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Cider Digest #0991
From: cider-request@talisman.com
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Subject: Cider Digest #991, 30 August 2002
Cider Digest #991 30 August 2002
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Cider Digest #990, 28 August 2002 (DAVEMAPA@aol.com)
Why blend apples, not cider? (Andrew Lea)
Re: Nehou apples available ("Bill Rhyne")
Anyone going to the NAFEX meeting? (James.Luedtke@cgiusa.com)
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Subject: Re: Cider Digest #990, 28 August 2002
From: DAVEMAPA@aol.com
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 14:09:33 EDT
I'm new to the cider scene, having just planted a small orchard at my home in
Western Pennsylvania with hopes of harvesting a few bushels sometime in the
future. Last evening I was talking to a friend from Georgia and he mentioned
that one of his older relatives used to drink something called "Scrum." He
described it as a cloudy, hard cider that he thought originated in England
and his family brought to America. He remembered it as packing a bit of a
punch but he couldn't say for sure how it was made. Has anyone heard of this
and could you give me a short explanation of what it is?
Dave Matheny
davemapa@aol.com
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Subject: Why blend apples, not cider?
From: Andrew Lea <andrew_lea@compuserve.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 19:37:03 +0000
There is a very good reason for blending apples before fermentation rather
than cider afterwards. Cider apple juice can vary in pH from 2.8 up to 4.2
depending on variety (this is probably less true for grapes which are more
highly buffered). If you try to ferment the extremes of this range you will
run into problems, especially at the top end where bacterial infection is
most likely. But by blending beforehand you will more likely end up
somewhere in the middle where a cleaner and more controllable fermentation
will ensue.
I think it's that simple!
Andrew Lea
www.cider.org.uk
David wrote:
" I was asked how I decided on a blend and replied
that I tried to incorporate some or all of the different cider apple
classes based on experience and a perception of what I wanted in the
particular batch. To say the winemaker was stunned is perhaps to
understate the case.
The comparable wine procedure was explained to me as being the
fermentation of single variety batches followed by the blending of
'finished' wines to give a blend to the winemakers taste (or the
perceived market's taste). Sounded a sensible approach and I found on
closer reading of cider books that there are occasional mentions of this
approach but without much in the way of guidance.
Have I therefore been missing something that this aspect doesn't get
talked about because it comes under the heading of subjective
preferences?
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Nehou apples available
From: "Bill Rhyne" <rhyne@wli.net>
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 15:19:44 -0700
Hello to all!
Terry Harrison of Sonoma Antique Apple Nursery (west of Healdsburg,
California) has some Nehou apples available for sale. They are bittersweet
type. We have used them before as part of our blend in Rhyne Cyder. When we
did a test batch of Nehou without blending, it was very interesting. The
fresh pressed juice was very dark and murky, almost like chocolate milk or
Guiness stout. When it finished fermenting and clarifying, the cider was a
transparent strawberry red color. The apples themselves almost had a tea
flavor to them. Our latest batch that we are selling in the market here in
California includes some of these Nehou with Gravenstein and other apples
blended in together. It adds some complexity to the overall flavor of our
cider that by itself or the other apples separately didn't have. Others seem
to think it works as we received a 1st Place in the cider category at the
2002 California State Fair CCBC judging and a top rating in a cider blind
tasting conducted by the Celebrator News this summer. Call Healdsburg
information to get Terry's phone number.
Bill Rhyne
[Janitor's note:
I also heard about this from Tim Bray, who also says there are varieties
other than Nehou available. Tim commented:
A combination of a bumper crop, and less demand this year, leaves him
with about 3 bins of Nehou, about half a bin of Kingston Black, and
smaller quantities of Yarlington Mill and Porter's Perfection. (Figure
about 800 lbs to a bin.) He says he usually gets about $0.50/lb for
these, but will take the best offer.
Contact Terry Harrison at (707) 433-6802.
So this sounds like an opportunity for some northern-California folks to
get together and make real cider.
- -Dick]
------------------------------
Subject: Anyone going to the NAFEX meeting?
From: James.Luedtke@cgiusa.com
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2002 08:13:03 -0400
Just wondering if anyone else is going to the North American Fruit Explorers
(NAFEX) meeting in Minneapolis next month. Held at the University of
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum on Sept 12-14, there will be a variety of
classes during the Thursday and Friday sessions, and tours of orchards on
Saturday. See the NAFEX web site at www.nafex.org for details.
If you're coming, drop me an e-mail (jluedtke@cgiusa.com), maybe we can meet
and compare more cider experiences. I live close by the Aboretum, we could
even tour my 'orchard'!
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End of Cider Digest #991
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