Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Cider Digest #0671
Subject: Cider Digest #671, 22 June 1997
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #671 22 June 1997
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Easy Cider? (RKRRooker@aol.com)
Elderflower 'Champagne' (Andrew Lea)
Send ONLY articles for the digest to cider@talisman.com.
Use cider-request@talisman.com for subscribe/unsubscribe/admin requests.
When subscribing, please include your name and a good address in the
message body unless you're sure your mailer generates them.
Archives of the Digest are available for anonymous FTP at ftp.stanford.edu
in pub/clubs/homebrew/cider.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Easy Cider?
From: RKRRooker@aol.com
Date: Sun, 15 Jun 1997 11:05:46 -0400 (EDT)
It has been with some apprehension that I have been reading the Digest of
late. What with all this talk of root stock & varieties of cider apples, so
to redress the balance:-
We started to make cider in 95 after everyone I knew seemed to have bags of
windfalls that they did not want, & wondered whether I could make apple wine
out of them (making country wines being my hobby).
I found a "recipe" for cider in a book by a Mrs Gennery-Taylor (pub 1957), &
basically is as follows:-
For best cider a mixture of different apples is best.......non-keepers, small
sour or windfalls with, if desired, a few crab apples. An odd rotten apple in
a large number is permissible, but otherwise they should be sound.
She suggests you use a 30 gallon ex-brandy cask for fermentation & storage
(just the sort of thing you have kicking around in the garage!), and that you
base your calculations on 1 ton of apples producing 150 galls of cider.
Initial fermentation should take approx. 3 weeks, as soon as it has calmed
down, add 2-4lb of sugar per gallon, depending on the required sweetness.
When fermentation complete, bung & leave for eight months. Cider is usually
made during Oct/Nov, (in the UK), & should be left as long as possible- up to
2 years, but at least until the cuckoo sings the following year.
I have not copied the recipe word for word, but anyone reading these pages
should know all the basics. As you can see sugar is the only additive,
although yeast & nutrient could give a quicker result.
The first year we made 5 galls, having previously frozen the apples (make
sure they're frozen right through), ready for crushing, and the result was
fantastic. Last year we made 15 galls but one 5gall batch turned out more
tart, but looking back, this one had more cookers in than the other two.
However if it is too sour, 4 or 5 sweeteners per 2ltr bottle will make it
bearable, BUT DON'T THROW IT AWAY, as it will improve as it gets older (and
warmer).
This year we are building a press (thanks for the plans) as previously we
have hired the Home Brew Shops fruit press, great for soft fruit, but only
capable of doing 5-6 apples at a time, so 5 galls took about 6 hours.
Cider traditionally ferments out side (ie. in farm barn) but this does take
time. We have fermented indoors and even used a heating strip, with no great
difference to the end product, although the wives tended to make comments
about cider fermenting in various parts of our houses, but you can't win them
all!
The fermented cider was cleared using finings & bottled & stored in the
garage (cold), and left until May at the earliest.
Basically, get loads of assorted apples (not too many cookers), press them
and wait. It's simple and definitely worth it, and we live about 200 miles
north of the cider growing areas.
Richard Rooker
Wrawby
North Lincolnshire
U.K.
------------------------------
Subject: Elderflower 'Champagne'
From: Andrew Lea <andrew_lea@compuserve.com>
Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 04:09:25 -0400
This has absolutely nothing to do with cider but follows from the
discussion about elderflowers a few months ago in the Digest. Here's the
recipe I use:
4 heads elderflowers (choose carefully for aroma!)
1.5 lbs white sugar
2 tablespoons white wine or cider vinegar
1 lemon
1 gallon water
Put open elderflower heads in a large bowl or plastic bucket with the lemon
juice, chopped rind (no pith), sugar and vinegar. Add the cold water and
leave covered for 24 hr. Strain into plastic (PET) bottles and seal.
Store for 2 weeks while the wild yeasts from the elderflowers start a
little fermentation, then drink. The vinegar and lemon juice keep the pH
down and prevent microbial infections for a while, but don't expect it to
last for ever (mine last year went 'mousy' after a month or so). Just
enjoy it for the ephemeral experience it is!!
Andrew Lea, nr Oxford, UK
(andrew_lea@compuserve.com)
( http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/andrew_lea)
------------------------------
End of Cider Digest #671
*************************
