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Cider Digest #1682
Subject: Cider Digest #1682, 30 December 2011
From: cider-request@talisman.com
Cider Digest #1682 30 December 2011
Cider and Perry Discussion Forum
Contents:
If you missed Digest 1681... (Cider Digest Admin)
Re: pH meter reference correction (Claude Jolicoeur)
PH Meter for Tarzan ("shawn@blossomwoodcidery.com")
Cider Books (Andrew Lea)
Too much sulfite added (Andrew Lea)
RE: pH meters, dry hopping, pressure vessels (Robert Kuntz)
NOTE: Digest appears whenever there is enough material to send one.
Send ONLY articles for the digest to cider@talisman.com.
Use cider-request@talisman.com for subscribe/unsubscribe/admin requests.
Archives of the Digest are available at www.talisman.com/cider#Archives
Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: If you missed Digest 1681...
From: cider-request@talisman.com (Cider Digest Admin)
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:06:13 -0700 (MST)
A handful of over-zealous mail programs rejected the last digest as spam.
If you missed it, you can pick it up from the archives:
www.talisman.com/cider/curyr/1681
I got bounces for ten subscribers; presumably other mailers rejected it
silently. Unfortunately, none of the bounce messages gave any useful
information that would allow me to figure out WHY they considered it
spam. But with Andrew's help, we figured out it was one of the URL's
given as a source of information.
The blocking/bouncing was utterly unreasonable--mailers rejected any
reference to an entire ISP because some few of its customers had pages
with suspicious content. But, as we say, "Any idiot can write a mail
program. Many do."
- ---
Cider Digest cider-request@talisman.com
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor Boulder County, Colorado USA
------------------------------
Subject: Re: pH meter reference correction
From: Claude Jolicoeur <cjoli@gmc.ulaval.ca>
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2011 14:49:32 -0500
In Cider Digest #1681, 28 December 2011,
>Subject: pH meter reference correction
>From: "Analysis Laboratory (Scott/Linda Bruslind)" <analabor@peak.org>
>HACH has a large portfolio in portable units, and a very nice, multi-use
>package is their HQ40d. Capabilities include dissolved oxygen
>monitoring. A useful parameter in yeast metabolism and shelf life
>stability.
Hummm.... Maybe, but with a price tag of 2545.00 $ US, I am not sure
many cider makers will rush and buy it.... For sure I won't.
Claude
------------------------------
Subject: PH Meter for Tarzan
From: "shawn@blossomwoodcidery.com" <shawn@blossomwoodcidery.com>
Date: Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:46:21 -0500 (EST)
Tarzan sorry for using PH strips but Tarzan scared of probes, bad man
in laboratory probe Tarzan when Tarzan was young troglodyte.
Jane help Tarzan conquer fear of probe, now Tarzan trusts probe when properly
cared for.
Tarzan has used narrow range ColorPHast strips with good luck (luck because
Tarzan can't comprehend science) but may want to move into silicon age and
use PH meter that would not be a maintenance burden.
Model HQ40d cost too many bananas!
Tarzan wondering what models of PH meters are best for troglodyte in Tarzan's
banana sensitive situation?
Can anyone recommend some less expensive meters? Tarzan thinks maybe the WSU
research station tested the ColorPHast strips against a meter with good results
but memory is foggy?
Thanks,
Tarzan The Monkey Man
------------------------------
Subject: Cider Books
From: Andrew Lea <andrew@harphill.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:45:48 +0000
On 26/12/2011 01:46, Josh wrote:
>
> Thanks Robert Kuntz for all the great yeast management info in CD #1677!
> What an enlightening glimpse into the science behind fermentation with a
> purpose...
Agreed!
>
> Robert (and others), is there a book(s) or reference(s) you
> can recommend to better wrap my head around wine/cider chemistry and
> biology ? I just grabbed Andrew Lea's book-- a fantastic (but basic)
> intro to cider making.
Hmm ... ironic, since I have had a very bad Amazon UK review that says
my book is no use to the craft cidermaker because it's far too technical
and biological....!! Anyway as Claude said there is always my chapter
in Fermented Beverage Production though it's nearly 10 years old now. A
much more comprehensive chapter is by Fred Beech and Geoff Carr on Cider
and Perry in Economic Microbiology Volume 1 (Alcoholic Beverages) but
this dates from 1977 and you will have to search for it on the
second-hand market. However, it has never been bettered in my view.
