Looks like I’m well past cider-making season, and yet, I put my next batch in to brew on the 3rd of January. It’s a lot easier the second time around, as you know more or less what you are doing, and aren’t stopping to ask Google questions every time you walk back into the room. When do I sanitize? When do I clean? Really, taking the airlock out means cleaning it again? Is Star-San a no-rinse solution? How do I increase alcohol content?

The airlock, at work

So the second time is easier, but in a way, a lot harder: for the first batch, I had gone to Asheville, NC, during apple season, and gotten two gallons of pure, unfiltered, unpasteurized apple cider. $10 a gallon. This time, pure cider is effectively unobtainable. So, I went to the local grocery store and picked up two gallons of “All natural” cider – the only one I could find that only listed Apple Juice as an ingredient. Yes, it’s pasteurized, but it doesn’t have sulfates added for stabilization, it doesn’t have color added, etc. It’s just juice.

So, it’s in the primary. Two weeks or so to go until it’s ready to rack over. I think I’ll try making beer next.