Introduction

1. Cidermaking: What You Need and How to Do It
2. Making Different Cider Varieties
3. Apples for Cider
4. The home Cider Orchard
5. Beyond Cider: Vinegars Brandy Tasting and Cooking
6. Cider and The Law

Appendix: Making Your Own Equipment
Index

Excerpt from Chapter 1
Hundreds of variables affect cidermaking -- the acidity of the juice the weather the varieties of apples used the bacteria in and around the juice and the conditions for their growth the size of the cidermaking operation itself and the nature of the equipment the use of sweeteners or chemical additives different procedures in the making proscribed by law or custom and finally the regional tastes and preferences of the cider drinkers. Yet all cider goes through three simple stages. In autumn the ripe fruit is crushed; then the juice is pressed out. The juice may be fermented for weeks or months but usually buy late winter the finished cider is bottled.