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Cider Digest #0782
Subject: Cider Digest #782, 28 December 1998
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #782 28 December 1998
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
"Black Cider"??? (Dick Dunn)
What am I doing right? (PAUL W HAAF JR)
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Subject: "Black Cider"???
From: rcd@raven.talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: 22 Dec 98 20:39:46 MST (Tue)
Relatively recent item on the shelves here: "Black Cider", from Hardcore
Cider Co. A while back I heard or saw some pre-hype on this. Two points
to this note, then: (1) Here's what it says it is. (2) Whyizzit?
Neck band says this is "America's first true black hard cider." No, there
is no connection to Kingston Black, in case that's what you're thinking.
It's a relatively ordinary American commercial cider. The color is the odd
part--it's about as dark as a porter. The taste isn't that unusual other
than perhaps a bit of caramel/lightly-roasted taste, although that could
easily be the eyes fooling the palate. I'm not set up for a blind taste
just now. Ingredients are "hard cider, natural flavors, caramelized apple
juice concentrate (for color and flavor), carbonation, malic acid, and
sulfites..."
OK, so what's the deal? I thought I'd heard of a lot of variations and
games with cider; I'd never heard of a "black cider". The association
of Hard Core with Boston Beer Company makes me more than a little sus-
picious that this is just another Jim Koch marketing ploy (in the realm of
the "triple bock" that tastes like a cross between maple syrup and port, or
the "cranberry lambic" that isn't a lambic and has no noticeable taste of
cranberries...but I digress). If the only source or purpose of the dark
color is that somebody burned some apple juice, what's the point? And how
impressive is a cider whose second ingredient is unidentified "natural
flavors"? Is there *any*thing to this other than marketing?
Bah.
- ---
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
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Subject: What am I doing right?
From: haafbrau1@juno.com (PAUL W HAAF JR)
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1998 11:04:47 -0500
Lately, I've been making cider in a very way, and liking it. I use
pasteurized cider with no preservatives, some apple juice concentrate,
and Nottingham Ale yeast. Nothing else. It ferments out nicely, and I
like the taste. I draw some out of the fermenter when I want some, and
just add more juice. When I get low, I use the remainder as a starter
for a new batch. Sort of a perpetual cider keg. I like it fresh, and I
have no idea how it will taste aged. From the few times I've used my
hydrometer, I'm guessing the alc. content varies from 4-6%, but I don't
notice any bite. Am I heading towards a 5 gal vinegar batch? Has
anybody else used this never empty fermenter method? Am I ruining a good
thing by questioning it?
Paul Haaf haafbrau1atjunodotcom
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End of Cider Digest #782
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