Hard Cider: Batch 2, Rack 1.

December 1, 2025.

This was a bit later than I wanted it to be. The cider was set down in primary fermentation on 11/17 and it smelled about perfect last Friday, but on Saturday we were too busy building the fence to attend to it then.

By Sunday afternoon it was starting to develop some acetic overtones in the smell (a.k.a. vinegar). Oxygen can be helpful for the initial, vigorous stage of primary fermentation, but as the initial yeast orgy subsides, oxygen becomes bad, because it encourages the growth of acetobacter species (the bacteria primarily responsible for vinegar formation). While vinegar is quite useful, it is not generally preferred for drinking.

First step was sanitizing all the equipment. This turned into a bit of a science lesson, as we discussed how the wine thief, the starting pump, and the siphon worked. The two older girls thought that was super cool. We’ll make braumeisters of them yet!

Then carefully siphoning the cider off the lees, leaving behind the scum on the top, and the yeast bodies on the bottom. I did not use the starter pump this time, and the siphoning process was a lot smoother, but would have gone better with an extra set of hands.

There was some left in the container after the jug and the test tube were filled.

Specific gravity is about 1.000. This means that the yeast have devoured all the sugar, and it should be about 6% ABV.

A taste test at this point: The cider is clear, somewhat bland with mixed yeasty and acetic overtones when the whole batch is smelled, but when smelling just the clear bit from the middle of the vat it has a smell reminiscent of a strongbow dry cider. It is cloudy and still, with here and there chunks of yeast that have not yet dropped completely out. The flavor is somewhat sweet, shallow and uninteresting, almost watery, like grocery store apple juice with just a hint of alcohol.

The jug was too full so I used the wine thief to take out a few ounces.

This will go into a separate jar.

Like this.

Along with the remainder in the primary fermentation chamber, after it is filtered.

The main body is back down in the basement (61 degrees F) for secondary fermentation. Overall I would call it immature, though I have no idea what I’m doing. We’ll let it sit until Easter, maybe.