We remove damaged areas and darkened spots from the fruit, cut out the cores and cut into small pieces so that it is convenient to pass through a meat grinder or juicer. We turn the prepared puree into juice. The volume is a three-liter bottle. Depending on the size of the fruit, it may turn out a little larger or smaller.
Ferment the yeast with warm water in a separate glass, let it brew for 15-20 minutes. Then pour them into the puree and add 0.3-0.5 drinking water. It is important to leave a small free space up to the neck of the bottle. Add sugar in an amount calculated for the resulting volume of the drink. We put a water seal and leave it to ferment for 1.5 weeks. It is recommended to pour a little vodka or moonshine into the water seal to prevent germs from entering.
Pass the fermented cider through a sieve and pour into disinfected bottles to ripen for 1.5-2 months in a cool, dark place.
On a note. A hydrometer is used to measure the alcohol level in a drink. The approximate value for cider is about 23, which is about 10-11 degrees.
Apple drink is liked not only by adults; children will also appreciate it. But with the usual method of preparation, the cider turns out to be alcoholic. In this recipe we will tell you about non-alcoholic cider for children:
Pour the juice into a saucepan. Cut the orange into small rings, then into quarters and add to the juice. Immediately add the spices.
Place the pan on the fire and cook until it boils. When it boils, let it cook for 10 minutes, remove from heat and let stand for a while (40 minutes). Afterwards, we catch all the fruits and spices, add honey to taste, stir thoroughly until it is completely dissolved and pour into cups.
First of all, we heat 10 liters to 80 degrees. Pour dried fruits into a large container and fill with water. Cover with a lid and let the wort brew. We wait until its temperature cools down to 35 degrees.
We heat the remaining water to 50 degrees and dissolve sugar in it. By this time, the wort will have reached the desired state and the sugar syrup can be combined with the apple wort. Stir and measure the temperature, which should be 35-37 degrees. If the temperature is correct, add yeast. Leave to ferment. When the foam stops releasing, filter and bottle.
The carbonation of the drink depends on the sweetness of the apples. In general, the gas bubbles are almost invisible, making the cider similar to apple wine.
Still from the film “A Good Year”
There is a legend that cider was invented by King Charlemagne when he once sat on a bag of overripe apples. We hasten to disappoint you: it is no longer customary to make apple alcohol this way.
In the more than a thousand years that have passed since the significant discovery of cider making, we decided to choose the simplest possible recipe suitable for home use.
And even if you don’t have “your own” apples that you “didn’t pour all sorts of nasty things on,” it doesn’t matter - we’ll take store-bought ones.
10 kg apples
1.5 kg sugar
three liter jars
medical gloves
juicer
medical IV tubes (sold at the pharmacy)
Wipe the apples with a dry cloth. They cannot be washed, because wild yeast lives on the surface of the fruit, which is needed for fermentation. Remove leaves and tails.
There is no need to peel the apples before doing this - process them together with the peel and seeds.
Don't forget to sterilize the container first. Place four tablespoons of sugar in each jar.
Fill the jars no more than 2/3 of the volume; free space is needed for foam and carbon dioxide. Don't forget to stir.
We put a glove and a small hole over the neck so that it does not explode.
Let our future cider ferment in a dark and warm place for about a week. You will understand that he has stopped doing this because the glove will change position from vertical to horizontal.
To do this, pour the juice from the jar into the pan through cheesecloth. And then into a clean jar.
This time we wait twice as long - four days will be enough.
But now we do it with the help of tubes. We place one end in the middle of the jar, the other - above the pan. To get the process going, suck in air from the free end of the tube as if you were about to drink your cider. Why can't I use gauze again? Because now we need to act more delicately, without disturbing the harmful sediment at the bottom. The process is slow, but necessary.
Close the jar with a lid and let it sit for another ten days. Then repeat point 9, and the finish line!
Cover the bottles with caps. That's all.
According to the recipe above, we got “still” apple wine, but if you want sparkling wine, you can add them if you take two more simple steps.
Add sugar (10 grams per 1 liter) to the bottom of each bottle and leave 5-6 cm of free space from the neck. Shake it up.
Then transfer the containers to a dark room at room temperature for 10-14 days. Check the gas pressure once a day so that your bottle does not explode, otherwise it will be a pity for the apples and your efforts.
From apples you can not only make jam, marmalade, compotes, jelly and marmalade, but also prepare aromatic apple wine, which the French call cider. In fact, the best ciders are produced in France - greenish-golden, with the aroma of apples, strength up to 8 degrees, with varying degrees of sweetness. is a low-alcohol and slightly carbonated apple juice, unusually fragrant and tasty, ideal for the holiday table. Interestingly, in America, cider is a type of apple juice. Make apple cider at home and invite friends over for a tasting! Everyone loves the refined and delicate taste of homemade apple wine, in which you can feel honey notes, and playing bubbles in a glass with ice cubes create a good mood and a cozy atmosphere. If you are preparing wine for the first time, choose the simplest recipe and only then master more complex cooking methods. So let's get started!
