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Cider Digest #0288
Subject: Recipies with cider
Date: Wed, 12 May 93 14:43:08 UNI
From: tak@tazboy.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Tom Kreitzberg)
Hello, all!
I recently came across a book called _The American Cider Book: The
Story of America's Natural Beverage_, by Vrest Orton. It tells the
history of cider, in America in particular; discusses how to make
it; and gives many recipies for both food and drink based on cider.
This may be a little beyond the scope of this list, but for those of
you fortunate enough to have some extra cider, or perhaps a batch
that isn't quite perfect when tasted as is, I offer the following
samples from the book:
Locomotive (from 1917)
1 quart hard cider
3 eggs
white sugar
cinnamon sticks
Heat cider till hot but not boiling. Beat eggs till frothy. Add
cider to eggs, a bit at a time, keeping it hot. Stir in some
sugar, serve in earthenware mugs, with a stick of cinnamon.
Lovers' Balm (from 1872)
2 tablespoons sugar
juice of 1 lemon
rind of 1 lemon, pounded
1/3 cup French brandy
1/4 cup Curacao
1 quart hard cider
Dissolve the sugar in the lemon juice, and add rind. Put this into
an earthenware jug. Add brandy, Curacao, and cider. Chill. When
cold, fill a glass half full with mixture, then to the top of the
glass with soda water.
Artillery Punch (from 1812)
1 quart dark rum
1 quart bourbon whiskey
1 quart hard cider
6 pineapples
12 oranges
1 quart strawberries
12 bottles champagne
ice
Mix the liquors and the cider. Chop up the fruit and add; let stand
overnight. When it's time to drink, add champagne and ice.
The book also includes some recipies for making hard cider, such as
Barley Cider (from 1890)
26 gallons sweet (raw, unfermented) cider
10 lbs. maple or brown sugar
4 lbs. raisins
4 quarts pearl barley
1/2 cup olive oil
Combine all ingredients and ferment in a barrel. Age in a bunged-
up cask.
I have a number of other recipies from the book, including some
for ham, chicken, and pork chops, if anyone is interested and can't
find the book himself.
Happy fermenting!
Tom Kreitzberg
tak@tazboy.jpl.nasa.gov
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Date: 12 May 93 17:30:17 EDT
From: Paul & Anita Correnty <71174.1121@CompuServe.COM>
Subject: AHA Cider Competition
Greetings!
Haven't been on the Digest lately, it's been difficult coming back up
the stairs from the cellar lately...
A reminder to all that CIDER ENTRIES MUST BE AT THE BOSTON BEER WORKS
BY THE 22ND of MAY. We will be categorizing them the following week so
PLEASE get them there on time. I don't really want to refuse any but
late entries inconvenience us and our hosts at the BBW.
Recent activity on the Digest is encouraging. New cidermakers such as
Mr. Taratoot have come out of the darkness and stumbled blindly upon
the TRUTH regarding wild yeasts and the need for patience. Cider will
take care of itself if given time! Anybody ever tasted first growth
Bordeaux or top notch Calif. Cab from the cask? Tastes pretty rough!
Cider is similar to a lesser degree....make beer while you're waiting
for the cider to mature...be patient!
Smart advice from Greg C. concerning free speech and banned beverages.
We should perhaps preface our comments with a disclaimer stating that
the following is only for informational/medicinal purposes...by the way
my "medicine" passed through an 80 yr. old Armenian still before being
consummed. I still remember the evening and especially the roaring
hangover. I'll stick with plain hard cider thank you.
Keep those cider entries a-comin', and GOOD LUCK!
Paul Correnty
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 May 1993 10:39:06 -0400
From: Bill Flowers <waflowers@qnx.com>
Subject: Re: cyser recipe
A number of people sent me mail after I recently mentioned my cyser in this
forum, asking for the recipe. Rather than reply to each of them
individually by mail (and there were lots) I figured it was best to just
post my recipe, procedures and comments on the two batches I've made.
Cyser may not truly be a "pure" cider (actually it is a type of mead) but
there's enough interest in it in this group that I don't think it will hurt
to post here.
Batch #1 was a 9L batch I made last fall -- I didn't want to commit too
many resources when I didn't know if I'd like the results. It was bottled
in mid-November (it fermented very quickly) and immediately my wife
insisted I make another, larger batch (and I wasn't arguing the point); it
was delicious. It was a good thing I made more as we ended up giving most
of it away as much appreciated Christmas presents.
Batch #2 I started in late November. On this batch the fermentation stopped
prematurely (SG of 1.032) after one of the rackings (3rd or 4th, I'm not
sure -- I'm in the habit of racking whenever there is a significant amount
of sediment showing); I probably didn't have enough yeast left. I
repitched some more yeast and left it for a while. Read on for the
results following the recipe and procedure.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
For each 4.5 litres (1 Imp. gallon):
1.2 Kg light honey (clover, alfalfa, or wildflower)
4.0 L fresh pressed, unfiltered cider (without
preservatives) (volume is approximate)
1/4 tsp yeast extract (not yeast nutrient or energizer)
Champagne yeast
O.G. about 1.120 depending on the cider and the honey used
F.G. really low; you could end up with 13% - 15% alcohol
Procedure:
Combine half of the cold cider with all of the honey and heat to 170F while
stirring frequently (if you add the honey after heating it will sink to the
bottom of the hot pot and caramelize or burn). (You could use the entire
volume of cider, but then you have the problem of cooling it quickly.) Hold
at 170F for 30 minutes to pasteurize. Be careful not to let the
temperature vary too much: too high and you will set the pectin which will
give you a cloudy end result; too low and you won't pasteurize the honey.
