ReadyMade: Instructions for everyday life

Sterilize your work area, bottling equipment, bottles, and fermenter using the bleach solution, which is mild and safe enough that it doesn’t need to be rinsed away.

Pour juice into the fermenter.

Add yeast culture. If using dry yeast, follow directions on the packet to activate it. If using liquid culture, it’ll be ready to pitch into the mix as soon as it reaches room temperature.

Seal the fermenter with the airlock. For extra protection against microbial contamination, fill the airlock with water up to the line indicated on the side.

Place the fermenter in a cool, dark place (ultraviolet light can affect the process). You also want to maintain a fairly constant temperature, between 55 to 70 degrees (if it gets much warmer, off-flavors can develop). In the first few days, the airlock will bubble furiously. Foam may form on top of the cider and rise up. If you look closely through the glass, you’ll see the entire jug churning away. This is good. Let the activity calm down for a week or two.

Once the bubbling pretty much stops, use the siphon hose to extract the fermented cider from the yeast and sediment remaining in the fermenter. Traditional cider is cloudy, but it will be much less so without all that muck that has settled out.

If you want a classic Anglo-American still cider (i.e., mostly flat), you can now siphon it into your sterilized bottles or jugs and cap it. If you prefer sparkling cider, mix in about 1/4 cup boiled sugar solution, cooled to room temperature, per gallon of juice before bottling. Once the bottles are sealed, bubbles of CO2 will be trapped in the solution. This will add a light, tingly fizz to the cider without much risk of overcarbonation and bursting bottles.

Fill the bottles. If you’ve made a small batch of just a gallon or so, you can use a funnel. If you have a large batch, siphon your brew into a bottling bucket with a spill- and headache-free spring-loaded spigot attachment.

Cap the bottles.

Be patient. Fermentation can happen in as little as a week, but full flavor is developed over the course of several months or more. Of course, no one’s going to know if you sneak a sample (or two) a little early.