Brewing Apple Cider Guide From Orchard to Glass: Everything You Need to Make Great Hard Cider at Home

When I was a lad, I lived in a place called 'the fruit bowl of New Zealand', that place being Hastings.

There were apples everywhere: in the orchards, on the farms, in your school lunch, on every corner. Open the newspaper and four or five would fall out!

And never once did I think about making them into cider.

And now that I live miles away from the orchards of home, a good cider reminds me of years of apple picking and thinning and driving a hydra-ladder around an orchard to help pay for university fees.

But you came here to learn how to brew an alcoholic (hard) cider, so let's get on with it.

If you've brewed beer before, it's the same concept of fermentation but with some important variations in how you prepare the base ingredients and the specific chemistry adjustments that produce a well-balanced cider rather than something that tastes like alcoholic disappointment. The fundamentals of sanitation, yeast health, temperature management, and patience apply equally here. As always when brewing, it's very important that all your equipment is exceptionally clean and properly sanitized.

Where cider diverges from beer is in the base liquid. Wort is a relatively controlled, brewer-designed environment. Apple juice is an agricultural product full of wild organisms, variable sugar content, natural acids, and pectin that all need to be managed before fermentation begins. Understanding that distinction is what separates a cider that tastes finished and well-crafted from one that is merely fermented apple juice.

🍎 Choosing Your Apples

Key Takeaway:Variety, Sugar Content, and Balance

If you think the first thing on the list of things you need is apples or pears, well, you'd be right. But it's not that simple. When brewing cider, not all apples are created equal.

Ideally, you'll have been able to harvest some late-season apples, maybe even some which have naturally fallen from the tree. This is because these apples have higher sugar concentrations that develop as the fruit fully ripens, and as any brewer knows, sugar is the feedstock for fermentation. Immature apples picked early have lower brix (sugar content), which means lower potential alcohol and often a thinner, more astringent cider.

A blend of apple varieties produces a more complex cider than any single variety alone. The key is balancing four characteristics across your blend: sweetness, acidity, tannin, and aroma. Commercial cider makers obsess over this balance and it is why their products taste so much more layered than single-variety homemade versions.

Dry cider: Red Delicious and Granny Smith in a 1:2 ratio. The Granny Smith's high malic acid content drives the dry, sharp character.
Sweeter cider: Macintosh to Cortland in a 1:2 ratio. Both are lower-acid dessert varieties that produce a rounder, softer result.
General balance: 70% dessert apples and 30% cooking apples. The cooking apples bring acidity and tannin to balance the sweetness of the dessert varieties.

Cider apples, varieties specifically bred for cidermaking rather than eating, contain significantly higher tannin and acid levels than dessert or culinary apples. If you have access to varieties like Dabinett, Kingston Black, or Yarlington Mill, a small proportion in the blend adds genuine complexity that eating apples alone cannot replicate. A 10 to 15% addition of true cider apple varieties in a mostly dessert apple blend makes a noticeable difference to the finished character.

Pears work on the same principles and can be used alone or blended with apples. Pear cider (technically perry when made from true perry pear varieties) ferments and behaves similarly but tends toward a softer, more delicate flavor profile with less tannin and a lighter body.

🔨 Preparation and Pressing

Key Takeaway:Pulp Right, Press Patiently

First up, wash your fruit thoroughly to remove dirt, bird droppings, leaves, and any surface contamination. Cut away any genuinely rotten sections. Bruised or slightly blemished apples are fine and should not be discarded; surface imperfections do not affect fermentation. Actual rot does, because the moulds and bacteria in decomposed fruit will contaminate your juice before you have a chance to treat it.

Your immediate goal is to turn your apples or pears into a pulp. Some players may use a scratter but chances are you're gonna have to do this the hard way with a bit of elbow grease and pulp them into what's called a 'pomace'. Quarter your apples before starting to make this process significantly easier. Pound the quartered fruit in a large bucket using a clean piece of wood such as a 4x4 post, the end of a baseball bat, or whatever's handy.

You can use a blender to speed things along, but keep it coarse. Bear in mind that you're not trying to go all Charles Bronson on your apples. Your mashed fruit should have substance and texture. Visible liquid juice running freely means you've over-pulped, which reduces pressing efficiency and can result in more pectin extraction than you want.

How many apples do I need?

