It’s been an interesting experience, but now the waiting starts. This morning, Tammy and I bottled the cider.
It ended up making a fair amount. We had to press some Wild Rose beer bottles into service when it became clear that we had a bit more than we had counted on.
My biggest concerns at this point:
- Will the end product taste good? Right now, the little sips are… an acquired taste.
- Will the carbonation work? I’m trusting that there is still live yeast in the mix, and it will convert the sugar in the sugar tablets into bubbles.
Overall costs:
- Carboy, sanitizer, yeast, siphon tube, gravimeter: $59.39
- Bottling siphon tip, clarifying agent and tablets: $15.76
- Capper and 140 bottle caps: $49.77
Major time sinks:
- Cutting up the apples
- Juicing
The rest of it has just been short periods of time, racking the cider. We would have been done sooner if I’d bought the clarifying agent sooner, but it’s not a race.
