Fall in a Jar, Pt. 2

We got home late Sunday night with our car full of fresh, unpasteurized cider in old liquor bottles.  We tossed everything in the basement fridge and went to bed.

On Monday Morning, I pasteurized (aka: boiled) all of it.  One jug was tossed in the fridge as for leisurely drinking.  I filled 3 half gallon and 3 quart-sized jars with cider and canned them (more on that in a minute).  The rest I re-bottled and put in the fridge for Nick to ferment.  Technically, you can just put a bubbler on a jug of unpasteurized cider (preferably with extra sugar added) and it'll ferment all on it's own.  The problem there is you have no Idea what kind of bacteria you're growing in there.  As such, Nick asked me to pasteurize it and he'll inoculate it with wine maker's yeast to control it a little more.

Fermenting juice is a great way to preserve it long-term... if you don't mind getting a buz when you finally consume it (and believe me, I certainly don't) but there is something to be said for preserving a little bit of fall, sans-buz.  If you've bought or pressed your own cider then all you need to do is bring it to a full rolling boil and pour into sterilized quart or half gallon jars leaving 1/4 in. headspace.  Waterbath process quarts for 5 minutes or half gallons for 10 minutes.  If you are starting with apples and don't have a press you can check out Pick Your Own's cider making process.