So in the interest of eating/drinking at least 50% local this year, we've been brewing at home for the last six months. We started out with some kits from Midwest Brewing Supply and I highly recommend them as a brewing supply source, especially if you are in the Twin Cities area. The staff there is incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. We started with a Honey Nut Brown Ale; brown ales are supposed to be the most forgiving for beginners. Worked like a charm and Matt loved it (I appreciated it but it wasn't really my style). We have since done the kits for both Classic ESB and Hefeweizen and both turned out pretty tasty. For those more interested in our beer brewing, I expect my husband will have more of that on his blog The Booze Whisperer.
As soon as the HNBA was in the carboy (secondary fermenter), I wanted to get some local cider fermenting before the weather got too cold. We decided to go with a five gallon kit (using frozen local cider) also from the brew store. On this point, I have to say that I wish I would have gone with the cider from the orchard I posted about in the fall. The frozen cider tasted a little weak or watered down when I thawed it.
When brewing cider, many brewing sources will tell you that you need to kill off the wild yeast before pitching champagne yeast or whatever type of yeast you want. To do this, most will recommend Campden tablets, essentially a potassium or sodium metabisulphite, to kill wild yeast and bacteria. I wasn't really comfortable with the idea of adding this much sodium/sulfites to our cider so I opted to heat the cider to 145 degrees for 12 minutes. I also decided to add 1.5 cups each of honey (which technically makes it a cyser) and maple syrup to raise the alcohol content. After it cooled, I pitched the champagne yeast into it and four weeks later, I was sipping a pretty good hard cider! This year's cider turned out on the crisp, dry side. I am curious to see what a more flavorful starting cider will produce next year.
