Fermented crabapple cider with American beautyberries
A simple fermented sparkling cider recipe made with crabapples and American beautyberries. No specialized equipment or commercial yeast required!
Servings 9 cups
Equipment
- 1 fermentation crock or large glass bowl/container
- 1 linen towel attached with rubber band or string
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs crabapples, smashed (Volume: about 5 cups measured whole)
- 4.2 ounces American beautyberries, muddled (Volume: about 1 cup measured whole) (As noted in article, American beautyberries are better for this recipe than Asian beautyberry varieties.)
- 1 cup real maple syrup
- 1/2 cup organic light brown sugar (or use half dark brown and half regular sugar as alternative)
- 8 cups water (If your tap water is strongly flavored or loaded with chlorine, use purified water instead.)
- 1/2 tsp citric acid
Instructions
- Smush crabapples then put in clean fermentation vessel. (As mentioned in article, a firm metal spatula or wooden spoon works great for this step.) Muttle beautyberries and put in fermentation vessel. Add all other ingredients and stir vigorously for about one minute.
- Cover vessel with breatheable cloth lid held firmly in place with rubber band or string. This keeps things from falling in while allowing the developing microbes to breathe and off-gas. Keep fermentation vessel between 68-72°F (20-°22C) and OUT of direct sunlight.
- At least twice daily, minimum once every 12 hours, vigorously stir ferment with clean spoon for about 1 minute. Taste a small bit after stirring to monitor flavor development. Between the end of Day 4 and no longer than Day 10, strain and bottle the cider in flip-top bottles or canning jars. Refrigerate immediately to arrest fermentation. Read and heed warnings at bottom of article about the risks of making bottle bombs!
- Let sit in fridge at least one day before drinking to allow bubbles to develop. Recommend drinking within 2 weeks.