Brewing Hard Cider at Home

I was struck with the home-brewing bug last year but in my search for a simple recipe for beer I found out just how easy hard cider was to brew. Hard cider can be made just by combining apple juice and yeast (I cover the basics here). Now that I have tackled several batches of plain hard cider I decided to move on to something a little more complicated. The two variations that I am brewing right now are a flavored Holiday Hard Cider (recipe below) and a Cyser (mead made in apple juice instead of water).

Holiday Hard Cider

5 gallons Apple Juice (pasteurized, no preservatives)
6 cups Maple Syrup
2 1/3 tablespoons Whole Cloves
1/2 tablespoon Whole nutmeg, cracked
10 4-inch cinnamon sticks
3 lemons
2 inches ginger root, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 pkg. Lalvin EC-1118 active dry wine yeast

Simmer 1 gallon apple juice, spices and ginger (in spice bags), syrup, and lemon juice and zest for 45 mins.

Add simmered mix to remaining 4 gallons cider in a sanitized plastic fermentation bucket. Rehydrate the yeast according to directions on package and add to the bucket. Cover with lid and insert airlock. Place the bucket in a room that is 55-70 degrees Fahrenheit. Fermentation will commence in about 24 hours and will continue at a rapid pace for 10 days. Move bucket to a higher area after 9 days so the contents can be racked into the secondary the next day.

Rack to secondary (5 gallon carboy) and top off with more apple juice. Once fermentation is complete move to higher area 24 hours before bottling. Rack into bottling bucket. Prime with ¾ cup honey and bottle. Age for 30 days and consume.