During this time, skim any foam wich comes to the surface (it is proteins,
bees wax, etc. from the honey and will make the cyser bitter). At the end
of the time add the yeast extract (don't use yeast nutrient or energizer,
they will give bitter off-tastes to the cyser which take a long time to age
out).
Combine the warm honey/cider mixture with the remaining cider. When cooled
to about 75F, rehydrate the champagne yeast and pitch.
Apply normal winemaking sanitary procedures to all equipment.
I did the primary fermentation in a glass carboy fitted with an airlock -
be sure there is lots of headspace or it will bubble right out! (This
happened to me on the first batch -- I should have used a blowoff tube like
I do for beer, for the 2nd batch I used a larger carboy to begin with.) You
could do the primary fermentation in a covered bucket as (some) winemakers
do. Ideally the fermentation temperature should be a constant 72F, but my
house is cooler and fluctuates between 62F and 68F which just slows things
down. No problem really.
After the primary fermentation has slowed (this could be a few weeks, there
are *LOTS* of fermentables in this), rack the cyser into a carboy with a
small headspace and fit with an airlock. When the fermentation has almost
stopped (very slow rate of bubbles through the airlock, partial clearing of
cyser), rack it again (!) into another carboy. If, after a few days, there
is significant sediment on the bottom, rack it yet again. Repeat this step
as necessary to get a clear cyser with no sediment on the bottom of the
carboy. This could take 4, 5, 6 or more rackings!
When you have it to the point where the cyser is essentially clear with
nothing on the bottom, shake the hell out of the carboy a few times a day
for a few days to get rid of the CO2 (its supposed to be still, not
sparkling). Let it settle for a few more days and siphon it out of the
carboy taking care to leave behind anything which may have settled out
(there should be practically nothing at this point).
At bottling time there will be lots of high-volatile alcohols present which
dissipate rapidly. If you siphon some into a glass (instead of one of the
bottles) you'll notice that it is much better, much more smooth, after
sitting out for about 15 minutes. So you might want to let it sit for 15
minutes or half an hour before you bottle it. Or don't cork the bottles
immediately.
The cyser is drinkable immediately. I think it will become even more
mellow with age, if it lasts that long. ;-)
Enjoy!
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
I gave the above instructions to some co-workers after they tasted my first
batch and while my second batch was fermenting. I finally bottled batch #2
after 6 weeks of fermentation and 3 months of aging in the carboy (I had
run out of bottles, so it just sat there for a while). At bottling time I
compared the last (sob!) bottle of batch #1 with batch #2. The first batch
did get a bit drier as it aged (not much) and smoother; it was like a
desert wine or liqueur -- nice but too sweet. Batch #2 at bottling time
was much more balanced due to the presence of additional tannic acid (I
used a different cider for batch #2). There is enough residual sweetness
to enhance the apple flavour and balance the acidity, sort of like a good
wine. Very nice!
Good luck. If you're ever in Ottawa, look me up and we'll share a glass (or
two, or three, or ...).
Bill
W.A. (Bill) Flowers email: waflowers@qnx.com
QNX Software Systems, Ltd. QUICS: bill (613) 591-0934 (data)
(613) 591-0931 (voice) mail: 175 Terrence Matthews
(613) 591-3579 (fax) Kanata, Ontario, Canada K2M 1W8
------------------------------
Date: 13 May 1993 10:40:56 -0600 (MDT)
From: Mark Taratoot <SLNDW@CC.USU.EDU>
Subject: 1. Throwing Sediment 2. Sulfite
Greetings!
My cyser is late in its fourth month of fermentation. It was made
with about 4+ gallons of fresh pressed cider, about 7 or so
pounds of Cox's High Mountain Snowberry honey, acid blend, yeast
nutrient, and Epernay wine yeast. I have racked it three times.
Each time before I rack there has been a layer about 3/4 inch
of yeast cake on the bottom of the fermenter. When I rack
a new layer about the same size gets thrown off within a
couple of hours. After this initial throwing of sediment,
not much more seems to get thrown off over the next several weeks/
month or so. But as soon as I rack it again it throws another
sediment. What is happening? Is there an equilibrium? Is there
a density gradient such that the cyser is more dense at the bottom
and when I rack it it finds a new equilibrium? It is kind of strange.
Does this mean that the more I rack the sooner it will clear? (the
cyser is still actively fermenting, but with the temperature
warming I expect it to finish off kind of soon.)
Another question. My first cider was made from sulphated cider
with wine yeast added. My second was unsulfated cider with no
yeast added. My cyser was sulfated and wine yeast was added.
The color of the unsulfated cider is much darker that the
other two even though they were made from the "same" cider (from
the same orchard.) Does sulfite bleach the color out of the must?
Is there a way I can minimize this (like using sulfite at less
than 60ppm) without compromising sanitation?
Respond here or to SLNDW@CC.USU.EDU
Thanks!
-toot
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 13 May 93 13:55:40 CDT
From: Mark Parsons <parsons@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu>
Subject: Unsubscribe
unsubscribe
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