Another Batch of Hard Cider

My second batch of cider is now fermenting: the airlock is gurgling happily.

Ingredients:
5 gallons apple cider (without preservatives)
3-5 pounds brown cane sugar (3 pounds will produce less ABV, 5 pounds a higher ABV)
1 vial champagne yeast

The most important step is to sanitize all of your materials--the primary fermenting 5 gallon bucket, the airlock, a long-handled stirring spoon, the hydrometer...everything. Wash everything well with StarSan. I even wipe down my counters, because inevitably I put the spoon or lid down on them without thinking.

Once everything is sanitized, heat one gallon of the cider to boiling. Stir in the sugar and boil for several minutes, then turn off the heat. The mixture needs to cool to close to room temperature--you may let it cool on the stove or put it in the fridge. (Or, if you are a beer-making pro, you can use your sanitized wort-chiller).

Pour the remaining apple cider into the 5 gallon bucket, letting it splash to aerate the mixture. Next, pour the yeast in, then pour the cider/sugar mixture in, again letting it splash to aerate.

At this point, if you want to check the potential ABV (Alcohol by Volume) content, use your hydrometer. With 5 pounds of sugar in the mixture, my reading is around 1.20, which will mean a 9% ABV when finished. To make a lower ABV, use less sugar.

Close the lid and affix the airlock, then move the bucket out of the way for a week to ten days to ferment. As the yeast consumes the sugar--turning it to alcohol--CO2 is released, which is what makes the airlock bubble.

After fermentation is finished (usually 7-10 days) I let the cider sit for another two weeks to clarify. The flocculent--dead yeast--settles on the bottom of the bucket.

When the cider is clear, you have three options: Keg it, Put it into a secondary fermenter, or Bottle it. I am kegging part of mine and bottling part. I'll write abou that in a couple of weeks.