Fun With Cider

Ever wondered what would happen if you added brewer's yeast to cider? Me too. I made a five gallon batch and pitched it with yeast from the Ginger Porter, and a one gallon batch pitched with half a packet of yeast (about 3.5 grams) shown here with an airlock. I'm thinking you could just use the cap from the jug, threaded loosely. Mike O'Brien tells me the cider should ferment all the way down, so we'll check that. The starting gravity was 1.052. I let it warm to 60 degrees F before pitching, and fermentation was obvious in a few hours in both the one and five gallon batches. I used pasteurized cider with NO potassium sorbate, which is sometimes added to inhibit fermentation.