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Cider Digest #0962
From: cider-request@talisman.com
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Subject: Cider Digest #962, 11 April 2002
Cider Digest #962 11 April 2002
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
CAMRA and real cider ("Benjamin Watson")
More on UK cider ("Benjamin Watson")
Very old French cider varieties (=?iso-8859-1?Q?Alain_M=E9nard?=)
Charley Translation of Warcollier Book ("Awdey, Gary")
Acreage = worth it? ("Richard & Susan Anderson")
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: CAMRA and real cider
From: "Benjamin Watson" <bwatson@monad.net>
Date: Sat, 06 Apr 2002 10:32:17 -0500
Dick Dunn's bewilderment over CAMRA is understandable. They do express a
commitment to "real cider" as well as "real ale," but my sense from
monitoring the ukcider e-group over the years is that the real ale folks
generally look down their noses at cider, even some of the excellent stuff
that's being in the West Country and other parts of Great Britain.
CAMRA does have a committee with the acronym APPLE (stands for Apple and
Perry Liaison, or something), but to an outsider they don't seem especially
active within CAMRA -- the "Cider Press" newsletter is apparently no longer
published.
Having said this, CAMRA did publish "CAMRA's Good Cider Guide" in 2000. The
author/compiler, Dave Matthews, did a splendid job with this guide to pubs
and producers that serve "good cider," which Matthews defines as:
1. Any draft or bottled cider that contains live yeast, a.k.a., "real
cider."
2. Any filtered cider, draft or bottled, that conforms to the following
criteria:
* is not pasteurized
* is not artificially carbonated
* is made from 100% juice
* is not made from concentrate
These criteria would exclude a whole lot of American cider (even some very
good ciders), which use either force carbonation or are bottle-pasteurized
to halt bottle fermentation. But from strictly a purist's (and amateur
cidermaker's) standpoint, I tend to agree with Dave's definition.
I would love someday to do a "US Good Cider Guide" (which would include
perry like the UK guide), but my sense is that as of today it would be an
awfully slender volume, and probably wouldn't appeal to a wide readership.
(As someone who works in book publishing, I have very realistic
expectations.) For now, it's up to cider producers, drinkers, and
aficionados to spread the word about what makes a high-quality cider, rather
the characterless industrial brands out there, which as we all know are a
completely different animal from real cider.
One supporter and promoter of good cider in America has been Slow Food USA,
the national office of the international movement based in Italy. I work
with Slow Food, and they've asked me to compile and update my slowing
growing database of quality commercial cidermakers throughout North America.
But I'm only one guy. If anyone out there knows of good small-scale
commercial cidermakers in their area (wineries making cider count), then I'd
like to know about them through the Cider Digest. One new startup is Murdo
Laird, who is going to be selling his cider in Napa County, CA for the first
time this year.
So, to conclude, my take on Dick's comments is that CAMRA isn't really that
interested in cider, and that cider enthusiasts in England might be better
served if they formed their own group. If nothing else, the "Good Cider
Guide" should be revised every couple of years to keep it current and
reflect both the new and newly defunct producers.
Ben Watson
Francestown, NH
------------------------------
Subject: More on UK cider
From: "Benjamin Watson" <bwatson@monad.net>
Date: Sat, 06 Apr 2002 10:44:38 -0500
Again, relating to Dick Dunn's comments about CAMRA, here is a posting I
just received this morning from the ukcider e-group, from Geoff Morris,
which seems quite relevant to our discussion. I agree wholeheartedly with
Dick that 16% juice does not a cider make -- and that the main reason
industrial ciders like Woodchuck, Cider Jack, etc., have little or no
character is not primarily due to pasteurization or even perhaps the use of
concentrate (though both in my opinion lead to a marked loss of character),
but to the fact that cider "brewers" are making what amounts to a highly
chaptalized "apple wine", cut back with water to 5% strength. The goal is
control and consistency. The sugar content of apples grown in different
years, in different orchards obviously varies greatly. The differences can
be dealt with in one of two ways. Either artisanally, as a winemaker would
carefully blend to achieve a desired result; or industrially, as a brewer or
chemist would. The first path is far more time-consuming and expensive and
does not lend itself to mass production. But it usually results in what I
consider "real cider" -- and the use of 100% fresh-pressed juice is crucial.
Anyway, here is Geoff's posting from the ukcider group. I apologize to those
of you who already subscribe to ukcider and may have read this before.
> On the real cider front Brussels is not the enemy. They allow the producers
> to stick to the codes and pratice of the NACM, National Association of Cider
> Makers. I believe it was the NACM who had a lower limit of 16% juice
> content for cider, but then decided that was too high. I believe that under
> the current code cider is a drink made from apple juice, but there is now no
> lower limit. ( Please correct me if I am wrong.) Just imagine what would
> happen to wine if there was no lower limit to the amount of juice. Consumers
> would be up in arms.
>
> Unfortunately, thanks to the big boys, that has already happened to UK
> cider, (and what juice that are using is in the form of concentrate, which
> is not the same at all), and it is only the small scale craft producers who
> are keeping cider alive as a quality drink. Scrumpy Jack have had the
> advertizing campaign where people are planting apple trees. I have not
> tasted that particular cider recently, but I wish it were true. Certainly,
> for the majority of the mass mass market cider, they would not need to plant
> many.
Ben Watson
Francestown, NH
------------------------------
Subject: Very old French cider varieties
From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Alain_M=E9nard?= <amenard@citenet.net>
Date: Mon, 8 Apr 2002 10:50:22 -0400
I'm presently looking for French cider varieties that were grown at the
Oka Agricultural Institute at the beginning of the 20th century. The
following ones survived to the very severe cold winter conditions at
that time: Argile grise, Jeannet pointu, Petit amer, Jannet de Gournay,
Reine des H=E2tives, Rouge am=E8re, Rouge =E0 Bruy=E8re, Taureau.
These one didn't but maybe they survived in other regions of North
America: Aigrin rouge, Alleuds, Am=E8re de Berthacourt, Belle d'Angers,
Belle de Pontoise, Besnard, Binet gris, Fr=E9quin d'Audi=E8vre,
Fr=E9quin rouge, G=E9n=E9reuse de Vitry, Godard, Gros Fr=E9quin, Gros
Locard, Gros Vert, Jacques Lebel, Joli Bois, Madame Granger, Martin
Fessard, Moulin =E0 vent.
=20
Alain M=E9nard
Abbotsford, Quebec, Canada
amenard@citenet.net
------------------------------
Subject: Charley Translation of Warcollier Book
From: "Awdey, Gary" <gary.awdey@bethsteel.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 09:48:57 -0400
For those who are considering John L. Emmett's offer
(jlemmett@earthlink.net, Cider Digest #961) to copy Charley's The
Principles and Practice of Cider-Making (the third translation of the
Warcollier's La Cidrerie), it is 367 pages in length. Although Dr. Emmett
is offering copies, not a reprint, I can vouch for the quality of the
reproduction. Even the photographs of equipment are reasonably well
reproduced, which is quite a bit more than can be said of many copies of old
equipment manuals I've ordered over the past several years from various
sources. The table of contents listed below will give you an idea of what it
covers and a rough idea of of how much information is conveyed in each area.
Chapter Page
I. HISTORICAL 17
II. FRENCH CIDER STATISTICS 21
III. COMPOSITION OF THE CIDER APPLE 30
IV. ORGANISATION OF CIDER FACTORIES AND FRUIT
SUPPLIES 52
V. PREPARATION OF THE MILLED PULP 63
VI. MACERATION OF THE MILLED PULP 70
VII. EXTRACTION OF THE JUICE FROM THE MILLED PULP 77
VIII. PLANT MAINTENANCE AND FACTORY HYGIENE 110
IX. PRELIMINARY PURIFICATION OF THE JUICE
(INCLUDING KEEVING) 118
X. YEASTS AND THE FERMENTATION PROCESS 134
XI. PRIMARY FERMENTATION 156
X11. POST-FERMENTIVE CLARIFICATION 170
XIII. PRESERVATION OF CIDER 186
XIV. TRANSPORT OF CIDER 203
XV. SPECIAL METHODS OF CIDER-MAKING 207
XVI. PRODUCTION OF SWEET CIDER 218
XVII. UNFERMENTED APPLE JUICE AND CONCENTRATE 231
XVIII. SPARKLING CIDERS 256
XIX. OLD CIDERS AND SPECIAL BEVERAGES FOR
THE FARM 270
XX. DISORDERS OF CIDER 273
XXI. ANALYSIS OF CIDER 287
XXII. COMPOSITION OF CIDER 299
XXIII. FOOD REGULATIONS CONCERNING CIDER AND
PERRY 303
XXIV. THE MANUFACTURE OF PERRY 310
XXV. UTILISATION OF FRESH APPLE POMACE 318
XXVI. DRIED APPLE POMACE 327
XXVII. UTILISATION OF OTHER RESIDUES 341
XXVIII. DISTILLED CIDER PRODUCTS 344
Gary Awdey
Eden, NY
------------------------------
Subject: Acreage = worth it?
From: "Richard & Susan Anderson" <baylonanderson@rockisland.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 16:13:55 -0700
The supply side is easy, grow as much as you can sell. In the US, artesian
cider is not an easy sell. Consumer acceptance is difficult, many expect a
sweet, carbonated product. I think you will find that most artesian
producers in the US do their own distribution, which on top of growing
apples and producing cider tends to make production quantities self
limiting. Perhaps the Australian market will be more receptive.
Next question, how productive are the varieties you are planning to grow? We
grow a mix of sweets, bittersweets and bittersharps on class 3 soil, use no
nitrogen and thin for fruit quality; my guess is that we will never exceed
16 bins/acre, this works out to 6-7 tons/acre. On the plus side, the fruit
is sound, and perhaps like grapes keeping the yields low will produce a
better quality cider. An alternative to growing your own apples would be to
contract with an orchard owner who would be willing to grow apples to your
specification.
------------------------------
End of Cider Digest #962
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