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Cider Digest #1151
Subject: Cider Digest #1151, 26 July 2004
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #1151 26 July 2004
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Pectic Enzymes (Scott Smith)
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Subject: Pectic Enzymes
From: Scott Smith <scott@cs.jhu.edu>
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 13:02:46 -0400
I'm planning my fall cider at this point, and the latest issue I have
been contemplating is pectic enzymes. I want to make a French-style
cider, and so I want to remove the pectin nutrients by keeving. The
keeving process removes methyl esters from pectin chains and these
sites then bond with calcium ions to form a gel which rises and forms
the chapeu brun. But, in the wine and juice world today, the standard
way to remove pectin is to use pectinase, a combination of enzymes that
breaks apart the long pectin chains, and precipitates the fragments
(right?). The downside of these enzymes seems to be that some of the
by-products are things that do not precipitate, and can contribute to
off flavors. I found the following very good tutorial on this subject:
http://www.foodproductdesign.com/archive/2003/0103AP.html
So, is the main reason why the French use the keeving method instead of
a standard pectic enzyme because the lack of these unfortunate
by-products, or are there other reasons such as more complete pectin
extraction, or the fact that keeving keeps around (or, gets rid of)
some other compounds? In Andrew's Science of Cidermaking I read how
keeving reduces the Nitrogen content; is there something else different
to keeving that is somehow getting our more Nitrogen than a standard
pectic enzyme treatment?
The key question I have in my mind is whether I should use a standard
pectic enzyme to remove the pectin, or attempt a keeve this fall. I
have a bit of the magic keeving PME enzyme to experiment with but I
still wonder if I am not better off with a normal pectinase enzyme
since keeving often can fail, even with the added enzyme.
Scott
PS An update on my cider from last fall: I used this GrapTan tannin
product to add some tannin to my dessert apples with the hope of
getting some faux cider apples. GrapTan is extracted from white wine
grapes (skins or seeds depending on the formulation). I combined the
different kinds of GrapTan in my experiment. The resulting cider is
good in the sense that there is no "off" flavor from the tannin
addition; the previous year I had used a lot of the standard tannin
powder, and found it to add an unpleasant musty taste which has not
gone away. As far as what GrapTan adds to the flavor, it certainly at
this point does not make anything like a cider made from cider apples.
Mainly I would say at this point that the cider is more "aromatic", but
without any more "body". As it ages this could change. All in all I
like the taste better than without the tannin addition, so I will keep
using GrapTan. And, I still would much prefer to drink a cider made
from cider apples than my faux cider apples. Recently I have been able
to get Weston's cider at my local liquor store, and I can finally
confirm first-hand that some good cider is indeed made in England.
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End of Cider Digest #1151
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