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Cider Digest #0472
Subject: Cider Digest #472 Thu Sep 15 18:00:04 EDT 1994
Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 18:00:04 -0400
From: cider-request@x.org (Are you SURE you want to send it HERE?)
Cider Digest #472 Thu Sep 15 18:00:04 EDT 1994
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Jay Hersh, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Re: Cider Digest #471 Wed Sep 14 18:00:18 EDT 1994 (H J Luer)
Cider Apples (Greg Appleyard)
English cider (rdevine)
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Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 08:50:26 +0500
From: hjl@harpo.wh.att.com (H J Luer)
Subject: Re: Cider Digest #471 Wed Sep 14 18:00:18 EDT 1994
Please change my address from gummo.att.com!hjl to harpo.att.com!hjl
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Sep 1994 10:55:01 -0400 (EDT)
From: Greg Appleyard <gappleya@uoguelph.ca>
Subject: Cider Apples
Dick Dunn wrote...
> From: rcd@raven.eklektix.com (Dick Dunn)
> Subject: ten days in Somerset
>=20
> We spent some time talking to several cider-makers. It always came back =
to
> the choice of apples: The right apples make the cider. Yeast didn't seem
> They all insisted that "dessert apples" (those normally used for eating o=
r
> cooking) weren't fit for cider making. One of the issues is that if
> you're making a dry cider, too much acid (as in a good pie apple, say)
> will leave you with a too-sour result once there's no sugar to balance th=
e
> tartness.
What! You go all that way, tasting all those great ciders and you can't=20
remember what types of apples they use?? How could you keep us hanging on=
=20
by our finger nails to your post like that and not tell us the secret of=20
good cider? =20
=20
> (Finally, the problem: Now that I've got this new addiction to a style of
> cider I'd never imagined before, how do I feed it?)
You get the word out about the right variety of apples and encourage=20
growers to put a few trees of cider apples in the back-fourty to supply=20
us thirsty cider drinkers with the right ingredients!
On the subject of apple varieties, my last year's experiment was on this=20
exact topic. I have included a copy of the report which has been submitted
to the Canadian Amature Brewers Assoc. Newsletter for publication.
>=20
> Fruit Selection for the Production of Hard Cider in Ontario
>=20
> Greg Appleyard
>=20
> The variables with the greatest influence in beer making are, of
> course, the ingredients. Just as the choice of hops and malt is
> crucial to the style of beer, so too is the choice of apple juice
> crucial to the hard cider (hereafter known as "cider"). Each
> variety of apple has a characteristic composition and therefore a
> particular contribution to cider.
>=20
> To obtain advice on this subject, I decided to consult the experts.
> From the Cider-Makers Manual (J.S. Buell, 1869) I learned that
> "ripe, sound fruit is the only basis for a good article of
> cider..." and "An active boy with a bag slung over his shoulders
> will soon clear a tree." Great stuff, but what kinds of apples
> should I choose. After further consultation with those people,
> whose enviable fate it is to research apple and cider production,
> I discovered that the basic terms used to describe apple juice are
> sweet (sugars), sharp (acidic), aromatic and bitter (tannin).
> Ciders are made by blending the juice of any combination of apple
> varieties and the ideal blend is bitter-sweet mixed with sweet and
> sharp.
>=20
> Researchers at the Long Ashton Research Station near Bristol,
> England ( Apple Beverages, 1981) recommend the following varieties
> for bitter sweet: Bulmer's Norman and Dabinett, for sweet: Sweet
> Coppin, Worchester Permain or Cox's Orange Pippin, and for sharp:
> Kingston Black and Crimson King (not related to the band King
> Crimson as far as I know). However, even the most active farmer's
> market is not likely to produce these varieties, so I turned to
> characterizing by taste Ontario grown apple varieties. Our very own
> Agriculture Canada has been very helpful in producing a booklet
> called Apple Cultivars for Juice and (Sweet) Cider Production
> (Technical Bulletin 1988-6E, available free). The following is a
> brief list from this document.
>=20
> Sweet: Delicious, MacIntosh, Spartan, Murrey, Honey-Gold.
> Sharp: Paula Red, Sir Prize.
> Bitter-Sharp: Melba, Quinte.