The classic recipe recommends using any of 50 varieties of apples that are ideal for cider, including varieties such as Antonovka, Melba, Foxville, Steyr, and Yantarka Altai. Typically, these varieties contain a high concentration of tannins, which give the drink a unique flavor. To make apple wine at home, take any varieties available in your area, the main thing is that they taste good.
Never use underripe or overripe apples - green fruits are too sour, and very ripe apples have lost their juiciness and contain too much pectin. Late and winter varieties of apples, which contain a lot of tannins and sugars, are excellent for cider. In this case, apple wine will turn out to be very aromatic, healthy and tasty.
Carefully inspect the apples, set aside rotten and damaged fruits. Apples should be very juicy, moderately soft and ripe. Use apples of several varieties (sweet, sour, tart, bitter) for piquancy and versatility of taste. If you take fruits of one variety, it will lose its flavor.
It is not recommended to wash apples before preparing the drink - just wipe them with a dry cloth. The fact is that it is on the surface of the peel that wild yeast lives, which is necessary for the natural fermentation of cider. Keep the apples for three days in a dry and dark place to allow them to mature, and then remove the leaves and stems. The fruits are ready for further heat treatment!
Try preparing apple wine according to our recommendations, and after a while you will enjoy a delicious drink, moderately sweet and moderately strong.
1. Grind the apples in a meat grinder or in a blender to a homogeneous pulp along with the peel and seeds, pour boiling water over the jars, dry and fill with applesauce to ⅔ of the volume - after all, you need to leave room for carbon dioxide and foam. Add sugar to the mixture (150 g of sand per 1 kg of fruit) and start preparing the wort.
2. Wrap the necks of the jars with cotton cloth or gauze, folded several times, and leave to ferment for four days in a warm place, remembering to stir the apple mass once a day. By the end of the fourth day, the apples will ferment - a characteristic smell of yeast, abundant foam and a promising hiss will appear.
3. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth and pour the resulting juice into a separate dry jar, put a water seal or medical glove on top and leave the jar alone for 45-70 days in a dark place. The water seal removes carbon dioxide and prevents oxygen from entering the jar, which often leads to spoilage of the wort. As soon as the liquid becomes lighter, air bubbles will no longer form in the jar, and you will see sediment at the bottom, the cider is almost ready.
4. All you have to do is strain the drink, pour it into bottles, seal it tightly, and then put it in a dark place to ripen. It is advisable to fill the container to the very neck, as oxygen can turn the cider into vinegar. At the same time, the temperature in the room where the cider is located should not be higher than 10-12°C, and the settling period should be about three months - this is exactly the time required for the formation of taste. Properly made cider can last two to three years in the refrigerator.
You can make cider not from apples, but from fresh apple juice. The selection and preparation of fruits are carried out using standard technology, and then the liquid is placed in jars under a water seal for 3-4 weeks. After filtration, the cider is poured into jars, tightly closed and infused for another 4 months. And as a finishing touch, pour the cider into bottles and move it to the refrigerator, basement or cellar.
Now you know how to make cider - a light golden drink with an apple and honey taste that does not cause a hangover. It is sometimes prepared without sugar, and apples are mixed with pears, quinces, cherries, lingonberries, currants, raspberries, blueberries, grapes and other fruits. You can flavor the drink with spices - cinnamon and cloves; do not use yeast, but cook apple juice with honey, citrus fruits, and ginger. Then you will get not a strong cider, but a sweet one, the preparation process of which does not involve fermentation.
Apple wine should be drunk cool, enjoying every sip. However, you should fill the glass with the drink correctly - gourmets advise pouring the cider so that its stream breaks against the walls of the glass. While the stream flies in the air, the wine is saturated with oxygen and the drink begins to foam, which contributes to the maximum development of the flavor bouquet. Since the foam does not last long, drink the cider as soon as possible to experience its unique taste with fresh apple notes and the aroma of summer...
If you learn how to prepare cider according to different recipes, you will not have problems with drinks, since apple wine perfectly replaces champagne at family parties and, in its non-alcoholic version, is served at the children's table. Enjoy the juiciness of fruit in your glass all year round!
Ingredients:
Preparation:
1. Combine apple juice with orange slices, cinnamon and ginger in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat and cook for 30 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
4. Pass through a strainer to remove excess spices.
5. Fill a tall glass with ice, add half a glass of sparkling water and add a quarter of the cooled mixture.
6. Garnish with an orange slice and a cinnamon stick.
