Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Cider Digest #0921
Subject: Cider Digest #921, 30 September 2001
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #921 30 September 2001
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
pressing pears ("Bill")
fruit flavorings (Bob and Winnie)
Stuck ferment? (David Daly)
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 at www.talisman.com/cider
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: pressing pears
From: "Bill" <squeeze@mars.ark.com>
Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 09:16:17 -0700
As someone who has had a small scale commercial juicing operation for 20 years,
and makes a couple hundred gallons of pear juice every year [and some perry] I
thought I should weigh in on this pressing/fermenting thing. The pear most
commonly available in N.America is Bartlett, and it [and it's early relatives]
is the hardest to get just right. Earlier pears must be picked just when the
color shows the "promise" of being yellow, and pressed within about a day. If
they are definitely yellow, or have been off the tree for a week [even
refrigerated], they have begun to rot, and juicing them is like trying to
squeeze the milk out of butter. That strong "pear" aroma that comes with the
beautiful yellow Bartletts from the grocers is rot, which in pears starts from
the core. Take a bushel of yellow pears and cut them in half and you'll find
the majority are browning in the center. They need to be picked when the sugar
is fully developed, but they're still 'crisp', which also means the tree will
require a number of pickings, and drops are not acceptable. Andrew's right,
the fruit aroma/flavor compounds are volatile and fermentation modifies them to
obscurity.
As for fermenting the pomace - apple or pear - before pressing, the pectin,
which develops largely AFTER maturity, will prevent good extraction, and the
level of acetobacter contamination would be extreme. Any apparent increase in
yield is soluable solids other than sugar that the pectin has 'metabolized' -
as with freezing fruit, which 'bursts' the cells. There is a certain amount of
liquid in ripe fruit [which starts dropping at maturity] and proper pressing
equipment will get 90% or more of it out. My Ubilt equipment can obtain a
liter of juice from 3 pounds fresh, 3.5 pounds stored. For you Yanks that's
about 12# per gallon, leaving 2-3# of press cake.
My experience with fermenting is that the best policy is to start with good,
properly ripened fruit, use a known good yeast inoculant [I prefer Lalvin
EC1118], press and ferment as cold as possible, age well. The best perry I've
ever had was fermented on an unheated porch thru late fall/winter, bottled
about Feb. using some pasteurized pear juice for sparkle [1 liter per carboy],
and consumed starting the following Christmas. Every bottle got better. The
last bottle I had was 5 years old, and the sparkle was so dense and fine that
the glass would fizz for a half hour or more. And it didn't tast or smell like
rotten pears!
Go with whatever works for ya!
Bill . . . <squeeze@mars.ark.com> <http://mars.ark.com/~squeeze>
------------------------------
Subject: fruit flavorings
From: Bob and Winnie <natvwine@cut.net>
Date: Wed, 26 Sep 2001 20:30:54 -0600
It was written by Andrew Lea (I think) that it is illegal to add fruit
flavorings to ciders and wines in the UK.
I have noticed a widespread assumption in American drinkers that fruit
wines, perries and ciders should and must taste like the juice of the
fruit. Even homebrew "specialists" and other experts buy into this idea.
When in our tasting room I ask if a good wine tastes like grape juice, I
am mostly met with a blank stare. Ever tasted a Cabernay wine grape? Oh
well....
One great way to obtain more fruit flavor in wine is to blend fresh ripe
fruit into the semi finished or finished wine. I have done this with
blackberry, strawberry, currant, apple cherry and pear wines with much
success. The main drawback is that it generally takes another 6 to 12
months to referment and age.
Bob Sorenson, Native Wines
------------------------------
Subject: Stuck ferment?
From: David Daly <great_pumpkin74@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 08:58:47 -0700 (PDT)
A friend of mine recently started a batch of cider
using wild yeasts. He pitched his fresh,
unpasteurized, unpreserved cider (the s.g. was
1.051)obtained from a local cider mill into his carboy
and set it aside covered with plastic wrap in an area
which varied in temperature between 70-5 degrees F.
After 2 days he had a nice ferment going, with a layer
of white foam about 1.5 inches thick on top of his
must. He sealed off the carboy with a stopper and
water trap and moved the carboy to a cooler area (60-5
F). 2 days later, the ferment had apparently stopped;
the layer of foam had dissipated and no bubbles were
coming through the airlock. I suggested he aerate the
yeast, add some yeast nutrient, and top off with fresh
cider (he had a significant amount of headspace in the
carboy). My question is, does this sound like a stuck
ferment? Any other suggestions to get it going again?
Thank you all for your help.
- --Dave Daly
------------------------------
End of Cider Digest #921
*************************
