Cherry Hard Cider Recipe
A delicious and simple Cherry hard cider recipe.
Yield: 5 Gallon
Equipment
Materials
- 5 gal Apple Cider
- 1 tsp Yeast Nutrient
- 1 pack Nottingham Ale Yeast
- 5 lbs Cherries
- 2.5 tsp Campden for bottling
- 2.5 tsp Sorbate for bottling
Instructions
- Clean and sanitize all cider making equipment before starting.
- Pour the Apple juice into the fermenting vessel.
- Take a hydrometer reading to measure the gravity and record.
- Add yeast nutrient if desired.
- Pour the yeast into the fermenter.
- Close the fermenter and install an airlock filled with sanitizer.
- Allow the cider to ferment in a cool and dark place for about two weeks.
- Pack the cherries into a hop bag and place the bag into the fermenter for about a week.
- Cold crash, rack and bottle.
Notes
Once the fermenter is full and the yeast is pitched, place the cider in a cool and dark area to ferment for about two weeks. A blow-off tube may be needed as initial fermentation can produce a lot of krausen.
Once initial fermentation of the apple must has finished, the cherries can be added. The fruit contain sugar so fermentation will restart but should taper off after a few days and they can be removed after about a week.
Note: Juice can be used in place of whole fruit, amount may very.
Now that the flavor addition has been completed and all fermentation had ended, the cider can be cold crashed to help drop out solids.
Next, the batch can be racked into a clean and sanitized fermenter or bottling bucket.
At this time you can make your final adjustments such as flavoring or priming sugar.
Follow standard bottling or kegging procedures to package the cider.