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Cider Digest #1314
Subject: Cider Digest #1314, 11 April 2006
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #1314 11 April 2006
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
AHA National Homebrew Competition ("Gary Awdey")
belt press (Brian Ross)
Re: fermentation temps and cooling (Terry Bradshaw)
Judges Need for 13th Annual BUZZ Off - CORRECTION ("Christopher Clair")
Belt press design ("S. Anderson")
Cider Tasting and judging Information. ("Mark Johnson")
Questions from a neophyte? ("Christian Layke")
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Subject: AHA National Homebrew Competition
From: "Gary Awdey" <gawdey@att.net>
Date: Sat, 8 Apr 2006 01:38:59 -0400
For anyone who hasn't already seen it in the AHA/BJCP competition schedule,
the deadline for entries for the American Homebrewers Association's 27th
Annual National Homebrew Competition is approaching very rapidly. Details
for this competition may be found at
http://www.beertown.org/events/nhc/index.html.
This is the largest homebrew competition in the world. Last year saw 4128
entries. This is a competition open to amateurs only. International
entries are welcomed. Judging for the NHC is done at a number of sites.
Judging for the cider portion of this event (informally known as "Cider
Nationals") is done at one site and entries must be received by next Friday,
April 14. Last year there were 60 cider entries from Alaska to Virginia
and the trend has been for the competition to grow every year.
Cider judging will be done in Poughkeepsie, New York on Sunday, April 23
with the sponsorship of the Hudson Valley Homebrewers, one of New York's
oldest and most active homebrew clubs. If you're interested in volunteering
to be a steward or a judge you may contact cider site organizer Frankie
Flynn at fflynn@optonline.net. This year there will also be an assortment
of commercial examples of ciders of different regional styles provided for
the judges to use as points of reference.
Gary Awdey
Eden, New York
------------------------------
Subject: belt press
From: Brian Ross <rossoon@imag.net>
Date: Fri, 07 Apr 2006 22:50:41 -0700
I would suggest looking at a stainless steel or titanium mesh for the
belt. [www.globalspecs.com is a good resource] You can probably buy
whatever mesh, width and length you want. The hardest part might be
getting a stainless belt claw link to join the ends.
If you can't find ready made, it really isn't that expensive to have the
right metal shop punch holes in thin gauge stainless, either
mechanically or with a laser cutter.
Brian Ross
------------------------------
Subject: Re: fermentation temps and cooling
From: Terry Bradshaw <terryb@lostmeadowvt.com>
Date: Sat, 08 Apr 2006 13:48:59 -0400
I haven't always been blessed with a abasement, although my last
apartment before my present house had one and I outfitted it pretty
well. In the past I've lived in a second story apartment and a mobile
home and made cider in each spot. You just have to get creative. In
the second floor apartment I couldn't get a barrel up there, so I parked
it in the shop of a fella I know who runs a heavy equipment
shop/excavation business. The shop was enormous, with an overhead lift
and track that helped move the barrel around. He kept it pretty cool in
general although there was a woodstove at the opposite end from the
barrel which was used on cold shop days. After primary I racked the
barrel into carboys and moved i to the apartment where a roommate had
built custom carboy shelves in a closet that was formerly an unheated
staircase, which was relatively cool.
In the trailer I used a spare bedroom with the heat vents plugged and
door kept shut. Fermentation went fine but storage that following hot
summer was less than ideal, since I used a metal shed out back and the
cider often cooked.
Yes, a basement is ideal, but you can find cool spots or customize a
cheap/free refrigerator in a pinch.
TB
>Subject: Re: fermentation temps and cooling
>From: Marc Shapiro
>Terry Bradshaw <terryb@lostmeadowvt.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>>>My cold room is an insulated room in the northeast corner of my
>>>basement....
>>
>>
>It must be nice! I used to have a basement. Then I sold the house and
>moved to Aloha (just outside of Portland, OR). Housing is expensive,
>here. I now live in an 1100 sq ft apartment with my wife, daughter and
>four cats. I have no room to do any more cidermaking, meadmaking,
>winemaking, or brewing. I need a job so that we can afford a larger place!
>
>- --
>Marc Shapiro
>
>
>
================
Terence Bradshaw
Calais, VT
terryb@lostmeadowvt.com
http://www.lostmeadowvt.com
http://lostmeadowvt.blogspot.com
1450 feet, zone 4A/B?
