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Choose Your Cidermaking Adventure
Life is too short to make hard cider that doesn't please your palate or intrigue your taste buds. Best-selling fermentation authors Christopher and Kirsten K. Shockey want you to create the cider you like to drink, and their expert guidance and step-by-step photographs provide all the knowledge you need to craft the perfect batch. No matter your preferences - sparkling or still, dry or sweet, clear or cloudy, funky or mellow, a light session style or a boozy sipper - prepare to explore the wild and wonderful world of cidermaking.
List of contents
The Ark of Apples
Cider: A Sustainably Made, Healthy-ish Adult Beverage
Part One: Making Cider 1 Choose Your Cidermaking Adventure
2 Equipment Overview
3 The Master Process
Part Two: Recipes 4 Wild Ciders
5 Cultivated Ciders
6 Crafting Ciders with Wild Botanical Yeasts
7 Infused Ciders
8 Cider: Iced, Wined, and Spirited
9 Drinking Cider
Acknowledgments
Appendix 1: Troubleshooting
Appendix 2: Apple Varieties
Glossary
Endnotes
Bibliography
Resources
Index
About the author
Christopher Shockey and
Kirsten K. Shockey are the coauthors of
Miso, Tempeh, Natto & Other Tasty Ferments,
Fiery Ferments, and the best-selling
Fermented Vegetables. Christopher has years of experience producing ciders from their mountain homestead orchard and is a trained cider maker. The Shockeys got their start fermenting foods more than twenty years ago on their 40-acre hillside smallholding, which grew into their organic food company. When they realized their passion was for the process, they chose to focus on teaching fermentation arts to others. They teach worldwide and host workshops on their homestead in southern Oregon.
Summary
Best-selling authors and acclaimed fermentation teachers Christopher Shockey and Kirsten K. Shockey turn their expertise to the world of fermented beverages in the most comprehensive guide to home cidermaking available. With expert advice and clear, step-by-step instructions, The Big Book of Cidermaking equips readers with the skills they need to make the cider they want: sweet, dry, fruity, farmhouse-style, hopped, barrel-aged, or fortified. The Shockeys’ years of experience cultivating an orchard and their experiments in producing their own ciders have led them to a master formula for cidermaking success, whether starting with apples fresh from the tree or working with store-bought juice. They explore in-depth the different phases of fermentation and the entire spectrum of complex flavor and style possibilities, with cider recipes ranging from cornelian cherry to ginger, and styles including New England, Spanish, and late-season ciders. For those invested in making use of every part of the apple, there’s even a recipe for vinegar made from the skins and cores leftover after pressing. This thorough, thoughtful handbook is an empowering guide for every cidermaker, from the beginner seeking foundational techniques and tips to the intermediate cider crafter who wants to expand their skills.
