Making Cider and Tasting First Batch (7/12/16)

Today I decided I wanted to try making some hard cider since I had extra ale yeast and an open fermentation bucket (I have a bucket and a carboy, for primary and secondary fermentation, and the mandarina pale ale is in the carboy now). There are better yeasts out there for cider but since I already had this kind from my other beer kits I figured I'd use it on some cheap apple juice.

Ingredients:

• 1 gallon apple juice (NO preservatives - they inhibit yeast activity)
• ~1 cup light brown sugar (can use dark or light, different recipes call for either)
• 1 tsp ale yeast

I also put vodka in the airlock because I read a tip online: bacteria can't grow in it and if you get some vodka in your cider who cares? Who knows how this will turn out - I will let you know!

(Note to self: starting specific gravity was 1.063)

Also, my first batch, the american red ale, is finished carbonating. Here are a couple pictures of how it turned out:

 

I'm happy to say it was really good! It carbonated well and tasted slightly sweet. I'm not too good with beer descriptions but it was pretty smooth and somewhat light, but still had body. It was somewhere between a lager and a pale ale I would say. Overall a success.