A rough rule of thumb is that 2kg of apples yields approximately 1 litre of juice. In imperial terms, you'll need around 20 pounds (just under 10kg) per gallon of finished juice. To fill a standard 23-litre fermenter, that works out to approximately 46kg of fruit. Which is a lot of apples. This is why store-bought juice is such an attractive option for brewers without orchard access, and we cover that route later in this guide.

Pressing

Seasoned pros will agree that an apple press saves a huge amount of time and extracts juice far more efficiently than any manual alternative. Make sure your press is clean before you start, and position a clean bucket under the outlet to catch the juice. Load your pomace into the press basket.

Turn the press down slowly until you feel real tension, then stop. Leave it in position for a couple of minutes. The juice will begin to flow as pressure distributes through the pomace. When the flow slows, tighten the press again and leave it. Repeat this cycle rather than trying to force the press in one continuous movement. Slow, patient pressing extracts more juice and avoids forcing bitter compounds from the seeds and core material into the juice.

🧪 Preparing the Juice: Campden, Pectolase, and pH

Key Takeaway:Treat First, Ferment Second

Freshly pressed apple juice is alive with wild organisms. Acetobacter bacteria are the most consequential: they convert alcohol to acetic acid, which is the classic turn-to-vinegar spoilage. Wild yeast strains are also present and will begin fermenting the juice on their own terms if you give them the chance, typically producing unpredictable and often unpleasant flavor compounds in the process. The treatment step addresses both.

Campden tablets (sodium metabisulphite)

A Campden tablet (sodium metabisulphite) releases sulfur dioxide when dissolved in the juice, which inhibits wild yeast and kills acetobacter and most other spoilage organisms. The standard dosage is approximately one tablet per gallon of juice. Stir the juice thoroughly every 12 hours over the 48-hour treatment period to ensure the metabisulphite comes into contact with the entire volume. Cover the vessel with a cloth during this time to prevent contamination while allowing SO2 gas to escape.

After 48 hours, most of the active sulfur dioxide will have dissipated, leaving the juice ready to accept your chosen yeast without competition from wild organisms.

Pectolase (pectic enzyme)

Experienced cider makers add pectolase or pectic enzyme to the juice at this stage. Pectin is a structural carbohydrate in fruit cell walls that creates a stubborn haze in fermented cider and slightly reduces juice yield. Pectolase breaks down pectin enzymatically, improving both juice extraction and the clarity of the finished cider. It also makes subsequent fining and clearing much more effective. The standard dose is approximately one teaspoon per gallon of juice. Add it at the same time as the Campden treatment and allow the full 48-hour rest before pitching yeast, as pectolase works most effectively in the absence of active fermentation alcohol.

pH management

You may also want to check the pH of your juice before fermentation begins. Most apple juice falls between pH 3.2 and 4.0 naturally, but the range varies significantly with variety, growing conditions, and ripeness. The ideal fermentation pH for cider is 3.2 to 3.8. Juice above pH 4.0 is less acidic than ideal, which can produce a flatter, less refreshing finished cider and increases spoilage risk. Adding malic acid at this stage corrects this directly, as it is the dominant organic acid naturally present in apples. If pH is too low, a small addition of precipitated chalk raises it. We cover the full details of pH management in the dedicated section below.

🧬 Choosing and Pitching Your Yeast

Key Takeaway:Yeast Defines the Character of Your Cider

Having let your juice rest with the Campden tablets for at least 48 hours, transfer the juice to your clean and thoroughly sanitised fermenter if you haven't done so already. Take a hydrometer reading to record the original gravity, which will allow you to calculate the finished ABV and confirm fermentation is complete later.

Yeast selection shapes your cider more than almost any other single decision at this stage. The same apple juice pitched with different strains will produce meaningfully different ciders. The broad categories are these:

Specific cider yeasts

Purpose-bred cider strains are selected for apple juice fermentation specifically. They tend to retain more of the fruity apple esters and fresh varietal character from the juice than neutral champagne strains, which strip a lot of that character out. For a cider where you want the apple variety to come through in the finished glass, start here.

Mangrove Jack's Cider Yeast M02: produces a clean, fruity cider with good attenuation and reliable flocculation.
Safcider from Fermentis: a widely used commercial cider strain with a broad temperature range and consistent results.
WLP775 English Cider Yeast from White Labs: produces a traditional English-style cider with good apple character retention and a semi-dry finish.

