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Cider Digest #1664
Subject: Cider Digest #1664, 19 October 2011
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #1664 19 October 2011
Cider and Perry Discussion Forum
Contents:
Determination of titratable acidity (Andrew Lea)
barrel type for aging apple brandy ("Rich Anderson")
malformed apples - diagnosis (Dick Dunn)
Cider Days 2011 ("Gary Awdey")
Orange Pippin Apple Finder website (Jay Hersh)
NOTE: Digest appears whenever there is enough material to send one.
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Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn
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Subject: Determination of titratable acidity
From: Andrew Lea <andrew@harphill.co.uk>
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:20:03 +0100
On 17/10/2011 16:20, John Yeo wrote:
>
> My method for TA is 10 mL must into ~200 mL DI water in an erlenmeyer flask
> with 5 drops phenolphthalein, and titrating through a buret with 0.1 M NaOH
> to the phenolphthalein endpoint.
>
> I did triplicate measurements on each must sample, and had very low error on
> the more clear must. Some of the apple musts oxidized to a deep brown
> color, that even when diluted 1:20 really masked the phenolphthalein
> endpoint.
>
> Do any experienced cidermakers have advice for getting more accurate TA on
> deeply oxidized must?
The normal procedure is pretty much what you do. But very brown ciders,
and deep red wines, do make it tricky to see the endpoint using an
indicator dye.
However, you evidently own a pH meter since you are also measuring pH.
The end-point for a sodium hydroxide / malic acid titration is pH 8.1
(not pH 7 as people expect, because you have a weak acid and a strong
base). So you can use your pH meter to measure the endpoint. That is
what professional labs would do. Maybe slightly less convenient if you
have the dipstick type of meter rather than a narrow probe, but you'll
probably find some way you can work around that.
Andrew Lea
nr Oxford, UK
www.cider.org.uk
------------------------------
Subject: barrel type for aging apple brandy
From: "Rich Anderson" <rhanderson@centurytel.net>
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:18:16 -0700
Being new to making apple brandy I am very interested in barrels. We just
laid down our first 12 gallons in a 12 barrel. I would be hesitate to use
used whiskey barrels for several reasons, one being the residual flavor of
the whiskey, the second being the charring since carbon(charcoal) may or may
not be a good thing for the brandy flavor profile. So far my research has
yielded little factual information, the French for example seem to favor
casks with no charring and use them for generations. Another challenge that
I anticipate is barrel size, since a smaller barrel will expose more of the
brandy to the wood than the standard 55 gallon ones used in wine and whiskey
making. Keep in mind that this is a proprietary craft and these are trade
secrets :) I think it will take a number of discussions with others to find
the best solution since we do not have generations of fruit brandy
information available and the small legal distiller is still something of a
novelty.
Having said this, you can take a used whiskey barrel, remove the top hoop
and end to clean, read that as remove the charred interior and reassemble
the barrel. Dirty work to be sure but I remember doing this to a number of
barrels many years ago for a family wine making enterprise.
------------------------------
Subject: malformed apples - diagnosis
From: Dick Dunn <rcd@talisman.com>
Date: Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:49:22 -0600
I have a few trees this year producing many (but not all) malformed apples:
the malformed fruit is small, flat-ish, and strongly lobed in a lopsided
way--the shape looks more like a patty-pan squash than an apple! Anybody
have a good guess what this might be?
There's a photo at:
http://www.talisman.com/cider/malformed.jpg
At the bottom of the photo are malformed apples; above them are normal
apples from the same tree. Left side is Cortland, right is Twenty Ounce.
Some clues:
As I say, not all the fruit on the tree is deformed.
The affected trees generally bear heavy crops.
It's happening to two different varieties.
Leaves look normal in size/shape/color, but not as many as I think there
should be--foliage appears "thin".
Adjacent trees of other varieties are unaffected.
I'm thinking nutrient deficiency. I hunted around a bit and didn't find
much, but there was one indication that a boron deficiency could cause
what I'm seeing.
- --
Dick Dunn rcd@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA
------------------------------
Subject: Cider Days 2011
From: "Gary Awdey" <gawdey@comcast.net>
Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2011 04:57:48 -0500
This year on November 5 I will have the great pleasure of working with my
friend, Claude Jolicoeur, in a discussion of homemade apple grinders and
cider mills
at Cider Days in Franklin County, Massachusetts. Over the years there have
been a number of excellent discussions about cider presses in the Digest.
Over the next two weeks I'll be collecting additional photos of cider
presses scaled for the small scale ciderist and sorting them into a
discussion of the relative advantages and disadvantages of various designs.
If you have photos that you'd like to contribute for the presentation please
send to me at gawdey@comcast.net, along with whatever comments you have
about advantages and disadvantages that you have gained from your
experience with the equipment. For the sake of brevity there will be a
need to be selective about photos used. However if you indicate a
willingness to have your contact information shared with attendees who may
have a more detailed interest I'll gladly pass it along so others may
contact you directly. Where possible I'd like to have at least one small
digital photo of your press available to put next to your contact
information (email and/or website) on a paper handout.
Gary Awdey
Valparaiso, Indiana
gawdey@comcast.net
------------------------------
Subject: Orange Pippin Apple Finder website
From: Jay Hersh <jsh@doctorbeer.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2011 12:25:02 -0400
I don't always read the digest that closely, so perhaps this resource
has already been posted here but my wife found a great website called
Orange Pippin (http://www.orangepippin.com/) that is a "comprehensive
resourch for apples and orchards". It apprently resulted via a merger
with the AllAboutApples.com website.
It lists most apple varieties with descriptions; has a "backyard
orchardist" section with info on identifying varieties, growing tips,
and a few other basics, a section with apple crate label artwork, a
discussion forum, etc.; lists of orchards in many countries.
It appears to be a commercial site selling trees and located in the
UK but says that can deliver apples trees to the US. Not sure whether
this is via international shipping or US based partners.
I have no relationship with this site or its operators. Just saw it
and thought it might be of interest to the group.
Jay H
------------------------------
End of Cider Digest #1664
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