Cherry Hard Cider

Cherries can provide a great tart flavor to contrast and balance the sweetness of hard apple cider.  That is why cherry hard cider is so popular.

But you don’t have to wait for fresh cherries; you can use frozen cherries or tart cherry juice available at many grocery stores.

Availability and cost of fresh cherries rule them out for many people, but there are other options available.

If you like cherries, you may want to experiment with a variety of options to find the perfect combination for you!  You could also use cherries with a hard cider kit.

This recipe is a simple 1-gallon cherry cider recipe which follows the standard hard cider recipe, but adds cherry juice to secondary fermentation to give a great cherry flavor.  You could easily scale this recipe up to make a 5-gallon batch.

The recipe assumes you know the basics of making your own hard cider.  If you don’t (or want a refresher), review the guide to making hard cider.

The goal of the cherry hard cider recipe is the make a still, dry cider with noticeable cherry color and taste.  Optionally, you could make adjustments for a sweet and carbonated cider as well

1-Gallon Cherry Hard Cider Recipe

This cherry cider recipe will start with a standard fermentation of apple juice, with cherry juice added during secondary fermentation.  Adding cherry flavoring later in the process retains more cherry flavor.  Hope you enjoy making this homemade cherry cider!

What do you need?

Ingredients:

Equipment:

Instructions

Primary Fermentation

After sanitizing the equipment, pour the apple juice into the carboy.  Add the yeast and attach the stopper and air lock (again, for a much more detailed look at these steps, review the how-to guide or standard recipes).

Secondary Fermentation

Once primary fermentation is complete (either estimated by several days with no bubbling or confirmed via consistent hydrometer readings), prepare the cherries if you are using fresh or frozen cherries (instead of the juice I am recommending).

  • If you are using fresh cherries, wash and pit them, then break them into chunks. Then sanitize by crushing one campden tablet and dissolving in 1/4 cup boiling water and pouring over the fruit. Cover and let sit for 24 hours before using the fruit and juice.
  • If you are using frozen cherries, freeze and thaw them several times to prepare them to release their juices.  

Put the cherry juice (or fresh cherries) into the second 1-gallon carboy (after sanitizing).  Pour or siphon the (now hard) cider into the same carboy.  You won’t be able to fit all the cider, so you may have to drink some (darn 😉 )

Attach an airlock and leave it in secondary fermentation for a minimum of 3 weeks.

Adjustments and Bottling

When you’ve waited as long as you can stand, open the carboy and taste your cherry hard cider.

  • If you still want more cherry flavor, you can add artificial cherry flavoring.  It’s potent stuff, so be careful and add it a little at a time, tasting often.
  • If you want it sweet, mix in 3 Tbs sugar substitute prior to bottling.  See the page on hard cider sugar substitutes for more information.
  • If you want it carbonated, add priming sugar prior to bottling (1/4 cup apple juice concentrate or 1/8 cup brown or white sugar).

When you are ready, pour or siphon into sanitized bottles, cap, and continue conditioning for a minimum of 2 weeks.  Drink when ready!