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Cider Digest #1437
Subject: Cider Digest #1437, 10 February 2008
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #1437 10 February 2008
Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Backsweetening with concentrate ("Howard, John")
Small Scale Yeast Filtering ("Rich Anderson")
Re: Backsweetening with concentrate (Robert Tower)
Re: Small Scale Yeast Filtering (Bob Tower)
Re: Fruit age and fermentation speed (Claude Jolicoeur)
Re: Small Scale Yeast Filtering (Terry Bradshaw)
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Subject: Backsweetening with concentrate
From: "Howard, John" <jhoward@beckerfrondorf.com>
Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2008 17:20:41 -0500
Charles, Is concentrate cheaper to use than refined sugar?
John Howard
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Subject: Small Scale Yeast Filtering
From: "Rich Anderson" <rhanderson@centurytel.net>
Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2008 15:28:39 -0800
Filtering cider to stabilize it can be a daunting task, particularly if no
SO2 is used. We tried for a several years to pad filter at a nominal .45
micron and 50ppm of SO2. It worked fine during the cool months of the year,
but when it warmed up the activity was noticeable on the bottom of the
bottle, the cider was fine but the last pour could be a bit cloudy and this
was a dry cider.
I know that there are cider makers that are successful at doing this, one
producer whom I visited in New Zealand gang filtered a sweetened cider with
two pad filters and several cartridge filters and who knows how much SO2.
Pasteurization is not rocket science, take the internal cider temperature to
60C, it is not cooked or boiled unless you like a nice caramel taste! The
nice thing about doing in-bottle fermentation is that the entire package is
pasteurized, minimizing the risk of contamination in the bottle or closure
device.
Even if you keg it, pasteurization should be a doable thing.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Backsweetening with concentrate
From: Robert Tower <roberttower@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:40:52 -0800
Charles McGonegal references using concentrates for backsweetening
sourced from food industry brokers as being about 70 brix. I've used
100% apple juice concentrates purchased from grocery stores (Tree Top,
Seneca, etc.) and they seem to be around 44 brix, substantially less
concentrated as Mr. McGonegal pointed out in his post.
I haven't had any sediement problems with these concentrates as they are
intended to make crystal clear juice when diluted to drinking strength
and I would assume have been heavily filtered to achieve this clarity. I
also haven't had any troubles with contamination but I do add sorbate
and sulfite when adding the concentrate.
Bob Tower
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Small Scale Yeast Filtering
From: Bob Tower <bob@constructotower.com>
Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:14:16 -0800
Kevin Luke wonders about the practicality of small scale filtering to
avoid having to use stabilizers on his sweetened and kegged ciders. I
haven't used the Buon Vino filters he mentions but I once worked at a
shop that sold them and if I remember they introduce a significant
amount of oxygen in the filtering process and recommend that you soak
the pads in sulfite to sanitize them as well as adding sulfite to the
wine/cider as an anti-oxidant. If this is the case, it will be
self-defeating. There is another filtering option that uses a set of
pads plumbed between two kegs and CO2 pressure to push the liquid from
one keg, through the pads and into the second keg. It's slow (pushing at
5 psi takes about 45 minutes to filter 5 gallons) but effective. Since
CO2 is the pressure source, oxidation isn't a worry. Also since the
cider will be kept refrigerated the pads don't need to be sanitized. A
set up like this can be purchased from beer homebrewing shops and online.
That being said, I sometimes sweeten my kegged cider adding no
stabilizers. I just keep it in the keg fridge at 40-45 F. It usually
takes 1-2 months for the yeast (Lalvin K1V-1116) to wake up and start
working again. The rate at which they ferment under these conditions is
quite slow. Over time you will notice a reduction in sweetness and an
increase in carbonation. But usually the keg goes empty long before any
of these events happen to any great extent. If your batch size of cider
extends over multiple kegs, then just sweeten each keg as needed.
Bob Tower
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Fruit age and fermentation speed
From: Claude Jolicoeur <cjoli@gmc.ulaval.ca>
Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2008 23:51:07 -0500
In Cider Digest #1436, 5 February 2008
Andrew wrote:
>It turns out that Claude's observation *has* been made before. According
>to Charley's 1949 translation of Warcollier's 1928 'La Cidrerie' this
>was noted in pears by no less authorities than Mueller-Thurgau and
>Osterwalder. No date is given for this reference but I would guess it to
>be pre WW1.
Thanks, Andrew. I had a look in my copy and found the passage in question.
Not much detail unfortunately. It would be interesting to find the original
paper by Mueller-Thurgau and Osterwalder.
Claude
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Small Scale Yeast Filtering
From: Terry Bradshaw <terryb@lostmeadowvt.com>
Date: Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:48:28 -0500
Kevin wrote:
>How practical is it to filter yeast from cider on a small scale (5
>gals)? Is it successful enough at removing yeast that I can lightly
>sweeten and keg, without too much risk of re-starting fermentation?
>Has anyone had any experience good / bad with Buon Vino Mini Jet Wine
>Filter (or other)? It claims to filter down to 1/2 micron, which should
>remove (enough?) yeast.
>
I have been doing this for the past couple of 'vintages' with my keeved
ciders to further stabilize in the keg. You mention kegging, so if you
have a setup already, you're 3/4 there.
I use an 8" two-plate from morebeer.com ($50 for the head, a couple of
bucks for filter pads), also available to order from most homebrew shops.
I settle my cider in secondary, then siphon to the keg when clear. Fine it
if you want to to make clearing easier- the more suspended material in
there, thew more headache you will have in filtering. I then out the
filter inline between the full keg and the empty receiving keg, attaching
both ends of the filter lines to the 'out' ends of each respective keg.
Pressurize everything to 10 psi and let 'er rip! You can get a valve for
the gas in side of the receiver keg which will blow off pressure as the
head space fills, or you can just ease out the pressure as flow slows down.
Sterile (0.5 micron) filtering of a clear 5-gallon batch will take 15
minutes or so.
Potential problems:
1) Infection post-filtering. Keep everything clean, sanitize your receiving
keg, and you'll be fine.
2) Plugging of filter pad. A pad will do 15 gallons or so of cleared cider,
a lot less of cloudy. I actually dogged two filters together, one I run
with a 2 micron pad followed by the sterile unit. This way I find I can
do 20-25 gallons from one set of pads. Again, the cider has to be pretty
clear. You can ease up the pressure to push more through a plugging pad,
but after 12 lbs or so you may rupture the pad or-
3) cracked intake on housing. I may have pushed too much pressure through
the unit (20 lb or so) and cracked the plastic on the intake side, or I
dropped it, not sure. Anyway, be nice to the heads, they are apparently
a bit fragile.
I can get sweet cider stable for a year or more without major flavor loss.
I say 'major' because I don't notice any flavor change, maybe someone else does.
I'll try to post a pic of it on my cider site when I get to a broadband line:
http://www.lostmeadowvt.com/blogs/applepress/index.html
TB
================
Terence Bradshaw
Calais, VT
1450 feet, zone 4
http://www.lostmeadowvt.com
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End of Cider Digest #1437
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