I started making cider about 7 years ago to have a beverage around the house for people who didn't like beer and for when wine would be too heavy.  I developed my methodology based on what some friends did and then altered it to make the beverage I was looking for. I wanted to make a cider that was slightly sweet and carbonated with a good amount of apple flavor.

My process would distress traditional cider makers but I didn't want to spend a lot of time in orchards trying to come up with the perfect blend of apples to make a cider that could age for several years.  I have had the cider these people make and they are wonderful but they aren't the beer substitute I was looking for.  So if you aren't a traditionalist and want an easy way to make a great tasting cider, here is the method I use.

First I start with plain store bought apple juice. Mott's or any similar brand you get at the grocery store will work great.  You need to avoid what many grocery stores sell as cider, the cloudy jugs of apple juice because almost all of them contain potassium sorbate which will make fermentation difficult.  Normal apple juice is pasteurized so they do not add sorbate, but check the label of the juice you get and ascorbic acid in the juice is fine.

Your starting volume of juice needs to be a bit larger than the final volume of cider. I normally start with 5.25 gallons of juice to end up with 5 gallons of cider.  Place the juice in a sanitized primary fermenter and add yeast and place a cover over the fermenter.  I haven't found much difference in using different yeasts so I tend to use Lalvin EC-1118 because I normally have it around.  I have also used Lalvin K1V-1116, Lalvin IVC D-47, and Nottingham dry beer yeast all with great results.

Let the fermentation go until it is complete, which should take about 7 to 10 days.  Rack the cider off the lees into a jug or carboy so that the carboy is completely full (5 gallons for me) and place an airlock on it.  Allow the cider to rest for a week to make sure the fermentation is complete.  Now, if you want the cider to clear quickly add a clarifier, such as 2-part Super KC according to the package directions.  The cider will clear on its own if you wait but I tend to add the clarifier. If you are going to wait you will want to add a ¼ tsp of K-meta (potassium metabisulfite).

Once it is clear it is ready to bottle or keg.  This cider works best if you have the equipment to keg but I will provide a method to allow you to bottle if you don't have a homebrew kegging setup.  Rack the clear cider into a sanitized keg, and now the cider needs to be sweetened.  If you taste the cider now it will be bone dry and have almost no apple flavor.  We get the sweetness from adding unfermented apple juice concentrate to the cider.  After adding ½ tsp of potassium sorbate per gallon of cider, I add between 2 to 3 cans of frozen apple juice concentrate to each 5 gallon keg, tasting at every addition until it has the sweetness level I am looking for.  If you want some other flavors in your cider, apple-raspberry and apple-cranberry concentrates are available and taste great in this cider.  Then the keg is pressured up with bottled CO₂ and force carbonated like you do your homebrew.  In about a month or so you can start drinking and enjoying the cider.

If you don't have a kegging setup you will need to bottle condition the cider to produce carbonation. IMPORTANT: do not add any potassium sorbate to your cider when bottle conditioning or it will not carbonate in the bottle. The cider still contains active yeast cells and by adding sugar the yeast will consume the added sugar and produce the carbonation in the bottle. Rack the clear cider from the carboy into a sanitized bottling bucket or primary fermenter.  Prime the cider by adding 1 cup of priming sugar that has been boiled in a small amount of water. Stir the sugar into the cider gently but completely and avoid splashing since you don't want to introduce oxygen into the cider. Bottle the cider into beer bottles or champagne bottles and seal the bottles with crown caps or plastic champagne corks (with wire hoods).  Allow the cider to carbonate for about a month at room temperature and then move a bottle to the refrigerator for chilling.  Pour the cider into a glass and add a little fresh apple juice for some sweetness and to allow the apple flavor to come out. If you prefer it sweeter just add a little more apple juice.

While this is not the traditional method for cider making, everyone who has tried mine has enjoyed and it had won many cider making contests.  I hope you try it and enjoy your cider.