Brewing up some fall hard cider is easy and quick. This method below is about the laziest method for producing hard cider. This is not meant to be a quality cider or high alcohol, it will be passable as cider but even better if spices or flavorings are added to enhance the flavor.
First go out and buy a gallon glass jug of apple juice with no preservative. You can use plastic if you can’t find glass but glass is preferable.The jugs are available in supermarkets or “Whole Foods” type stores. Open the cap and pour out 1.5 cup and drink. Add 2 cups of sugar to the jug, add a packet of yeast. Recap and shake it up. Open the cap and let the bubble settle. If you do not have a fermentation lock, then cover the spout with plastic wrap and place a rubber band around it. Not tight, the gases need to escape. Now just leave the cider alone. It should start fermenting fairly quickly.
Depending on how warm the environment is, the hard cider may take anywhere from 1 day and up to complete fermentation. Fermentation is complete when there are no more bubbles rising-or very few. At this point the cider can be drunk or spices added. If a sparkly type hard cider is desired, take plastic soda bottles and add the cider and about 2 tsp of sugar, cap and refrigerate. This will be only be fizzy, not bubbly. Don’t leave the bottles out of the fridge or the caps might blow. Open only when ready to drink.
This quick and easy cider is meant to be drunk soon after fermentation. Do not leave it out beyond the end of fermentation or it will attract unwanted bacteria. Get it into the fridge as soon as possible. Remember, this recipe is for the extremely lazy, everyone else should at least get a fermentation lock.