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Cider Digest #1655
Subject: Cider Digest #1655, 7 September 2011
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #1655 7 September 2011
Cider and Perry Discussion Forum
Contents:
Field testing apples for potential use in cider (Alan Yelvington)
Update on HDPE conical tank conversion for fermenting (Alan Yelvington)
tanks and field testing (Alan Yelvington)
digest's 20th anniversary (Jay Hersh)
Re: W15 and sulfides (Dick Dunn)
NOTE: Digest appears whenever there is enough material to send one.
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Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn
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Subject: Field testing apples for potential use in cider
From: Alan Yelvington <alany@semparpac.org>
Date: Sat, 03 Sep 2011 21:38:00 -0400
I've decided to take my scrumping efforts to
a new level and add some quantitative tests
to my qualitative "take a bite" scrumping test.
I'm now checking fruit ripeness, pH, and
sugar level. What I want to do is catalog
local "wild" trees for my scrumpy efforts and
get a better idea of which ones are worth the
trouble to travel to and harvest from.
I've put some photos on my Facebook account
to share with all of you, and I'm interested
if any of you are doing similar "auditioning"
of scrumpy candidates.
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2124109817268.2118119.1081556789&l=af4c
85bb2f&type=1
Al Yelvington
Happy Dog Farm
Russell, PA
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Subject: Update on HDPE conical tank conversion for fermenting
From: Alan Yelvington <alany@semparpac.org>
Date: Sun, 04 Sep 2011 17:49:04 -0400
Friends,
Some of you are aware I'm converting two HDPE
conical tanks for use as larger-than-carboy
fermenters. I have a 60 gallon and a 15
gallon tank that I picked up new and unused
from someone that had intended to use for
making bio-diesel fuel. (Yes, the material
is food grade.)
The conversion of the 15 gallon tank went
well, and my only modifications this year
were an improved bulkhead fitting to stem a
slow leak, and a larger airlock to deal with
the volume as well as venting when taking
samples.
The conversion of the 60 gallon tank would
have been just as good if I had not made the
serious mistake of trying to install a tap in
the conical section of the tank. The
curvature of the tank is defying all attempts
to make a fluid-tight installation of the
bulkhead fitting.
I'd considered using beeswax to build up a
flat area inside the tank, but I've passed
that up because of concerns with using hot
water to clean the tank. I've made sanitary
washers to prevent the gaskets from twisting,
but they only slow down and not stop the leaking.
Food-grade RTV will be my last attempt prior
to welding the hole shut. That, or an
expanding damage control plug!
I also found a very affordable clean-in-place
(CIP) spray head for these relatively small
tanks. I found an agricultural spray head
made out of the same material as the tanks
that spins and does a nice job. It requires
a relatively low volume of water and pressure
to do the job, and it uses standard NPT
thread (1/2"). I'm still considering how to
install it to keep it clean, and I'm leaning
towards a capped internal fitting that sealed
during fermentation, and then the CIP head is
attached when it's time to clean the tank.
Here's is the YouTube URL, and I appreciate
any suggestions and observations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBWHPowms-k
------------------------------
Subject: tanks and field testing
From: Alan Yelvington <alany@semparpac.org>
Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2011 17:35:49 -0400
Many thanks to all for the suggestions and
observations on my field testing efforts. I
just ordered a portable total acidity test
kit. I have a titration rig in the house,
but I could see lugging that around the
countryside!
I've posted a new video to YouTube on my
effort to get my large tank in order. I
softened the area around the hole with a heat
gun and shaped it by sandwiching it between
to heavy washers. I also added RTV to seal
up any remaining voids. The video shows the
rest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ_VaJ2lqYo
Best regards to all!
