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Cider Digest #0248
Subject: SULPHER
Date: 30 Jan 1993 13:48:29 -0600 (MDT)
From: MARK TARATOOT <SLNDW@CC.USU.EDU>
Mark - I owuld be curious how that batch works out if you are using
10 Campden tablets. I was under the impression (and correct me
please if I am wrong) that you were supposed to use a tablet per
gallon.
Of course, I've never used them. But that's another thing.
- --gk
I believe that 1 campdon tablet gives 60 ppm sulfur dioxide. The
recipies I have seen call for somwhere around 100 - 120 ppm. My last
pyment started with this amount and so did my first cider. The long
fermentation of these allows the sulfer flavor to settle out. The pyment
(a sack style grape mead) is really tasting wonderful after 3 months of
fermentation. I will bottle it next month (perhaps). The first cider...
well we will see how it ages.
-toot
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Date: 30 Jan 93 16:00:47 EST
From: Paul & Anita Correnty <71174.1121@CompuServe.COM>
Subject: Judging & scoring:Chicago system?
Greeting!
Whew! Quite a bit of lively discussion going on between the coasts.
Keep it up and we will soon be approached by a daytime syndicated show
(Oprah?, Phil?, Sally Jesse maybe?) to verbally wrassle one another on
the air! However, all must be commended for trying to attain the
highest level of fairness in the judging with so little regard to one's
own financial or egotistical compensation.
In any case a few thoughts on judging...
I am a chef by trade with a passion for wine, cider and beer. Last
year I was in charge of organizing the Cider category judging in
Boston, something I am looking forward to doing this year. I am not a
certified beer judge, nor were any of the other people that judged
cider. However, all of us had refined and developed palates for this
sort of thing because of our vocations (chefs, professionel cidermakers
or brewers, etc) or avocations (cooking,homebrewing/wine/cidermaking)
and I would not hesitate to say that the Cider group as a whole was as
exact in their approach and as fair (maybe even more so) as any of the
other judges in spite of their lack of certification.
The point is not that you need be a professional brewer to
competently judge beer, but that points are only numerical references
to sensory stimulations and should not be the final arbitor.
To this end in setting up a method of judging that would hopefully
prevent a single high or low score from unfairly upsetting the
applecart (!) I settled on a method that I'd used in wine tastings and
competitions. I'm not sure what the Chicago system/method is, but from
what I've read this week from you folks I believe it to be similar:
Four groups of two judges each were selected. Each pair was assigned
one sub-category of cider (8-12 entries) to evaluate. The two judges
were to consult among themselves and choose the best two ciders from
each subcategy to pass onto the second flight. If there was a
difference of opinion a third cider could be submitted.
All the judges were assembled to evaluate the second flight which
consisted of nine ciders. New bottles were opened and new scores were
taken. A roundtable discussion followed with six ciders quickly dropped
from consideration. The merits and/or faults of the final three were
debated before we unanimously decided upon the best of category.
I believe this method to be an excellent one because it is not so cut
and dried and it allows a cider/beer that may be thrilling to drink but
maybe finishes a bit short to show well against a cider\beer that is
cleanly made and correct but is uninteresting but scores well because
of lack of faults (a problem with many wines these days: technically
correct but boring as hell to drink).
Sorry if this is a bit long-winded, in closing let me repeat a well
worn quote: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies, and
statistics!"(re:points).
Paul Correnty.
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