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This is the second and last instalment on homebrewing. I thought it would have ended up being a short episode but then I got to rambling.
This week we talk about making easy hard cider and quick mead. I also mention making a hard lemonade. Not sure how the lemonade is going to turn out but will post the results when Mike drinks it.
I hate that I had to distinguish in this posts title that this was “Hard” cider. Cider by it’s definition is “hard”, meaning it traditionally cider is a fermented apple juice drink. Here is the Etymology of the word.
- cider (n.)
- late 13c., from O.Fr. cidre, cire (12c., Mod.Fr. cidre), variant of cisdre, from L.L. sicera, Vulgate rendition of Heb. shekhar, word used for any strong drink (translated in Old English as beor). Meaning gradually narrowed in English to mean exclusively “fermented drink made from apples,” though this sense also was in Old French.
Only in America and Parts of Canada does it mean an unfiltered non-alcoholic version. Basically the difference here in the US between Apple Juice and Apple Cider is that cider is unfiltered, sometimes un-pasteurized, making the drink a darker brownish color. To me cider tends to be a bit sweeter and less tangy and crisp than apple juice. Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way when I refer to Cider I mean a fermented drink and juice is un-fermented. Now lets get onto how you can make this tasty drink at home and easy.
