Happy accident~sparkling cider!

March 2, 2010

Happy accident~sparkling cider!

So I was making pork stew a few days ago and was about to steal/borrow half a cup of apple cider from my roommate to throw in.  (It gives it a nice slightly tangy sweetness that compliments the pork.)  But when I got out the half-empty jug of cider, it was all bloated…which usually means “don’t eat it.”  I opened it and sniffed, and it smelled slightly sour.  I didn’t want to just pour it down the sink, as it wasn’t mine to begin with, and if it had turned to vinegar, it might not’ve been totally useless, so I just put it back in the very back of the fridge.

Fast forward three nights; I’m sitting at my desk when I hear the following sounds emanating from the kitchen:

CIDER JUG:  {fizzy sounds}
ROOMMATE:  Agggghhhhh!  {sniff sniff}  Hey, Emily, I think we made some hard cider!  Come try this, it’s really good!

I took the proffered wine glass of amber, slightly cloudy liquid with apprehension and sniffed skeptically.  It smelled…a little off, but not bad.  I sipped.

And it was really good.  Slightly carbonated and fizzy, very tart, but still sweet, with just a little bit of an alcoholic kick.

“I don’t get it, it’s not even past date,” my roommate said.  I can only guess that wild yeasts and a faulty round of pasteurization are to blame.

So we’ve been drinking it for a couple days, and so far no ill effects.  Still, I don’t know that I’d recommend this mode of consumption on a regular basis.  It’s probably not a reliable outcome of just leaving stuff in the back of your fridge–we just got a lucky batch of wild yeast.  It’s mellowed out and gotten a little dryer since we first tasted it.

I came home from a long day of dance workshopping yesterday and poured myself a glass, with just a little Smirnoff dashed in for oomph, to relax over an episode of This American Life, and went to bed early.

Yum.

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