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Links to Recourses

Links to Online Equipment Retailers if you have no local brew store:

  • www.gemvintners.com - Great resource for good prices of all manner of brew and wine equipment I get all of my CellarCraft red wine kits here. Top notch.
  • www.midwestsupplies.com - Really nice folks and a good selection of products. Good shipping prices.
  • www.whizbangcider.com - Ready to upgrade to making your own fresh pressed cider? This gent has a real nice blog and kits to make your own press for sale. I have not tried any of his products yet myself, but I hope to soon. Very interesting website to read.
  • www.homebrew4less.com - Super nice folks and really personal service. Blaine the owner often signs the shipping invoice himself! Once he shipped me a limited release port wine kit that he was saving for himself because they sold out! Wow. Who does that? Fast shipping and great prices. They also have great insider sales if you sign up for their newsletter.
  • http://www.carboycleaner.com/ - The CarboyCleaner: If you are making a 5 or 6 gallon batches of brew, you really need one of these awesome felt cleaners that attaches on the end of your drill! I have field tested this product and have nothing but praise. Cleaning gunk out of a carboy with a brush is a near impossible task, but the CarboyCleaner makes cleaning almost fun! Click the link for a very nice video overview of the CarboyCleaner in action.

Books that I enjoy and found useful:

  • Cider - Hard and Sweet, by Ben Watson - 2008. $16.50 on Amazon.com - Great read and lot of practical tips for those of you who have access to fresh milled cider, or who are wanting to make 5+ gallons at a time. Nice overviews of yeast, apples, cider history, and also a chapter on making apple cider vinegar. This is the book I recommend to everyone who is a beginning cider brewer, or moving up into that 6 gallon carboy.
  • Craft Cider Making, by Andrew Lea - new edition in Feb 2011. $10.76 on Amazon.com - A wealth of information by the modern godfather of cider brewing, Englishman and food chemist Dr. Andrew Lea. I don't have this newest update of his book yet, but very much looking forward to getting it. My food science heritage makes me devour anything that Dr. Lea writes, and it you are interested in the "hows and whys" of cider making, then this book is for you. Dr. Lea is an excellent writer and I find his work interesting and entertaining, but if you are not into chemistry, you might find some of it a bit too detailed. Not to worry, this book is full of useful info for even the hobby brewer, and it will tell you everything you need to know to create delicious and repeatedly predictable hard cider. If you really want to hone your craft this is the book to get. His website www.cider.org.uk has an incredible amount of information as well, and is the inspiration for the creation of this website :)

Works sited, and info used in developing this site:

Useful humans who can help you, and share your joy (and pain):

About the author:

My name is Jessica Shabatura and I am hobby brewer of wine, port and cider. I have a degree in horticulture and a great love of chemistry, thanks to my father who is a Food Scientist. I created this site as a project for a grad school class I am taking in Educational Technology Media. I do hope you enjoyed it. Thanks so much and happy cidering! If you found this site useful, would like to be linked as a resource here, or have kind suggestions, you may email me at brew@howtomakehardcider.com. If you found this site useful and would like to send a donation to help us keep growing, please click here: