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Cider Digest #0481
Subject: are cider apples essential?
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 94 16:25:23 PDT
From: rdevine@microsoft.com
Are special cider apples required for making a good cider? I ask
because I just read that Woodchuck (a New England cider maker)
makes its ciders using just regular Macintosh apples.
I suspect that they do some adjustment of tannin and acid level
as well as adding some caramel for their dark cider. But does
anyone know if they use any other apple varieties?
Bob Devine
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Date: Thu, 13 Oct 1994 20:08:51 -0400
From: Scott David Kathe <kathes@rpi.edu>
Subject: Re: Cider Digest #480 Thu Oct 13 18:00:05 EDT 1994
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Date: Fri, 14 Oct 94 08:30:56 EST
From: Robert.Fike@ccmail.GSFC.NASA.GOV
Subject: newbie
I'm fermenting my first batch of cider now and I have a few
quick questions.
1. Do I need to "prime" the cider prior to bottling like I
do with my homebrew?
2. What is the shelf life? Will it sour quickly?
Unfortunatly I don't live in an area known for it's apple
orchards (So. Maryland) so my sources are going to be
severly limited. I was given two gallons of cider that
started to ferment before I could get to them. I added
three gallons of pastuerized but not preserved cider. Plus
I boiled two quarts of water with brown sugar, honey and
some cinnimon (sp) sticks and added that. Finally I started
a packet of English Ale yeast and added that also. That was
two days ago and my bucket is happily bubbling away.
If I can expect the shelf life to be in excess of several
months, I don't mind driving to Virginia and buying real
cider and doing it right.
Thanks in advance
Rob Fike
Robert.Fike@ccmail.gsfc.nasa.gov
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Date: Fri, 14 Oct 1994 08:50:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: rich1@netcom.com (Richard Soennichsen)
Subject: Fermentation times
I am fermenting my first attempt at cider. It is a recipe of three gallons juic
e and 3 lbs honey boiled in one gal water. I am using wyeast chico ale yeast.
It is fermenting slowly but consistantly. I get one blurp in the airlock a minu
te. It has been in the carboy three. weeks. A week ago I rack off to another ca
rboy and the cider did not taste fermented at all. How long is a normal ferment
for this stuff? The average temp is around 70 degrees F.
Rich
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Date: Fri, 14 Oct 1994 12:26:51 -0500 (EST)
From: BURNELLT <BURNELLT@ropt1.am.wyeth.com>
Subject: Strawberry Cider
I just made a gallon test batch of a hard strawberry cider, and after tasting
it during bottling I wanted to pass the recipe along. It was fantastic after
only 1 month in the secondary. Great strawberry aroma and light strawberry
taste in an amazingly mellow cider. I don't know the blend of apples in the
cider but I was told by the guy at the orchard that it definitely was a blend.
Enough rambling, here's the recipe (as best I can remember):
1 gallon fresh cider, unpreserved
1 1/2 lbs. frozen strawberries
1 1/2 lbs. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. grape tannin
1/4 tsp. yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp. acid blend
1 cup yeast slurry from a porter (I think it was originally a dry yeast)
sorry, no S.G.'s taken (I do that crap for a living and this is supposed to be
fun)
Combined all ingredients and pasteurized at 170F for 1/2 hour. Cooled to RT and
pitched yeast. It finished fermenting in two weeks. I racked and allowed 1
month to clear. Yield 3 1/2 quarts (I drank the half quart immediately). I'm
getting five gallons of cider tonight and will try scaling this up. This stuff
will go fast.
On another note, I have a line on a ton of choke cherries. Anyone ever combine
these with cider? If I don't hear anything I'll try them in a one gallon batch.
Whats the worst that can happen?
Ted Burnell
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Date: 14 Oct 94 10:37:41 MDT (Fri)
From: rcd@raven.eklektix.com (Dick Dunn)
Subject: re: gray cider
"dan ciolkosz" <dec9@cornell.edu> wrote:
> In cider digest #473, Dick Dunn asks about cider turning a grey yucky color.
> I have had similar experiences, namely when my cider, bottled in 2 litre
> plastic jugs, has been opened and closed a number of times...
I've got more information than that. I had a gallon, to which I added a
bunch of oak chips. It turned very dark and the foam rising off it had
dark gray/brown parts. I also ran a separate half-gallon test, no oak, and
it didn't turn color. I skimmed out some of the foam and part of the oak
from the gallon after a while. As it fermented, it got lighter; it's just
about a normal color now. I'm still puzzled but less concerned, since it
has lightened up.
I have seen cider darken slightly, as Dan describes, after being opened and
exposed to a lot of air. This *seemed* to be something different.
- ---
Dick Dunn rcd@eklektix.com -or- raven!rcd Boulder, Colorado USA
...Simpler is better.
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