An apple a day

So I have started in on a new experiment; one that I already enjoy to no end. I have joined a brotherhood of men that stretches back through history. I am making my own beer; hard cider to be precise. Having traveled a bit here and there, it was not difficult to come to the conclusion that this massed produced swill called “American Cider” tastes more like a wine cooler than the cider our European friends and , I expect, our forefathers brewed. Being of the “do it yourself” ilk, I think I can do it better (which translates to - taking alot longer than I originally thought, costing more, breaking things and trying on new curse words for size) and the 'drinking my way to perfection' part outwieghs all the do-it-yourselfer woes. But first, a bit of history for your viewing pleasure.

It seems hard cider was found worthy of mention back as far as 55 B.C.. While Mr. Julius Caesar was out on a leisurely, conquering stroll across Kent, England, he found the locals throwing back a few tall ones of the apple variety. The Romans, not known for their piety or abstinence, took to the drink quite readily. Having the Romans stumbling across cider, it's not hard to see how its popularity spread quickly across their area of influence.

Then we come to the land of our fathers, the good ole' U.S. of A. It seems that it was considerably harder to grow beer staples compared to apples (apples were not an indigenous fruit) that hard cider quickly grew in popularity to easily become the most desired alcoholic drink in colonial times. Hell, because of the harmful bacteria contained in drinking well water, causing many a stomach to protest, and given the marvelous effects that fermentation has on certain bacteria, hard cider came to be preferred to water in many settlements (now there is a time and place I could visit and stay a while :-)). Our second president used to drink it at breakfast to settle his stomach and I am telling you, Johnny Appleseed didn't plant all those trees for the cobbler.

Cider was rocking and rolling along until the temperance movement. That's right, a bunch of “we know what's good for you and you don't have a clue” types got together and decided to put an end to this depravity once and for all. (Sound familiar?) It looks to have started in Baltimore by a group of friends whose lives were in the skids because they couldn't control themselves. These folks took a pledge, called themselves Washingtonians and went on the warpath. Quickly gathering radicals and extremist to their cause, their influence grew until they had farmers cutting down entire orchards of the devil's fruit. This looks to be the roots of the latter prohibition movement and it only got better from there. ;-)

So you see, I accomplish many things with this undertaking – a celebration of my American heritage and a belated protest to all those wadded panties of the Washingtonian persuasion. I have 3 gallons in a secondary fermenter now and will let you know how things progress. Until then my grocer's beer supply will have to do. Cheers!