Al
------------------------------
Subject: digest's 20th anniversary
From: Jay Hersh <jsh@doctorbeer.com>
Date: Mon, 05 Sep 2011 19:32:27 -0400
Hi all,
Sorry to be chiming in so late. I'm in the process of building a
house up in VT while living in MA so on top of the work there's been
a lot of travel and our lot doesn't have internet yet which leaves me
incommunicado for days at a time :-(. At least there are some nice
apple trees on our lot and those of the neighboring lot (all part of
the same subdivision of an old farm) which appears to once have had
an orchard on at least part of it.
I've been a homebrewer for 25 years and also started making cider
around the same time. My first attempts were OK, but often came out
too dry and/or tart. Several years later I moved to eastern MA and
met up with Paul Correnty and his crew of eastern MA cider makers who
had connections to the local homebrew club I was in at the time.
Every fall Paul would use his connections with orchards n the
Westford, MA area to get a custom hard cider maker's blend pressed.
Our club member's, their friends, and even a local homebrew shop
started to get in on it. Soon Paul was pressing a couple thousand
gallons each fall. We'd hold fall "ciderfests" and got to discussing
how great it would be to be able to share tips and tricks with other
like minded cider makers from everywhere so that we could all
mutually improve the quality of your products.
At the time I was working at the MIT X Consortium. We were a small
group of programmers supported by all the major unix workstation
manufacturers so we had lots of hardware resources and funding. As a
result I had administrator priveleges on several internet connected
workstations with enough space and speed to host email lists. The X
Consortium already hosted several of these related to our unix
research and development efforts so it was pretty straightforward to
set these up. At my the request of my then girlfriend (now wife) I
also set up the Mead Maker's digest which I think Dick also still
hosts. I don't recall the date that one got started.
A few years later I had to take a leave of absence for health
reasons. Dick Dunn, who was one of the early members of the lists,
stepped up and quite offered to take over hosting of them and I can't
say enough about the fantastic and tireless effort he's put in since
then to keep them running smoothly.
I still make hard cider to this day, although as often as not I
"cheat" by heading out to Cider Days in Franklin County, MA (under a
2 hour drive for me) and use their cider maker's blends. I also have
a custom made pulper constructed from an Insinkerater which I use to
make my own blends. Despite having garnered lots of high scores (40
to 45 out of 50) and great praise in BJCP sanctioned homebrew
competitions (including from the likes of Paul Correnty) winning a
ribbon in the cider category has eluded me to this day. That means
that there's lots of really good home cider makers out there and if
I've had even a small part in making that so then I'm very pleased.
Apples are starting to ripen here in MA and it won't be long until
I'm headed out to my local orchards in Stow, MA less than 10 miles
from where I live to start getting ripe apples and fresh pressed
juice. As I do so I'll be thinking of this digest and all the great
folks on it and hoping it sticks around at least another 20 years!
sincerely,
Jay Hersh (aka Dr. Beer and Cider Digest "founder" whatever that means....)
------------------------------
Subject: Re: W15 and sulfides
From: Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com>
Date: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 10:14:53 -0600
Richard Keeves asked (re my previous note on two fermentations with W15
yeast):
> As I happen to be using W15 this year (first batch clean so far, 1/3
> sugar depletion) I would be interested in what if any yeast nutrient
> regime and fermentation temperature you may have used in the two batches
> that went "over-the-top stinky" as mentioned in Cider Digest #1653
> "fixing sulfide taint".
I didn't use any yeast nutrient. At the time I had thought this was OK
for two reasons: First, I'd already done a couple of smaller test batches
the previous year with good results. Second, the fermentations seemed to
run at a reasonable rate, so I didn't think there was a nutrient problem.
Looking back at my notes, I see I also had a small batch fermented with W15
the same year as the two larger problem batches, and this small batch was
OK. So now I'm puzzling over whether/how batch size could be another
factor. Obviously in a similar environment the larger batches would
ferment warmer (due to heat generated by fermentation), but it doesn't
seem like there could be enough difference there. The fruit was different
among all the batches of course.
- --
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
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End of Cider Digest #1655
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