From crisp and dry to sweet and sparkling — real cider recipes from apple to glass.
Cider is made by fermenting the juice of apples — turning sweet juice into a crisp, refreshing drink that can be bone-dry or lightly sweet, still or sparkling. (Made with pears instead, it's called perry.) It's one of the easiest brews to start with: press your own fruit, or get excellent results straight from shop-bought apple juice.
To make hard cider, you ferment apple juice with a cider or wine yeast. The juice must be 100% apple with no preservatives — additives like potassium sorbate are designed to stop yeast working. Sanitise your equipment, pitch the yeast, and let it ferment somewhere warm for anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks.
From there you can back-sweeten for a sweeter finish, or bottle-condition with a little priming sugar to make it sparkling. Dry ciders are fermented until all the sugar is gone; sweeter ciders are stabilised or sweetened after fermentation.
Absolutely — as long as it's 100% apple juice with no preservatives, it makes excellent cider. It's the easiest way to start.
Fermentation usually takes 1–2 weeks, with a few more weeks to clear and condition. Sparkling cider needs extra time in the bottle to carbonate.
In the UK, 'cider' means the alcoholic drink. In the US, 'cider' often means unfermented apple juice, so the fermented version is called 'hard cider' — it's the same thing.
A dedicated cider, wine or champagne yeast gives the cleanest result, though some brewers use an ale yeast for a fuller body.
Most ciders land around 5–8% ABV, depending on the sugar content of the juice and whether you add any extra sugar.
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