Champagne yeasts

High-attenuation, alcohol-tolerant strains originally developed for sparkling wine production. They ferment thoroughly and produce a clean, dry, neutral base. The trade-off is that they strip a lot of the delicate apple aroma compounds. The result can taste more like a dry sparkling wine than a fruit-forward cider. Excellent for high-gravity batches or where you plan to add back flavour through back sweetening or fruit additions.

Prise de Mousse EC-1118 from Lallemand: the most widely used champagne yeast in home cider making. Alcohol-tolerant to 18%, very dry finish, neutral flavor profile.
Pasteur Blanc from Red Star: similar character to EC-1118, good for high-gravity batches.
VQ 10 from Enartis; Enartis Ferm WS: specialist wine yeast options with slightly more ester character than EC-1118.

Beer yeasts

Using a beer yeast on apple juice is where cider gets genuinely experimental and interesting. Saison strains in particular produce complex, spicy, and fruity ciders that taste like nothing a dedicated cider or champagne yeast would produce from the same juice. The esters from a Belgian saison yeast interplay with the malic acid and fruit character of the apple in ways that can be extraordinary when the fermentation is managed correctly.

Saflager S-23 from Fermentis: cold-fermented for a clean, crisp, lager-like cider. Requires temperature control.
WLP565 Belgian Saison from White Labs: produces a complex, spicy, highly aromatic cider. Ferment at the upper end of its range for maximum ester character.
Wyeast 3711 French Saison: similar to WLP565, highly attenuative and very aromatic. One of the most interesting yeasts to use on a premium apple juice.

Here's a demonstration of how the professionals do it:

🌡️ Fermentation: Time and Temperature

Key Takeaway:Slower and Cooler Produces Better Cider

Fermentation should begin within a day or two of pitching if the temperature is appropriate. Cider ferments more slowly and quietly than beer in most cases: the lower nutrient content of apple juice means yeast reproduces more gradually than it does in nutrient-rich wort, and the krausen is typically modest or absent. A relatively quiet airlock is normal and should not be mistaken for a failed pitch.

You'll want to let your cider ferment for at least two weeks before assessing it, and then give it a further week or more for the yeast to settle and the flavors to integrate. Unlike beer, where most ales are ready to package within two weeks of pitching, cider benefits significantly from extended fermentation and conditioning time. The malic acid that gives apple juice its sharp, raw edge gradually rounds out as fermentation and conditioning progresses. A cider packaged at three weeks will taste noticeably more raw and rough than the same batch given five or six weeks.

Temperature control is as important in cider as in beer. The ideal fermentation temperature for most cider yeasts is around 15°C (59°F). Fermenting up to 20°C is acceptable, but above that the yeast is increasingly stressed and begins producing fusel alcohols that give a hot, rough quality to the finished cider that no amount of conditioning will fully resolve. Cooler fermentation also preserves more of the volatile aromatic compounds responsible for fresh apple character. If you have a fermentation chamber or brewing fridge with a thermostat, cider is an ideal candidate for it.

Temperature stability matters as much as the target temperature itself. Fluctuations put yeast under stress and can cause it to produce off-flavors mid-fermentation. A steady 15 to 17°C throughout fermentation consistently produces cleaner results than an average temperature achieved through warm days and cold nights.

Never bottle by calendar. Confirm fermentation is complete with two hydrometer readings taken 48 hours apart showing an identical, stable final gravity before transferring to bottles or kegs. For most ciders the final gravity will be in the range of 1.000 to 1.004 depending on yeast attenuation and residual sweetness.

⚗️ Malic Acid, Tannins, and pH Balance

Key Takeaway:The Chemistry That Defines Cider Character

Malic acid and pH

Malic acid is the dominant organic acid in apples and the primary driver of the tart, bright character that defines well-made cider. It occurs naturally in the fruit and plays a central role in the pH balance of your cider. The ideal pH range for a fermented cider is 3.2 to 3.8. Within this range, the cider has enough acidity to taste fresh and lively, the pH is low enough to inhibit most spoilage organisms, and the acid balance complements the residual sweetness and tannin structure.

