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Cider Digest #0570
Subject: Cider Digest #570, 9 December 1995
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #570 9 December 1995
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
RE: Cider Digest #569, 4 December 1995 ("Loll, SSgt Richard")
sweet cider (Ruth Steele)
volatile acidity in ciders (kurt schilling)
Beginner questions (Steve Armbrust)
sweed mead yeat (Christina Busald)
Newbie time. (Russell Mast)
Greg asked "When to bottle a Cyser" (Jim LaFronz)
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Subject: RE: Cider Digest #569, 4 December 1995
From: "Loll, SSgt Richard" <netcomsv.netcom.com!hq36abw.andersen.af.mil!lollr>
Date: Tue, 05 Dec 95 15:58:00 PST
>now's a nice quiet time to write something.
Well, okay! I love to drink cider, but have never stepped up to making
some. I need guidance and assistance. Let's discuss my particular unique
problems. I live in Guam - there are no orchards here - all available cider
is highly processed. Enough said?
So, how do I build a cider press? I have access to various hardwoods,
is Oak best? Can I mail-order the hardware from someplace? How about an
entire assembly? What type of apples work best? I have access to
Red/Golden delicious, Royal Gala, Granny Smiths and Johnathons. They are
all stocked regularly in the commissary on base.
That's enough for one post - HELP!
Ric Loll
SCA Magnus McKinley
rloll@nyx.cs.du.edu
------------------------------
Subject: sweet cider
From: steele@chestnut.chem.upenn.edu (Ruth Steele)
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 10:26:04 -0500 (EST)
Since the digest is quiet at the moment I thought that I would bring up
a topic that I'm sure has been discussed before but since I'm very much a
cider beginner I hope people won't mind.
I've been making some very tasty cider lately by purchasing
fresh pressed (preservative free) apple cider at the local supermarket,
or any brand of apple cider that is preservative free if fresh pressed
is not available. I simply add boiled/dissolved brewing sugar and
champagne yeast to the cider in a glass carboy(air locked) and away it goes. I a
dd
a little more sugar to the whole batch before bottling to get some
carbonation. The cider I have been getting has lots of flavor but it is
quite dry (which I quite like). However, I've been thinking that perhaps I
should try my hand at a sweeter cider. I'm not sure how to do this. I'm afraid
that simply adding more sugar at bottling time might produce a
"cider-bomb" due to extra carbonation rather than a sweeter cider. How
do you get a sweeter cider and carbonation? I don't want a flat-sweet
cider either. What's the trick?
Thanks
Ruth
- --
Ruth Steele |
University of Pennsylvania | Fax:(215)573-2123
Chemistry Department | E-mail:steele@chestnut.chem.upenn.edu
231 South 34th St. |
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6323 |
------------------------------
Subject: volatile acidity in ciders
From: kurt@iquest.net (kurt schilling)
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 95 10:32 EST
I have been making hard ciders for several years now, usally the New England
Barrel style. In the past three months, I have been asked by a number of
folks why their cider tastes tart or sour. After doing a lot of head
scratching and research, I have come to the conclusion that a lot of people
are adding too much acid blend to their cider before fermenting. I talking
thru the recipes and procedures used by two or three people, it turns out
that they were adding 2-4 tablespoons of acid blend to their sweet cider
without checking the titratable acidity first. Since acid blend is a mixture
of citric, malic, and tartaric acids, an excess of malic acid aparently is
the culprit, leading to sour hard cider. You can reduce the tartaric and
citric acid acid components of a tart cider or wine by cold conditioning or
by precipitation with bicarbonate. But as you reduce the them, you still
have an excess of malic acid. Malic acid tastes sour. It seems to me that
homebrewers that haven't made hard cider or wine before need to be aware
that testin the acididty of the sweet cider is necessary before adding any
acid blend or citric acid. The procedure is simple and pretty inexpensive.
All you need is an acid test kit and about 15 minutes.
Has anyone experimented with malo-lacit fermentaion in hard ciders? Or has
anyone had a batch of cider that has been racked and sulfited three times
begin to referment on them in a carboy?
Hope that all you cider folk hae a great hoiiday season.
Cheers, Kurt Schilling
Kurt
------------------------------
Subject: Beginner questions
From: Steve Armbrust <Steve_Armbrust@ccm.jf.intel.com>
Date: Tue, 05 Dec 95 10:51:00 PST
I'm in process on my first batch of cider, and it's not clear whether
all is going well or whether things have gone astray. I'd value any
advice from the experts.
I followed the "keep it simple" approach. I dumped four gallons of
fresh cider (OG of 1.050) and two cups of table sugar into a 5-gallon
carboy, popped on an airlock, and left it in the basement (temperature
approximately 64 degrees) to ferment on the natural yeast. Because the
cider I bought was almost ready to turn, in two days I had a nice
orange/red layer of foam about an inch high in the carboy. But after a
few days, the bubbling slowed and now, after about a month, I get a
pretty consistent one bubble every 45 seconds.
Although there is a bit of sediment in the bottom, the cider has not
cleared yet. Do you think this is a problem? If so, what do you think
should be done?
Should I rack to a secondary at this point? Or wait until bubbling
slows further? (I poured only four gallons into a five-gallon carboy --
the last four gallons they had -- so the level is a little low to
conveniently take hydrometer readings regularly.)
Also, when I take a sniff of the fumes coming off the airlock, there's a
bit of a sulfur smell. Over time, this has taken on a more citrus note,
but it's still sulfur. Is this common, or should it fade away with time?
If it actually turns out, how long should I let it wait until I bottle?
Will cold conditioning (in the garage at about 45-50 degrees) help
things out?
Finally, any advice on what to do from here on out, or what to do better
or different next time? I've made beer for a few years, but I'm really
getting a kick out of trying something new.
Steve Armbrust
Steve_Armbrust@ccm.jf.intel.com
------------------------------
Subject: sweed mead yeat
From: Christina Busald <busaldc@ucunix.san.uc.edu>
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 16:05:26 -0500
Someone was talking a good while ago about using a sweet mead yeast in c
ider. I was just wondering whether anyone ever tried it out.
The idea sounded intriguing but noone ever posted anything about it
after the initial idea was put forth. Can anyone tell me what happened?
------------------------------
Subject: Newbie time.
From: Russell Mast <rmast@fnbc.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 1995 10:37:45 -0600
> a note from the digest janitor...
> but need I say that if you've been meaning to ask something of the Digest,
> now's a nice quiet time to write something.
Okay. Hi, I've never brewed cider before. What do I do? I've read in
the mead-lover's digest that a lot of people are playing with spontaneous
(wild yeast) fermentation of cider, mead, and cyser. Any comments?
How dry a cider will I get if I just use straight up apple juice and ferment
that? Should I water it down, or sugar it up, or try both?
Thanks!
- -Russell
------------------------------
Subject: Greg asked "When to bottle a Cyser"
From: Jim LaFronz <jlafronz@tribeca.ios.com>
Date: Wed, 06 Dec 1995 23:21:27 -0500
My recent excursion into moderately strong cider (with maple &
Raspberry) left me a bit disappointed because I think I left the
cider on the lees (sediment) too long. I'm left with a strong yaest
taste that I don't know if time will attenuate.
My advice - bottle earlier, perhaps sacrificing a few subtle flavors,
rather than waiting and acquiring some strong and unpleasant flavors.
Good Luck ,and let me know how it turns out.
Jim
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End of Cider Digest #570
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