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Cider Digest #1279
Subject: Cider Digest #1279, 25 November 2005
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #1279 25 November 2005
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: pneumatics? (Cider Digest #1256) (Dick Dunn)
More and more on ice cider ("John Howard")
Freezing apples vs. Freezing Juice (efreeburg@aol.com)
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Subject: Re: pneumatics? (Cider Digest #1256)
From: Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 10:45:09 -0700
In digest 1278, Claude Jolicoeur <cjoli@gmc.ulaval.ca> wrote:
> I have a pneumatic actuator (also called air spring) that I use sometimes.
...
> I got this as an old unit from the University laboratory where I work that
> isn't used anymore. Diameter is about 30 cm and it can provide a force of 2
> tons when inflated at 45 psi. And if you double the pressure, you will also
> double the force...
...
> Such units, new, cost about 200$. But I guess it could be found used as
> they are used for truck suspension.
>
> The unit I have just fits inside the barrel of my screw press. It is a
> single bellow model with a usable stroke of 3 inches...
Great minds think alike, Claude! See CD 932 where I wrote about "modifying
a screw press to bladder". (I referred to the air spring as a "bladder"
for want of the proper term.) There are pictures of what we used at
http://www.talisman.com/cider/bladder.html
I guess you'd call that one a "double bellow"? It certainly had more range
than 3".
>...The main advantage is
> that the force doesn't decrease rapidly as the pomace is compressed. But,
> on the other hand, it is a bit cumbersome to use and the setup time is a
> bit long.
Please explain more. We didn't find it cumbersome or slow. I ground the
fruit into the basket as usual, set the press plate on top, set the air
spring unit on top of the press plate, and brought the press screw down
against the top of the air spring. Then we connected the air and brought
the pressure up.
> I use it almost only for overnight presses. I often do a second pressing of
> the pomace and, on this pressing, the juice takes a lot more time to flow.
> So, I fill the press to capacity late at night, I make a first compression
> with the screw, set the air spring in, inflate it, and go to sleep. Next
> morning, there is still a good force acting on the pomace, a good amount of
> juice, and the pomace is very dry.
I hadn't thought of that part, using it for a long pressing, because I'm
usually trying to turn each basket worth of pressing as quickly as I can,
perhaps half an hour with pressure on at the most. But it is an ideal
setup for holding the pressure steady for a long time, unattended.
- --
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
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Subject: More and more on ice cider
From: "John Howard" <jhoward@beckerfrondorf.com>
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 13:15:56 -0500
Like Scott, I have been following the ice cider thread with interest. I
tried some of these in Montreal. They were sort of like a sauterne, lots of
residual sugar and a little viscous. Very tasty.
I assume the challenge is to stop fermentation, so all the usual methods
could apply: from keeving to sorbate. Dose anyone know what techniques are
commonly used? Or sanctioned "authentic"?
John Howard
Philadelphia
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Subject: Freezing apples vs. Freezing Juice
From: efreeburg@aol.com
Date: Wed, 23 Nov 2005 00:18:13 -0500
Re: the below comment about ice cider in CD#1278 .... is there any
reason why pressing partly frozen apples may lead to better juice than by
freeze-concentrating normal cider? It does seem like theremay be some
difference in the compounds left behind in the apples. I will probably
freeze concentrate normal juice just for simplicity this time around.
My comment-The only bottle of ice cider I've ever tried was commercial
fromLa Face Cachee de la Pomme- Neige- a product of Quebec. I really
enjoyed it. Below is a link to the winery where they describe the process
they use for producing the Niege- from FROZEN JUICE, and the Frimas- from
frozen apples. The pictures are chilling as in they make you want to turn
up the heat. http://www.appleicewine.com/icecider-icecider.asp
Bonny Doon Vineyard- my employer- makes a Faux Eiswein from grapes
picked at normal CA wine grape brix (around 22 degrees) and shipped to
the freezer. The process is described on a fact sheet at the website:
http://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com/uploads/sell_sheet_file/sell_sheet_MVG04B.pdf
Some notes- BDV has messed around with, in past vintages, other methods
of concentration- freezing juice and reverse osmosis- and found the
"freezing the grapes" method to produce a better balanced and more flavorful
product. It does present some challenges to the equipment however- imagine
frozen grape masses thesize of automobiles rolling around the inside of
a bladder press.
The grapes are pressed at a beginning temperature probably close to
zero degrees Fahrenheit and allowed to warm in the press under pressure.
This process allows one to dial in the concentration. You just have to
start cold enough and wait it out in a warm room, measuring the density
all the while.
The grapes are frozen for at least a month. The time in the freezer probably
allows for ice crystals to grow. You may notice this same effect in ice
cream that's been in the freezer too long- it gets a little crunchy from
theice crystals. Some freeze/thaw cycles in apples, I assume, would be
a good thing for achieving a good separation of ice and sweet juice on
the micro scale. Ice crystal formation would also break a lot of cell
walls which I assume would be a benefit to pressing and extraction of the
concentrated juice.
Our Faux Eiswien has numbers that are similar to the Neige ice cider.
Juice is concentrated to around 37 degrees brix and fermented to about 12%
alcohol leaving about 18% residual sugar. I will say that we are not above
adding a little acid (prefermentation) to balance the wine out should the
aciditybe less than ideal at harvest. Balance is key.
Eric Freeburg Vinarchist at Large (regional sales manager/former
cellarmaster) and home cidermaker Currently residing in MN
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End of Cider Digest #1279
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