i just found this recipie, its soo simple from diy-auction.com Materials: 1-gallon bottle of apple cider, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 packet of yeast (can be obtained at your grocer on the baking aisle) A non-spermicidal/non-lube condom (or just wash the lube off), and a dark, somewhat cool spot to let your brew ferment! Directions: Pour in the cup (8 oz) of brown sugar and a full yeast packet. Put the lid back on, mix the ingredients til the brown sugar has dissolved and the yeast has been stirred around a bit. (Don't mix it up too much though!) Take the lid back off (but keep it for when your brew is ready!), unroll the condom most of the way, and place it over the opening of the bottle. Now put it in a dark place with a moderate temperature. Once or twice daily (at least, though the first couple of days I suggest even three or four times daily), pull the base of the condom out enough to squeeze the air out of it. Be sure NOT TO PULL THE CONDOM ALL THE WAY OFF! And do it gently, as you don't want to disturb the fermenting process. When the condom stops filling with air, (usually after about a week, maybe two), your cider should be ready!!! Now this stuff is potent, so have someone else to share this with!!! Now enjoy the satisfaction of drinking very cheaply without contributing to the alcohol companies!!!!! Fun stuff.....
Actually, I have done this and had it work just fine with a few layers of plastic wrap secured tightly with some rubber bands (always more than one... one can snap). Or two liter bottles (4 liters make a gallon so have two of them) with balloons on the top. Even better... poke a few holes in the balloons with a pin and you never have to remove it. The holes will only open under pressure ... the positive pressure from inside releasing your CO2 but not letting anything in your brew. Or you could go the expensive route. Buy the bucket from a brewshop. Get some good yeast (bread yeast does work but it can be iffy if you aren't patient). A proper airlock... and make it 5 gallons at a time. Damn it took forever for me to drink 5 gallons of 14-16% hard cider. Also, if you are making this because you live at home and/or cannot legally purchase your own hard cider (a legitimate reason in my eyes... uhm breaking the law is bad kiddie no) you should be aware that a couple of gallons puts of a sigifigant amount of CO2 (five puts out a ton) at the start and having several apple scented air freshners blatantly about your room might cover the very obvious scent of fermentation that will be coming from your closet. Just a heads up. Also, be patient. Two weeks at a bare minimum. A month is better. Two months and you are jammin. And rack that stuff once in a while if you go past a month. Any brewing site will tell you how. I doubt anyone is seriously going to wait more than a month though. But take my advice... it is worth the wait.
...only for a couple gallons and with cider yeast. There's no point waiting all that time if you just want an alcoholized drink, especially if you use baker's yeast. Since there is no more fermentation after 10-15 days, if the room is warm. FYI you get 9-11% vol. with baker's yeast (as strong as wine).
lol, to be honest I have no idea what the bread yeast finished at. 9-11% seems about right. That was before I had the tools to take a specific gravity. Mmm, closet booze for the poor man. When I went and got the bucket and airlock, I picked up some champagne yeast while I was in the store. Technically that stuff will go to 18-19% as long as there is sugar. If you can easily get the better yeast, I would recommend it. The yeast is not much more expensive and you have a better idea of how it reacts. Bread yeast can be real variable sometimes. I bottled it (the five gallons of hard cider) in 2 liters after about six weeks to get a nice carbonated kick. A 20oz glass of that would have me on my butt. I'm not a huge drinker so I gave out tons of it. Sadly, I wasn't careful with some of the bottles and contaminated cider SUCKS. . . but those were rare duds. As for the bread yeast thing, it may stop working after 14 days... but you need to give it time to drop clear or your cider is going to taste bready. I know... I was impatient. It wasn't THAT bad... I like yeasty beer and the taste was unique and very enjoyable. Not for everyone that is for sure. But if you rack the cider off the dormant yeast and let it really clear up... you cannot tell the difference between the bread yeast and wine yeast unless you know. Also, one of those times I had to wait forever for the yeast to clear wasn't just a cider... it was technically a cyser (a mead made with apple cider)... and meads take forever to clear as honey ferments very slowly -- that was a very good gallon though. It wasn't cheap to make... not like the cider recipe given here.
That is awesome! I'm so trying that... Definantly going shopping tomorrow, I better think ahead... Maybe I should make 10 gallons?
lol, 10 gallons is A LOT!!! Make it a gallon or two at a time. That way you are finishing off one batch as the next comes ready to drink.
does anyone feel like explaining what racking is? is that when you get that layer of crap off the top of the brew?
Yeah, it is getting the brew off the dormant yeast that will pile up at the bottom. You siphon it carefully with a sterile tube into a clean new container. Taking care not to splash it around too much. Once you have alcohol, great care must be taken to not aerate the must because there are natural bacteria in the air that feed off alcohol. This wouldn't be so bad if they didn't make vinegar out of it. Even the tiniest amount of vinegar can spoil a whole batch. If you are not going to keep the brew for more than a month then racking should not be neccessary unless you really know what you are doing. This is because the risks far outweight the benefits for that duration. For longer periods you need to rack it because the yeast will canibalize their dormant brothers to get nutrients that might not be available in the must. Also, a minor thing but you should know it if you plan on racking. Always rack into a container that is larger than the amount of liquid you are transferring. Your first container should also be larger than the liquid -- by about 25% in case of explosive fermentation right at the start, this is also something that really comes into play for bigger batches. You do NOT want five gallons of fermenting cider to explode in a closet. If your airlock gets plugged (because the bucket overflows) it can build up pressure until the top does explode. Anyway, keep about 10% or more room in the new bucket beyond what will be needed to hold the liquid. When you move the liquid the dissolved CO2 in the must is going to be released all at once. This can result in a big foamy mess if you aren't careful. You really don't have time to wait for it to fizz-out before adding the rest of the liquid because the less exposure to air the better.
anybody know if its okay to use unpasturized juice? i made cider just from some some apples i picked and juiced then added sugar and yeast. the fermentation should kill the buggies shouldn;t it?
Sorry it took so long to respond. Yeah you'll be fine. In fact, you could have gone the natural route and skipped both yeast and sugar. There is enough natural yeast on apples to that they will ferment themselves with proper care. Sometimes it just seems like the universe is conspiring to provide mind-altering chemicals to us. Either way... make sure the container is clean and don't let air in once the fermentation starts.
i followed the original instructions and it worked just fine. right now i have a 64 oz (half gal) of grape juice w/ 1 pkt of bread yeast and a 1/2 cup of sugar. it's been a week and it has been spitting and fizzing, which is good. how much longer should i wait in order to get a good drink?
Almost everything I have read recommends at least 4 weeks for wines. That is one thing I love about cider... it is one of the few alcoholic drinks that is completely drinkable throughout the entire process. It always is good. A wine requires a little more aging. I mean, you could drink it sooner... but it is going to taste cheap.