The views represented are mine and mine only........
------------------------------
Subject: Judges Need for 13th Annual BUZZ Off - CORRECTION
From: "Christopher Clair" <buzzclub@verizon.net>
Date: Sat, 08 Apr 2006 14:29:41 -0400
CORRECTION
All judges must be BJCP certified (any ranking) OR have relevant experience.
Sorry for the omission.
Good luck and cheers!
Christopher Clair
buzzclub <at> verizon.net
http://hbd.org/buzz
------------------------------
Subject: Belt press design
From: "S. Anderson" <frontiertech@frontierfilter.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2006 09:57:35 -0400
Dick Dunn wrote: "a bunch of
moderately interesting mechanical engineering...
Now, about the belt...whoa! There is the magic! Has to be just the right
porosity, flexible but not very stretchy, etc., etc. I could see all sorts
of tradeoffs and design challenges...at least that's what it seemed to me,
and I wonder if poor belt design accounts for the reports of variable/poor
quality juice."
ABSOLUTELY!!! I don't care which press manufacturer you use, the
business end of any press is between the filter media. There are
literally hundreds of different styles of belts and only a few produce
good results. (clarity, capacity, non-blinding). Materials of
construction, guide placement and operator interface all effect the
overall picture for the manufacturing side. You just can't beat
experience / experimentation from the operational side. At times, doing
something that's counter-intuitive is the best course for improvement
(many times when you are looking for cleaner juice running more product
will do the trick as the pumace becomes its own filter). Attention to
details is the difference between a good machine and premature balding.
Lyle Henrickson
------------------------------
Subject: Cider Tasting and judging Information.
From: "Mark Johnson" <friendlypool@astound.net>
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2006 13:22:57 -0700
Hi,
Mark Johnson, aka Ciderman to the DOZE homebrew club that meets in Concord,
CA. I have been asked to do a presentation at our next meeting, the last
Monday of April.
I was wondering if the new taste test sampling criteria would be available
by then. Doze is one of the premier home Brew clubs in the US. Many award
winning brewers, including Home brewers of the year.
Many members also make cyser, meads cider, perry (my favorite) and wine
besides beer.
Several Members serve as BJCP judges as well.
I can be contacted off digest at friendlypool@ astound.net, if it would be
more appropriate.
I am also trying to find a source for pears or pear juice besides Bartlett
in Northern or central California.
Thanks,
Mark
------------------------------
Subject: Questions from a neophyte?
From: "Christian Layke" <clayke@wri.org>
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2006 14:19:09 -0400
I pressed about 6 gallons of Grimes Golden, Rhode Island Greening,
Granny Smith and Stayman apples from a pick-your own operation last fall
and added another 6 gallons of unpasteurized cider from our local co-op
(this cider was added to the rest over a period of two months). I used
Camden tablets, added malic acid to bring the pH to 3.7 and WAY TOO MUCH
grape tannin. Funny how you can't really taste the tannin until all the
sugar has fermented away--too bad my diploid nature got in the way of
reading the label which clearly said: 1/2 tsp. per 5 gallons. Anyway,
SG was initially about 1.060 without adding any sugar. I used an
English ale yeast for fermentation, which was rapid, finishing up within
3 weeks and fermenting each addition very rapidly.
The cider fermented bone dry and is, not surprisingly, a *wee* bit
astringent. To my biased palate, it actually tastes pretty good but
would be a lot better without that overly tannic finish. I fined with
gelatin to precipitate some tannin, which I think helped, but not
enough. At this point, about 2 months ago, the cider was brilliantly
clear. I racked into a third carboy and I added malo-lactic bacteria
plus some more malic acid in an attempt to bring the pH down to a level
where it would inhibit spoilage while a second gelatin fining would
hopefully predicate out enough additional tannin to make the cider a bit
less austere. At this point, it is still turbid even though I don't see
any more bubbles rising as I did for a while.
Should I assume that the bacteria are still working and that is why it
is not dropping clear? The basement is about 60 degrees, still. Does
anybody have any additional advice on how to deal with an overly tannic
cider? I don't have any cider for blending. Should I just bottle and
assume it will soften over time? I plan on bottling with enough sugar
for a highly carbonated cider. I don't expect this cider to win any
awards, but it would be nice to be able to offer it to people other than
myself and my forgiving brewing friends.
Thanks for any advice,
Christian
------------------------------
End of Cider Digest #1314
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