Lindsay says that Brooklyn Cider House has a goal of producing five ciders consistently on an annual basis. “And in the future, we might do some small batch experimental ciders,” she says.
One can sample three ciders in the Brooklyn Cider House tasting room at the Twin Orchards: the Still Bone Dry, the Kinda Dry, and the Half Sour. Another two ciders—the Bone Dry and the Raw—are on their way.
“And all five are only apple,” says Lindsay. “So, there are no added flavors, or other fruits, or irregular ingredients.”
The shortest cider fermentation process takes about two months from harvest to bottle, but the Still Bone Dry variety—which is more like a wine—takes about 18 months to make. The Raw variety was harvested last fall but is still in the fermentation process.
“Different ciders take a different amount of time based on how you want them to evolve and what your end-goal is,” says Lindsey. “In certain cases, what you can do is control fermentation with temperature.” Cold-crashing the cider causes yeast to go dormant.
“Then, you would probably—depending again on the type of cider—filter out the yeast,” Lindsey says. “Or, you would rack the cider out of the tank for a second fermentation and make sure to filter out the yeast afterwards.”
