Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Cider Digest #1382
Subject: Cider Digest #1382, 26 April 2007
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #1382 26 April 2007
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Cider too long on its lees? (Andrew Lea)
new haze (Bradley Hunter)
Send ONLY articles for the digest to cider@talisman.com.
Use cider-request@talisman.com for subscribe/unsubscribe/admin requests.
When subscribing, please include your name and a good address in the
message body unless you're sure your mailer generates them.
Archives of the Digest are available at www.talisman.com/cider
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Cider too long on its lees?
From: Andrew Lea <andrew_lea@compuserve.com>
Date: Sat, 21 Apr 2007 19:24:18 +0100
Joe wrote:
>
> Two months later, when I racked off for bottling, all three had
> developed a decidedly sour taste, a bitter aftertaste, and each has an
> unpleasant "chemical' odor, like rubbing alcohol. No vinegar taste or
> odor was detected. What happened? What should have been done, either
> during the fermenting process, aging, or before bottling?
I cannot be certain but this sounds very much like what the French call
'piqure acroléique' and is due to lactic acid bacteria breaking down the
glycerol in the cider to acrolein during maturation. This gives a bitter
taste and an acrid peppery odour. From the literature it seems that a
number of lactics will do this. It seems to be something of an endemic
issue in the Calvados industry, since acrolein in the distillate renders
it undrinkable. I don't think you can easily reverse it now. But for
the future, the way to avoid it might be to add SO2 (say 50 ppm) after
fermentation and before storage, to inhibit the lactics. I guess if
there was a fair bit of lees deposit this might also have encouraged it.
I think it is probably just bad luck you got this organism. [I am
curious why you added three yeasts originally. Received wisdom is that
the most vigorous of the three (probably the champagne) will outgrow the
others pretty quickly so there is no advantage to a mixed pitching.]
Andrew Lea, nr Oxford, UK
- --
Wittenham Hill Cider Page
http://www.cider.org.uk
------------------------------
Subject: new haze
From: Bradley Hunter <hunter@midcoast.com>
Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:28:29 -0400
I transfered a brilliantly clear 1 year old cider a couple of weeks ago
and felt as if I'd exposed it to a lot of air during transfer.
As a fix to minimize possible bad oxidizing effects down the road I
did something I don't usually do which was to add a dosage of 75 ppm of
SO2.
Now the previously clear cider has developed quite a haze which doesn't
seem to be going away just with time.
Is this a normal effect with late sulphite additions and will it just
clear itself with more aging?
Should I add a fining agent to hasten clearing? My two possible fining
agents would be either liquid isinglass or sparkaloid. Which would be
more effective in this particular case?
Feel free to answer off digest to speed along the treatment.
Thanks for any advice,
Brad
------------------------------
End of Cider Digest #1382
*************************
