Genesis

I have wanted to make hard apple cider for years.

The home-brew fad (along with the micro brew fad) never appealed to me. It might have been a case where too many people were getting involved in it -- with every other man in the country (whether he be barber or high-risk investment banker) with a home brew stash somewhere in his basement.

I thought ciders represented something different -- something unique.

And unlike the barley, oats, etc. needed to make beer -- the key ingredients for cider were literally all around me. I had not one -- but two different apple trees growing up in my yard as a boy. And one is hard-pressed to drive through any American suburb without coming across at least one form of apple trees.

Hell -- they are even in the cities. Just look around, and you will see them.

Cider was the answer to a problem that combined boredom and restlessness with an artistic fervor.

But life got in the way . . . . .

Between work, school, and simple "growing up" there was simply no time for the often laborious task of making cider. Not that is a "back-breaking" task -- but the rest of my life was. After a hard day of work or school, the idea of sterilizing, bottling, and racking had no interest for me.

Space was also a key issue -- living in student dorms, group houses, and one bedroom studio apartments there was little room to store several multi-gallon carboys necessary for the brewing process.

And then there was boyhood attention spans. Let's face it when you are a young 20 something, there are dozen of more fun things to do on the weekend then grind apples, collect juice, and ferment alcohol. I could be out with friends drinking real beer and real cider, or scrubbing giant glass bottles with bleach and water. Of course, I chose the former.

But that has all changed.

I basically became an adult. Suddenly I had a house with a basement, and suddenly my Friday and Saturday nights were free. For the first time, in a long time I had free time to do things outside of school and work. I had time for hobbies.

Thus, in this very late stage, I decided to return to ciders. As a hobby for a man who now (and only now) has time for hobbies.

This blog maps the journey -- which I hope will not only be fun and rewarding, but also educational (not just for me), but for the reader as well.