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Cider Digest #0704
Subject: Cider Digest #704, 12 November 1997
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #704 12 November 1997
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Cider Digest #700, 31 October 1997 (Roy Bailey)
Re: Cider Digest #703, 9 November 1997 ("Dione Wolfe, Dragonweyr, NM dkey@...)
beginning basics ("G. C. Mylin")
Naturally sweet cider (Andrew Lea)
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Subject: Re: Cider Digest #700, 31 October 1997
From: Roy Bailey <lvcider@westberks.demon.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 08:40:18 +0000
In message, Kat Lonewolf <lonewolf@frazmtn.com> writes
>> Has anyone tried using sorbitol to sweeten cider? I looked it up
>>in the chemical references I have and couldn't find any info on it's
>>metabolic activity. I suspect it's at least partly fermentable, but I
>>need to find something other than lactose to use?
>>
>>Warren Place
>
I have found that a very good (and natural) sweetener is fructose (fruit
sugar). It is available in the UK in small quantities from health food
shops and in bulk from manufacturers.
Its advantages are that it is very sweet, so you don't need very much,
and it dissolves very readily. The only real disadvantage is that it is
fermentable, but I use it for sweetening just before dispatch. Half an
ounce will take the dryness from 5 UK gallons of my 1996 mainstream
cider now that it has mellowed.
- --
Roy Bailey - Proprietor, The Lambourn Valley Cider Company
(Real cider from the Royal County)
The Malt House, Great Shefford, HUNGERFORD, Berks RG17 7ED, UK
Tel & Fax: 01488 648441 New URL: http://www.westberks.demon.co.uk/lvcider/
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Cider Digest #703, 9 November 1997
From: "Dione Wolfe, Dragonweyr, NM dkey@medusa.unm.edu" <DKEY@MEDUSA.UNM.EDU>
Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 13:34:53 -0700 (MST)
Peter,
Riddle? Disgorge? Dosage? I suppose I could go buy a book on making
champaign and look these terms up, but.........
Never Thirst,
Dione
------------------------------
Subject: beginning basics
From: "G. C. Mylin" <gabriel@soon.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Nov 1997 01:04:14 -0500
I'm just starting out with making cider.
Can someone explain some lingo, like "racking" etc. to me?
I heard some friend of mine mention making cider this summer & she
mentioned adding champagne yeast and sugar (table I suppose) to cider (or
was it apple juice?) and Vwalah!!
Before I thought of consulting the web for info, I just thought: "I'll let
this 1/2 gallon of cider sit out at room temperature for awhile, add some
sugar, hope the natural yeast does the trick & hope for the best. Then, to
my chagrin (after reading the obvious dawned on me) I noticed the
preservatives on the label!
I got another 1/2 gallon of unpreserved cider & wonder if I can make
something cheap, easy, alcoholic, nice-tasting, all in the plastic gallon
container it's in?
Curious,
Gabriel
------------------------------
Subject: Naturally sweet cider
From: Andrew Lea <andrew_lea@compuserve.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 02:33:20 -0500
Eddy Hefford asked as follows:
>>Andrew Lea recommends plenty of racking when attempting to make
>>a sweet cider using wild yeast and having the fermentation
>>take place in a cold place.When should a first racking take place? Is
>>there an upper limit to the number of times that racking can be
>> profitably undertaken?
You must follow the gravity drop at least weekly. If it's greater than 5
degrees per week then you should probably rack immediately to try and slow
it down somewhat. If it won't - give up and let it go to dryness anyway!
But if it is slow enough, rack at about 1.030. Then again at about 1.020.
If it's then stable for a month or so, you're OK.
That's the book wisdom. Here's a table of my gravity drop on 'keeved'
bittersweet cider a couple of seasons ago. You' ll see I was lucky and
only had to rack the once - but my trees are all organic with no nitrogen
input so they are naturally slow fermenters:
Date SG
3 Dec 55
10 Dec 55
17 Dec 55
24 Dec 54
1 Jan 52
7 Jan 51
13 Jan 44
20 Jan 37
This was a warm spell and I was getting a bit worried things were
going too fast! but then..
27 Jan 32
4 Feb 31
17 Feb 26
At this point I racked
18 Feb 21
25 Feb 21
18 Mar 20
24 Mar 19
Adjusted acidity up by 0.1% (to bring pH down from 4 to 3.8),
added 100 ppm SO2and bottled with crown caps.
This has improved in bottle, is now 2 years old, naturally carbonated, with
enough sweeetness (about 1.015) to balance everything off.
>>Is there a cheap way of detecting whether malolactic
>>fermentation has taken place?
Yes, using paper or thin layer chromatography. But you probably need some
lab experience to make it successful, and there is some capital outlay on
the chemicals and glassware. For Americans, the method is given in
Cornelius Ough's paperback book "Winemaking Basics" (Food Products Press
1992). For Limeys, I'll send you a photocopy if you e-mail me your postal
address.
Andrew Lea, nr Oxford, UK
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/andrew_lea
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End of Cider Digest #704
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