Honey Apple Cider

Cleaning Prep

• Clean everything with hot water and Star San. This is to help make sure there are not other yeast or bacteria that is going to effect your cider.

Fermination

• Remove one cup of cider from the jug and put it into another container that can be used to make another batch of cider once you have enough extra cider.
• Remove another cup of cider and warm in the microwave for 1 minute. The warning of the cider makes it easier to mix up the honey and pour it into the jug.
• (I have been told that it does not hurt the honey if the cider is below 140 degree Fahrenheit since the honey is going to cool the cider down quickly and most of the benefits of raw honey are not lost. But I also know that is not good to let honey get much over 95 degrees Fahrenheit so if you want to make sure you get all of the benefits from the honey you may want to let the cider cool to just below body temperature.)
• Fill the measuring cup with honey until it reaches the 2 cup line.
• Mix up the honey and cider so that the honey is not as thick
• Using a funnel pour the honey and cider mixture back into the jug.
• Add 1/2 teaspoon of Pectic Enzyme powder
• Add 1/2 teaspoon of Fermaid O
• Add 1 teaspoon of Safale S-04 yeast to the Apple Cider jug.
• (You can put the yeast into a bowl with few tablespoons of cider and wait for the yeast to bloom. This the process of activating yeast in a liquid to ensure it's alive and ready to use. It will start to foam up and bubble if it is ready to use.)
• Put the cap back on the Cider Jug and shack until the yeast has been mixed in
• Remove the cap
• Put the bubble airlock into the universal stopper
• Fill the bubble airlock with Star San Sanitizer water or vodka. I normally uses vodka since i have less issue with flies in the vodka then I do in the Star San

Checking Starting Specific Gravity (Optional)

• Fill the Hydrometer test jar between 1/2 and 2/3 full of cider
• Lower the hydrometer into the hydrometer test jar slowly and do not drop it in since it can break. If the hydrometer sits on the bottom sits on the bottom add more cider until the hydrometer floats.
• Move to were you eye is at the level of the top of the cider to read the numbers on the hydrometer.
  
• Record that number on paper you are keeping with the jug or using a permanent marker you can write it directly on the jug. I( usually expect this to be about 1.040)

Let the cider ferment

• I check my cider daily for the first few days to make sure that the bubbler is bubbling and that it had not taken off and overflowed the bubbler.
• Usually between 14 and 28 the cider will stop bubbling and you may see the liquid clearing so that the the lees will fall to the bottom of the jug.

Checking Ending Specific Gravity (Optional)

• Fill the Hydrometer test jar between 1/2 and 2/3 full of cider
• Lower the hydrometer into the hydrometer test jar slowly and do not drop it in since it can break. If the hydrometer sits on the bottom sits on the bottom add more cider until the hydrometer floats.
• Move to were you eye is at the level of the top of the cider to read the numbers on the hydrometer.
• Depending on the dryness or sweetness you want, I go by below 0.999 is dry, 1.000 to 1.009 semi sweet, and over 1.010 is sweet. I like my cider below 1.005

Racking

• Using the Auto-siphon to transfer the cider to another 1 gallon container leaving the lees in the bottom of the plastic jug.
• Clean out the lees and everything left in the original plastic jug.
• Transfer the cider back into the clean plastic jug
• I normally put the air lock back on the jug and let it sit for a few days to make sure the fermentation does not start back up

Cold Crashing to Clear the cider.

• Once i know that fermentation is finished I move the jug into a refrigerator for a last 24 hour to help clear the cider as much as possible.
• Depending on how much sediment falls to the bottom during the cold crash you may need to rack again.

The cider is ready to drink