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Cider Digest #0083
Subject: Cider Digest #83 Fri Dec 6 11:00:04 EST 1991
Date: Fri, 6 Dec 91 11:00:12 EST
From: cider-request@expo.lcs.mit.edu (Are you SURE you want to send it HERE?)
Cider Digest #83 Fri Dec 6 11:00:05 EST 1991
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Jay Hersh, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Cyser (Jay Hersh)
question responses (Aaron Birenboim)
Re: How to clear (Rick Larson)
Send submissions to cider@expo.lcs.mit.edu
Send requests to cider-request@expo.lcs.mit.edu
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Date: Thu, 05 Dec 91 18:19:59 EST
From: Jay Hersh <hersh@expo.lcs.mit.edu>
Subject: Cyser
Apple juice would be OK, but ONLY UNPRESERVED!!!
1/10th of 1% Potassium Sorbate or Sodium Benzoate (the most common
preservatives) will do in your yeast.
You could use fresh apples, but do you have a grinder and a press??
Probably not. I wouldn't begin to know how to tell you to take advantage
of apples that were simply chopped and pureed, except perhaps that you
might use them similar to how raspberries, cherries or other fruits are
used in mead or beer (that is toss them in for a steep, leave them in
the fermenter for a period of 1-2 weeks).
Surely you must have a natural food store somewhere?? Maybe not...
I myself make dry meads (and moderately dry ciders), with ~2lb honey per gallon.
3lb will make a sweeter mead. It depends on your taste.
>3. What spices/herbs blend well in a cyser? Cinnamon, ginger, tea, hops,
>orange peel?
Maybe not the hops or the tea (again personal taste), but anything you'd put in
a mulled cider (cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, orange or lemon peel, etc...)
>4. Does an ale yeast work well? Suggestions?
I use ale yeast for draft style ciders, for meads or strong ciders I use a
champagne or epernay yeast.
>5. Are acid blend and yeast nutrient necessary ingredients?
I only would advocate using acid blend if no acid fruit is present. It's touch
and go with apples since the acid content depends on the variety. Safe bet
would be to add it. I have never added it to my fruit meads, and haven't found
it necessary for any of my ciders either.
- JaH
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Date: Thu, 5 Dec 91 17:33:02 MST
From: abirenbo@rigel.hac.com (Aaron Birenboim)
Subject: question responses
>Chuck Coronella <CORONELLRJDS@che.utah.edu> said:
>1. Is apple juice as good as apple cider for a cyser?
use a cloudy, non-pasturized, no preservative cider. often
obtainable in health food stores.
> Could I use fresh apples?
yes... squish them, sulpher them (campden tablets), wait 24 hours,
then ferment.
> frozen concentrate ?
i hear it can be done, but watch for preservatives, and if it
was filtered, most of the nutrients may have been removed, making
it very hard to ferment.
>2. Is a sweet mead, with more than 3 # honey per gallon, most appropriate?
>If not, what is the <optimal> amount of honey per gallon?
i dunno... I'm still a beginner. many people on this list
are using cane sugar since it does not ferment well for sweetness.
I plan to try this on my next batch. I have stabilized the cider
(sodium benzoate), and then sweetened with honey... quite tasty!
I am now experimenting with red star empernay yeast and crystal malt
for sweetness.... i do not like dry cider.
>3. What spices/herbs blend well in a cyser?
good herbs : ginger, cinnamon, corriander, lemmon grass, clove
maybe : tea, orange peel
probably not : tea
>4. Does an ale yeast work well?
Yes, but many people on this mailing list seem to be experimenting
with red-star empernay 2.
>5. Are acid blend and yeast nutrient necessary ingredients?
you can get by without them in cyser, since the squished apples
have nutrients.
> ithaca!amber!phoebe@uunet.uu.net (Phoebe Couch) said :
>I am on my first batch of sparkling cider and am using unfiltered apple juice.
>The murky brown liquid is fermenting away with a lot of yeast sediment.
>Does anyone have some advice on how to clear it? Gelatin? Polyclar ?
wait. wait a lot. if it was not pasturized (pasturization can cause
a pectin haze), it will clear.
i found that after stabilization (sodium benzoate) a completely
fermented cider will clear in about 2 days. I has 2 batches which
were still cloudy a month after bubbles stopped, but when i stabilized
them both yeast AND A LOT OF PULP settled out. Be very careful,
the apple pulp will wash up and clout the cider with the slightest
disturbance.
does anybody have a theory about why even PULP seemed to stay in suspension
until i stabilized???? I coule swear that heavy, thick haze had at
least SOME pulp, but it sure did settle out to a brilliant clarity
after i added the preservative.
Note: i had been using champaigne yeast (very dry), stabilizing,
then sweetening.
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Date: Fri, 6 Dec 91 09:19:58 CST
From: melkor!beren!rick@uunet.uu.net (Rick Larson)
Subject: Re: How to clear
I have used gelatin with great success. I get my apple
cider from a neighbor who owns an apple orchard and
processes cider at the orchard . The cider is very
"...murky brown...". I boil up a cup of water, mix in a
teaspoon of unflavored gelain, and pour it in the fermenter
a few days before I plan to bottle.
Good Luck,
Rick
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End of Cider Digest
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