> Bitter-Sweet: Cortland, Ida Red, Loyalist.
>=20
> Dessert (sweet) and cooking apples (sharp) are commonly found in
> Ontario but the varieties prized for cider making, which contain a
> lot of tannin, make poor eating apples and are very rare. European
> cider apples include: Brown's Apple, Yarlington Mills, Tremblett's
> Bitter, Stoke Red and G=81ttingen. There are few substitutes for
> these varieties but historically Virginia Crab and Geneva Crab
> apples have been utilized as a source of apple tannin. In Quebec,
> cider producers have favoured tannin containing varieties such as
> Quinte, Cortland and Golden Russet.
>=20
> Last fall, I embarked on an experiment to test these
> recommendations. After much searching, I obtained a bushel each of
> Spartan, Paula Red, MacIntosh, Golden Russet, Delicious, Northern
> Spy, Jersey Mac, Cortland, a 6 qt basket of Tremblett's Bitter, and
> a wild apple hereafter known as Greenwoods. I pressed the apples
> and blended the juice to achieve different flavour characteristics;
> bitter-sharp, bitter-neutral, bitter-sweet, aromatic-bitter,
> aromatic-neutral and aromatic-sweet. For example the bitter-sharp
> was 2400 mls golden russet, 1200 mls greenwoods, and 800 mls Paula
> Red while the aromatic sweet was 2400 mls Delicious, 1200 mls
> MacIntosh and 800 mls Cortland. Two additional batches were mixed
> to which I added 1/2 tsp of grape tannin. Fermentation was carried
> out at 15=F8C using Yeastlabs' Irish Ale Yeast and in April I
> assembled a team of taste testers.
>=20
> I recorded their comments (the polite ones) on clarity, colour,
> flavour, aroma, and rank score, to which I applied rigorous
> statistical analysis. The results will guide my future
> experiments. Here's a summary:
>=20
> 1) Good clarity was correlated with juice from Golden Russet,
> Northern Spy, Tremblett's Bitter and the added tannin but was
> inversely correlated with juice from Delicious and Cortland apples.
>=20
> 2) A nice golden colour was associated with Jersey Mac, MacIntosh,
> Delicious, and the added tannin while pale colours were associated
> with Golden Russet, Greenwoods, Northern Spy.
>=20
> 3) Nice apply aromas were associated with Golden Russet and Paula
> Red but rotten, stinking, bog-like aromas were associated with
> Delicious, and Cortland apple juices.
>=20
> 4) A good "biting cider" flavour was associated with Tremblett's
> and added tannin while watery and thin flavours were associated
> with Delicious and Cortland.
>=20
> 5) Overall score and remarks favoured cider made from juice of
> Golden Russet, Greenwoods and Tremblett's Bitter while poor
> comments were received on cider made with MacIntosh, Delicious, and
> added tannin (mostly because it was too strong).
>=20
> The bottom line was that apple tannin is a necessary component in
> a tasty cider and that a "cider apple" is the best place to get it
> from. Ontario apples with significant tannin contents such as
> Golden Russet substitute nicely so long as it is the major
> component and substituted with juices which provide colour and acid
> balance. Avoid the aromatic dessert apples as they will contribute
> off flavours and smells. Grape tannin is a viable alternative but
> too much will cause your cider to taste like a 2'x4'.
Based on the results of this experiment, my recommendations for a cider=20
made with Ontario grown apples is as follows:
60% Golden Russet (for flavour)
15% Jersey Mac (for colour and sweetness)
15% Northern Spy (for sweetness and clarity)
10% Paula Red (for acid balance)
******************************************
Greg Appleyard
Dept Vet. Micro. Immunol.
University of Guelph
Guelph, Canada
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 07:51:24 PDT
From: rdevine@microsoft.com
Subject: English cider
Dick Dunn concludes his Cider-bury Tale by:
> (Finally, the problem: Now that I've got this new addiction to a style of
> cider I'd never imagined before, how do I feed it?)
There was a case a few years ago where a British lottery winner
was discovered to have spent all of his considerable winnings.
When asked how he became broke, he blamed it on the good cider!
A question to the Washington state members: Where would I find
cider apples in this apple growing mecca?
Bob Devine
rdevine@microsoft.com
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End of Cider Digest
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