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Cider Digest #0517
Subject: Cider Digest #517, 24 January 1995
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #517 24 January 1995
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Sulfur Update (MarcMon@aol.com)
Long term PET storage (GubGuy@aol.com)
Apple Juice? (Jason Scott)
Mouldy Cider!? (Don Collings)
Light ("A. Sturdivant \"Sturdy\" McKee")
YA Beginner's question (David Vezie)
Cider Priming Question ("Jeff Luck")
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------------------------------
Subject: Re: Sulfur Update
From: MarcMon@aol.com
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 1995 20:50:54 -0500
What kind of yeast were you using? I understand that Montrachet wine yeast
is especially subject to producing hydrogen sulfide odors.
Marc Montefusco
marcmon@aol.com
------------------------------
Subject: Long term PET storage
From: GubGuy@aol.com
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 11:35:13 -0500
Anyone have REAL experience with the long term effects of storage in PET
bottles? Conventional wisdom says they are oxygen-permeable and therefore
not a good choice for long term storage. I've used some (ran out of
bottles), and now I'm beginning to worry that my precious fluid will become
oxidised. Looking for some real life experiences here, not theories. I've
got about 6 liters sitting in them now, and I need to know if I can let them
age for a significant period of time, or if I should just get to drinkin'!
TIA,
GubGuy@aol.com Nunc est Bibendum (Latin; "Now is the time to drink")
-Ray Ownby- "In Wine there is Truth" -Dostoyevsky
Moses Lake, WA ("In vino veritas")
------------------------------
Subject: Apple Juice?
From: Jason Scott <jasonl@america.net>
Date: Mon, 16 Jan 1995 19:12:08 -0500 (EST)
Hello, all!! Well, I made the bonehead move by buying five gallons of
apple cider from a health-food grocery store, only to find that it had
sulfates in it!! My question is this: can I use "ordinary" frozen apple
juice
from concentrate, if it says "contains 100% apple juice" and doesn't
mention anything about preservatives or chemicals? Before I begin this
labor of love, I'd like to know if my efforts will be in vain. Thanks in
advance for any replies!
Jason
------------------------------
Subject: Mouldy Cider!?
From: Don Collings <dcolling@t4cma-gw.den.mmc.com>
Date: Tue, 17 Jan 95 11:47:56 MST
Hello Cider-heads,
I've been quietly reading this group (i.e. lurking) since June, and I
finally have a question. Actually, I think I have a problem. Hmmmm.
In late October, I acquired 5 gallons of freshly pressed apple juice.
Wanting to make a natural product, I placed this in a 6.5 gallon
bucket fitted with an airlock (all properly cleansed with B-Brite) and
let it go to town in the corner of my dining room (approx 65 degrees F).
(I'm in Denver, CO, and the apples came from Canyon City, by the way.)
Well, time passes and it bubbles away merrily for quite a while, then
slows, then stops. I wanted to give it time to settle before racking
into a secondary, and promptly forgot about it for a month or so.
Last night, I cleansed out one of my glass carbouys and prepared to
rack the cider into it. Then I opened the bucket. Eeeeeeuuuuwwww.
I had a very thin white film covering the entire top of my cider, just
floating on the surface. In some places, it had formed dime-sized
bubbles. Ick. I carefully skimmed off a section of it, inserted my
tubing, and racked off the cider under the film. I did not get any into
my carbouy. The cider has a very bright yellow color, and smells
mildly alcoholic. It is not dark and cloudy, but it is not quite clear.
This is my first attempt at allowing natural fermentation. I am puzzled.
My first reaction was to dump the bucket in a field nearby, but I decided
to give it a chance. Any ideas, suggestions, stories, recommendations?
Did I do something wrong? What should I do now? Thanks in advance,
and please respond via personal email to preserve bandwidth, unless of
course everyone can learn from this.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don Collings | "And they say her flower is faded now,
dcolling@t4cma.den.mmc.com | hard weather and hard booze.
-- standard disclaimer -- | But maybe that's just the price you pay
I don't speak for Martin Marietta,| for the chains you refuse."
and they don't speak for me. | -- Richard Thompson --
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Subject: Light
From: "A. Sturdivant \"Sturdy\" McKee" <sturdy@itsa.ucsf.EDU>
Date: Wed, 18 Jan 1995 11:52:28 -0800 (PST)
I need a little help/reassurance regarding light struck cider. I brew
beer and have one light, crisp batch of cider under my belt, and another
going. My question is, do I need to protect the cider from light as I
do beer? There are no hops in use, so assume I do not. Out of habit, I
covered my first batch, but forgot to do so with my second for some
time. How and will this affect the flavor? TIA for your responses.
Sturdy
sturdy@itsa.ucsf.edu
------------------------------
Subject: YA Beginner's question
From: David Vezie <dv@xnet.ssl.Berkeley.Edu>
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 1995 10:46:49 PST
I'm doing some cider for the first time, and here's what I've done:
I bought 5 gallons of unfiltered juice from a local health food store,
pasteurized it (boiled it for some time), and put it in a barrel with
some wine (champaign?) yeast. It started at S.G. 1.060. It started
fermenting right away (maybe a day or so delay). It blipped fine for w
about a month, then stopped. Two weeks later (last weekend), I tested it.
It was at S.G. .999. It was also very strong, and not very sweet at all.
Last night I racked it off into another barrel (because I wasn't sure what
else to do with it, at that moment), and checked (.980).
I've been thinking of adding another gallon of juice to it, but I'm not
sure what that'll do to it's fermentation. As an experiment, I added
a proper proportion of juice to a sample, and took it's S.G. It was
1.010.
I'd like to prime it, and bottle it, so I get some fizz. Can I use
apple juice to prime it? I'd like to, so that it's not so strong
(flavor-wise, it can probably use two extra gallos of juice). But
what's to stop the fermentation after it's got the proper fizz? What's
to keep it from exploding, or foaming up too much?
I understand that Campden tablets are used to stop fermentation, but
if I use those, will I loose any hope of getting any fizz? Should I
use just a few Campden tablets?
------------------------------
Subject: Cider Priming Question
From: "Jeff Luck" <jfl4@omnibus.ce.psu.edu>
Date: 20 Jan 1995 11:10:59 -0500
My last few ciders have not been very sweet. The problem, of course, is that
any fermentable sugar added to the cider at bottling get consumed by the yeast
which provides carbonation and thus reduces the sugar's impact on sweetness.
I read that this years AHA cider winner used saccharin to get a sweet taste to
his cider. I'm also interested in a sweet cider but would prefer not to use
saccharin or aspartame.
Maltodextrin seems to be a good candidate for this use. What I need to know is
how much maltodextrin to add with the corn sugar so that I get good carbonation
and a sweet result (not too sweet, of course). Any suggestions? I could add
the maltodextrin until I get the right taste, then add the usual corn sugar,
but I'd prefer not to handle the cider that much.
Thanks in advance for any ideas and advice.
Jeff Luck
Continuing & Distance Education
Penn State University
jfl4@cde.psu.edu
------------------------------
End of Cider Digest #517
