Requirements for making hard apple cider

Apple cider – preservative (potassium sorbate) free, and 100% apple juice – check ingredients lists on the label. Also, an unfiltered cider is best.

Stock pot that has not been used to boil/make spicy foods
Optional – stainless steel or enameled core stock pot of sufficient size to hold entire volume of your cider.

Cooking thermometer that can register at least 150-200 degrees F
Optimal – floating dairy style thermometer

A container large enough to hold the pot and cooling water in an immersion bath (sink w/drain plug or bathtub)

Sufficient ice to fill container above ~halfway

No-rinse liquid disinfectant (Iodophor)
Optimal – no-rinse powdered cleanser (PBW or B-
Optimal – cleaning brush (bottle cleaning brush) for fermentation vessel

6 feet of food grade flexible plastic tubing, 3/8″ inside diameter.
Optimal – racking cane
Optimal – slip on tubing pinch valve
Optimal – filter doohickey for end of racking cane/tubing
Optimal – test flask
Optimal – floating hydrometer
Optimal – counter-pressure bottle filler

Vessel(s) of sufficient volume to contain all cider for fermentation (plastic bucket, glass carboy, container cider came packaged in)
Optimal – Additional spare vessel of similar size

Fermentation lock for each vessel used for fermentation

Drilled rubber stopper of appropriate size for each fermentation vessel

Cider yeast
Optimal – liquid cider yeast
Optimal – yeast nutrient

Sufficient quantity of brown returnable glass bottles to bottle all cider
Optimal – kegging system

Bottle caps w/oxygen absorbing lining

Bottlecapper

Corn sugar
Optimal – carb tab drops

If I’ve missed anything let me know.

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