SMITH BITES

Photo by Debra and Rod Smith

Co-founders of SmithBites.com, Rod, aka “Th e Professor,” and Debra Smith are professional photographers, videographers, writers and storytellers whose fi rst life involved creating jingles and voiceover for radio, television and fi lm. Th eir love of food as well as a great story has allowed the Smiths to photograph and create videos about food on both coasts of the U.S. and in Europe. Hard cider has quite the colorful history here in America; in fact, during Colonial times in the Eastern States, cider was more popular than beer, wine or whiskey. It was far more diffi cult to grow grains for beer than it was to grow apples, so seeds were brought over from England and orchards were established. In time, cider-making became as popular here as it was in England. By the mid-1800s, the New England states were producing nearly 300,000 gallons of cider every year.

As settlers moved west, missionary John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed, traveled ahead grafting small nurseries of cider apples in the Great Lakes and the Ohio River regions. Because it was safer to drink than water, making hard cider was quite common on most homesteads by the end of the 19th century.

Once one of the most popular alcoholic drinks, hard cider lost its momentum during Prohibition. Many orchards were burned to the ground, and by the time Prohibition ended, German settlers were establishing large breweries for making their beloved beer. Th anks to the popularity of microbreweries, cider is experiencing huge growth here in the U.S., with cider production increasing nearly 264 between 2005 and 2012.

When we moved into our house 12 years ago, we were fortunate enough to inherit mature fruit trees—three apple trees and one pear tree that reside in a sunny patch of our yard. I’m not really sure how old the trees are, but they are prolifi c producers of sweet apples and pears. It’s impossible to consume all the fruit each season before the bees and raccoons claim them. We’ve made pies, pear caramel sauce, jams and jellies. Last year, we made our fi rst attempt at making pear cider.

When I learned I needed to eliminate gluten from my diet, traditional wheat-based beer was no longer an option. Apple and pear ciders are a wonderful alternative (and ciders also happen to be one of my favorite fermented beverages to sip).

In our research, there are many diff erent methods and opinions when it comes to home-brewing. Th is was our fi rst experience, and while “true” cider apples are called “bittersweets” or “bittersharps” and taste terrible, our trees produce Golden Delicious and Forelle fruit, which typically aren’t used for making ciders. We were still pleased with our results, and it was a fun experiment.

Makes 10 (12-ounce) bottles

18–20 pounds fresh pears (our tree produces Forelle pears) 1 Campden tablet (for sterilizing) 1 teaspoon Cuvee Active

Dry Wine Yeast ½ cup simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water) Special Equipment Needed:

2 (1-gallon) carboys (glass bottles) Siphon hose Bung Airlock Bottles Funnel

Juice approximately 18–20 pounds of pears to fi ll a 1-gallon carboy; we used an electric home juicer. Be sure to sterilize all the tools and the carboy. We used a product called Star San, which is available online and in local home-brew shops. Th e juice can either be pasteurized (by slowly heating it to 170° and then cooling it back to room temperature) or sterilized by adding a Campden tablet to it and letting it sit for 24 hours; both methods kill any bacteria that might be present.

Funnel the treated juice into a 1-gallon carboy and add a teaspoon of yeast (known as pitching). We used Cuvee Active Dry Wine Yeast, but you could substitute Champagne yeast or other recommendations from a local homebrew shop. Some brewers choose to add the active dry yeast directly to the carboy like we did, but most will recommend you rehydrate the yeast according to the instructions on the packet. After pitching the yeast, cap the carboy with a “bung” (stopper) and an “airlock”; the airlock lets the gases escape without outside air entering the carboy. As the juice ferments, tiny bubbles will rise to the top; once you stop seeing bubbles, fermentation is complete (approximately 2 weeks). At this point, it’s time to carefully siphon the fermented juice into another 1-gallon carboy—try not to siphon any of the sediment at the bottom. Add ½ cup of simple syrup, which is used to create a secondary fermentation in the bottle. Siphon this mixture into individual bottles. We have used both bottles with caps and bottles with swing-top rubber stoppers. (We prefer the swing-top rubber stoppers because the seal seems more secure.) One gallon of cider will fi ll approximately 10 (12-ounce) bottles or 4 (32-ounce) bottles. Put the sealed bottles in the refrigerator immediately. After about a week (or up to 6 months) your sparkling pear cider is ready to enjoy!

You can also view a short video piece we made documenting our experience by visiting EdibleIndy.com. You’ll need a few basic pieces of home-brewing equipment but they aren’t very expensive—and as I said, it’s fun!