If your juice pH is above 4.0, the cider will taste flat and uninspiring once fermented, and it is more vulnerable to bacterial spoilage during conditioning. Adding malic acid lowers pH while contributing an acid character that matches the apple profile of the base juice. Add it in small increments, stirring and measuring after each addition, until you reach the target range. Do not overshoot: a cider at pH 3.0 tastes harsh and mouth-puckeringly sour.

If your juice pH is too low, add a small amount of precipitated chalk to raise it. The same incremental, measure-and-adjust approach applies. If you'd like to check your levels accurately, see our pH tester buying guide.

A note on malolactic fermentation: certain bacteria (Oenococcus oeni and similar lactic acid bacteria) convert malic acid to the softer, creamier lactic acid in a process called malolactic fermentation (MLF). This is standard practice in red winemaking and some traditional cider production, where it reduces perceived acidity and adds a buttery or creamy texture. In home cider making it usually occurs unintentionally if sanitation is incomplete. Whether this is desirable depends entirely on the style you are targeting: for a crisp, refreshing modern cider, it is generally unwanted. For a soft, traditional farmhouse-style perry or cider, it can be a feature rather than a flaw.

Tannins

Tannins are polyphenolic compounds found in apple skins, seeds, and in the bark and wood of the tree. The well-known tannin gallic acid contributes that drying, astringent quality on the palate that gives cider structure and prevents it from feeling thin or cloying. In beer terms, tannin does what body and bitterness do: it gives the palate somewhere to land.

Dessert apple varieties used for eating are typically low in tannin, which is exactly what makes them pleasant to eat fresh but less interesting in cider. If your apple blend is primarily sweet, low-tannin varieties, the finished cider may taste flat and one-dimensional despite correct fermentation and pH. Adding tannin corrects this directly.

A quarter teaspoon of wine-grade tannin powder per gallon is a commonly recommended starting dose. Add it before fermentation so it has time to integrate, and adjust based on tasting. Some apple varieties, particularly true cider apples and most cooking varieties, contain sufficient natural tannin and need no supplementation. The best guide to this dude's advice on how much tannin to use is worth a read if you want to go deeper on this. Tannins are available online from Amazon or from your local homebrew shop.

🍾 Bottling, Carbonation, and Back Sweetening

Key Takeaway:Patience and Confirmed Gravity Before Anything Is Sealed

Cider takes significantly longer than beer to condition to an optimum drinkable state. Expect a minimum of two months for bottle conditioning to fully develop. Some batches will show carbonation within two to three weeks, but the carbonation alone does not mean the cider is ready: flavor integration and the softening of raw fermentation character continue to develop in the bottle over that two-month window. Cider brewers need considerably more patience than beer brewers, and the reward for that patience is real.

⚠️ Critical: Confirm Fermentation is Complete Before Bottling

It is very important to only bottle when you are absolutely sure fermentation is complete. Capping bottles before the yeast has finished its job, especially if you then add priming sugar to encourage carbonation, is how you create bottle bombs: extreme over-pressure that sends a foamy mess everywhere and litters the floor with sharp glass. Trust me, I've made this mistake before and it is a massive pain to clean up and worse, it is a complete waste of time, energy, and perfectly good cider. Two identical hydrometer readings 48 hours apart. That is your green light.

Carbonated cider

Batch priming with dextrose (corn sugar) is the standard approach. Cider typically needs slightly less priming sugar than beer because the lower pH and higher carbonation sensitivity of a thin, low-body liquid means over-carbonation is very easy to achieve. A target of 2.0 to 2.5 volumes of CO2 is appropriate for most still-cider styles. Sparkling styles can go to 3.0 but require bottles rated for that pressure. Use a priming sugar calculator and be precise rather than guessing.

Still (flat) cider

If you want flat cider without carbonation, you need to prevent any residual yeast from re-fermenting in the bottle. Add Campden solution at the standard dose and leave it to work for a full day before bottling, which helps ensure residual yeast is suppressed.

Back sweetening

Before bottling is the moment to taste your cider and decide whether you want to adjust sweetness. Fully fermented cider is typically very dry, which can taste thin or sharp compared to commercial examples that retain some residual sweetness. Adding a non-fermentable sweetener such as stevia or erythritol allows you to increase perceived sweetness without providing fermentable sugar that would continue to carbonate in the bottle. Avoid back sweetening with regular sugar or honey before sealing bottles unless you are certain fermentation is truly finished and you have inhibited the yeast with Campden, because even a small amount of residual yeast activity will ferment that sugar and over-carbonate the bottles. Store your finished bottles in a cool spot away from direct sunlight, particularly important if you used green or clear glass.

