They will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
Re-checked the Cider on Saturday, day 13 since casting the yeast. I would read that as 1.002. Which means that fermentation is occurring, but I am not sure if it is the right sort. The cider has an unpleasant, sour, musty aroma, and there was hardly any bubbling in the airlock. Didn't have a thermometer… Continue reading Hard Cider 2026: Update
Well, folks. It came, it went. It was a whirlwind of pressing, canning, laughing, talking, joking, eating, drinking, and all the other things that go along with CiderFest. We outdid last year's count, with a grand total of 129 gallons (6 fermenting for hard cider, the rest canned) divvied out between almost 20 households. Started… Continue reading CiderFest 2026
(20 The girls have been listening to Les Misérables. ) We have a few. Clearing off tables. Even the rickety one.  Lunch break! A few more apples, and everything is rearranged, ready to chop them up and press them. One press inside, two presses outside, room for another press, then the straining station on… Continue reading One Day More…
We have stockpiled an apple or two in the last few weeks. Might need to do something with them in the next couple of days.
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… Continue reading Hard Cider: Batch 2, Rack 1.
Yesterday was day 17 of the hard cider experiment. According to the "Brew Book." Which is gleen, in fact, not brue, but it works. I have been keeping meticulous notes in an old school note book. On the way back south after a National Guard day (long story) I stopped by our local home brew… Continue reading Hardening the Cider: Secondary Fermentation.
Our first batch of hard cider has been bubbling merrily away in the closet since Oct 27. Monday, Nov 3, (one week later) I pulled the jug out to have a look at it. The scummy froth on top has dispersed, and the movements of the air lock had slowed considerably. It is now bobbing… Continue reading Hard Cider Update
What do you do when life hands you 100 gallons of cider? You make hard cider, of course. When I told the kids I was making hard cider they asked how you harden cider. So the process is now known as "hardening." The first step is cleaning and sterilizing our equipment. If we have learned… Continue reading Hardening the Cider
Well folks, as expected, last Saturday was Crazy! We had more than twenty families come over, from Church, homeschool, work, 4H and neighbors. We processed more than a ton of apples into who knows how much cider! We canned 100+ gallons the day of, and parceled out another 20-ish gallons for people to can at… Continue reading Cider Fest 2025!
Well, folks, our second annual Ciderfest was a great success. And now that we have done a second one, I think we can actually call it annual. It takes two data to create a vector, don't you know? "Here you go, Daddy!" Dixie cups for tasting the fresh squeeze. Let me tell you, there is… Continue reading Ciderfest 2024