🛒 Making Cider from Store-Bought Apple Juice

Key Takeaway:Simple, Fast, and More Controllable Than You'd Think

Making cider from store-bought apple juice removes the pressing and preparation entirely and is a very accessible entry point into cider making. The hard work has been done for you. The one thing to look for when choosing a juice is the absence of preservatives, particularly sorbate and benzoate, which inhibit fermentation. Some juices also contain added ascorbic acid (vitamin C) as an antioxidant, which is fine and will not affect fermentation. Pure juice with nothing added beyond possibly vitamin C is ideal. Pasteurised is fine; fresh-pressed is better if you can find it.

Take a gravity reading before you start. Apple juice typically reads between 1.045 and 1.060 depending on the brand and apple variety. If your reading is below 1.050, you can add a small amount of sugar to bring it up, which increases the potential alcohol and gives the yeast a more robust fermentation environment. White sugar, brown sugar, or honey all work; each contributes slightly different character.

Fill your clean and sanitised fermenter with the juice. Give it a shake to aerate before pitching. Adding a small amount of yeast nutrient at this stage is worthwhile, as commercial apple juice is lower in the nitrogen and minerals that yeast needs compared to freshly pressed juice with its natural nutrient load. Pitch your chosen yeast: Lalvin EC-1118 is a reliable, widely available choice for a clean, dry result.

Some brewers split the juice batch, starting fermentation in half the volume and adding the second half once fermentation is visibly active. This can help manage the initial fermentation vigor in warmer conditions. Seal the fermenter with an airlock and leave it for a minimum of two to three weeks, then confirm completion by hydrometer before packaging. Condition for at least two months before drinking if you want the cider at its best.

🫙 Demijohns and Cider Kits

Key Takeaway:Small Batches and Kit Options for Getting Started

What is a Demijohn?

A demijohn (or jimmyjohn) is a glass fermenter popular with cider and winemakers. They range from 5 litres up to 23 litres and their smaller sizes make them ideal for running experimental batches alongside a main brew: different yeast strains, different apple blends, or different adjunct additions can all be trialled on a small scale before committing a full batch. The glass is inert and does not pick up or transmit flavors, which makes it preferable to plastic for long conditioning periods. The long necks are their main practical downside as they make thorough cleaning more difficult; a bottle brush and a good soak with PBW or OxiClean are essential.

Cider kits

There are plenty of cider kits out there, just as there are for beer. A solid beginner option is the Brooklyn BrewShop Hard Cider Kit:

A well-regarded beginner kit, it makes fermenting hard cider at home genuinely simple. The kit produces enough for 3 batches of hard cider and includes a 1-gallon reusable glass fermenter, 3 packets of yeast, vinyl tubing and clamp, racking cane and tip, chambered airlock, 3 packets of cleanser, and a screw-cap stopper. You supply your own apples or juice.

Each batch produces 9 to 10 twelve-ounce bottles at approximately 7% ABV. Brooklyn BrewShop describes the result as tart, bubbly, and dry, which is an accurate characterisation of what the kit yeast and process produces from a typical apple juice base. Check out the price and reviews on Amazon.

As with beer kits, treat a cider kit as a starting point rather than a ceiling. The fermentation vessel, airlock, and process are all reusable once you have them. On your second batch, swap the kit yeast for one of the dedicated cider strains above, add a teaspoon of pectolase, and take a gravity reading. The difference in the finished cider from those three small additions alone is immediately detectable.

Good cider is patient cider. Every stage of the process from apple selection through to conditioning benefits from slowing down, measuring, and giving the chemistry time to resolve rather than forcing it forward. The brewers who produce the best ciders are the ones who treat apple juice with the same rigour they apply to wort: measured pH adjustment, deliberate yeast selection, controlled fermentation temperature, and a confirmed finish before anything is sealed in a bottle.

Start with the store-bought juice route if you are new to cider. It removes the pressing variables entirely and lets you focus on fermentation management and yeast character. Once you have a batch or two under your belt and understand how the finished flavors connect to the decisions you made along the way, move to fresh-pressed juice and start exploring apple variety blending. That is where cider making becomes genuinely creative, and where the orchard connection that makes a great cider memorable really begins.