There are two more recent cider reviews you can buy and download online:
Ian Merwin's 2008 chapter in Horticultural Reviews
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470380147.ch6/summary
and Alan Buglass's 2011 chapter in his new book
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470976524.ch11/summary
Neither of them deal with the minutiae of biochemistry and microbiology
though. Bearing in mind that 90% of cidermaking is the same as
winemaking, you could do a lot worse than download Linda Bisson's
lecture notes from the introductory course she gives at University of
California at Davis. And it's free!
http://lfbisson.ucdavis.edu/lecture.htm
Other serious wine textbooks you might try to buy or borrow include
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wine-Science-Principles-Applications-Technology/dp/01237
36463
(Ron Jackson's text now on its 3rd edition)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Principles-Practices-Winemaking-Chapman-Enology/dp/04120
64111
(The Wisdom of the UC Davis team but quite old now)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Handbook-Enology-2-Set-Second/dp/0470011572 (The
Wisdom of the Bordeaux School. The famed Pascal Ribereau-Gayon died
earlier this year)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Good-Wine-Winemaking-Australia/dp/0725105631
(The Wisdom of the Adelaide School as distilled through Bryce
Rankine, but over 20 years old now)
Andrew Lea
nr Oxford, UK
www.cider.org.uk
------------------------------
Subject: Too much sulfite added
From: Andrew Lea <andrew@harphill.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 29 Dec 2011 20:00:51 +0000
On 26/12/2011 01:46, Jim wrote:
> I accidentally added 2 and a half tsp of potassium bisulfide instead of
> one half tsp prior to pitching yeast. I am wondering if there is anything
> I can do too correct this or if I should just pitch extra yeast and make
> sure I keep it really happy.
I hope it isn't 'bisulfide' you added or you will be in a seriously bad
way for plenty of other reasons! So let's assume you actually meant
'bisulfite'! You aren't giving any target ppm levels but at any rate you
are evidently adding 5 times too much. Let's say your target was 100 ppm
and the yeast is now presented with 500 ppm. No, it won't be at all
happy! That is a seriously inhibitory level, depending of course on the pH.
> I thought about starting a yeast starter instead of just adding the yeast
> directly to the over sulfited must. Also adding as much air as I can before
> I pitch.
It is a bit of a myth that air removes sulfite. It does in theory, but
its direct action is very very slow, months not hours. Still you can try
lots of aeration if you like. What I would do is make up a yeast starter
in some clean juice, get it to ferment well, and then very gradually
(over days / weeks) add the contaminated juice to the clean fermentation
little by little (not the other way about) In that way you can train the
yeast to become accustomed to such a stonkingly high level of sulfite.
An alternative more drastic way is to use a measured amount of hydrogen
peroxide to oxidise the inhibitory sulfite to inert sulfate PDQ, and
then re-pitch. There are details of how to do this on Ben Rotter's
excellent SO2 page in Section 15. See
http://www.brsquared.org/wine/Articles/SO2/SO2.htm However, you must be
careful not to add an excess of peroxide or you will not do the juice
any favours.
Good luck
Andrew Lea
nr Oxford, UK
www.cider.org.uk
------------------------------
Subject: RE: pH meters, dry hopping, pressure vessels
From: Robert Kuntz <bodyelectric2@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 30 Dec 2011 10:15:01 -0700
RE: Cider literature, dry hopping, pressure vessels, pH meters,
This is just some follow on commentary to the latest strings.
Cider Scientific Literature:
The books mentioned already are excellent resources. I also use the Proulx
book. That said, for more in depth journal articles, I recommend the
Journal of the Institute of Brewing (JIB). It's British, and accepts
research from Spain, France, and China as well as the Anglophile nations on
cider research, mostly focused on processing and microbiology. I think
their articles are free. It seems like no matter what computer I check
from, I can get into the full length articles, so I don't think this is
linked to my passwords. They are also a great publication for information
on high-gravity brewing and yeast physiology/management. While
high-gravity fermentations are considered anything above 14.5P, or 1.058,
usually in brewing they don't finish much below 1.010, or 2P AE. So I find
the slightly-lower gravity cider must to be a similar environment to high
gravity brewing, especially if you consider the low nutrient levels in most
musts. The IOB also has a monthly industry article, and usually in
September to November they have an article on cider or mead. 2009 was
Aspall, 2010 was a B.C. cider maker, and 2011 was a UK mead maker. You can
also read in there some industry news, which is of interest as ABI,
Heineken, and others are getting into industrial scale cider making.
The American Society of Brewing Chemists (ASBC) has some similar, but not
overlapping research, but it geared more the fermentation/yeast side, and
not the processing/must side of the research.
I also reference UCDavis wine classes online, as you can find the notes to
VEN 124 by Dr. Linda Bisson online. She had a great lecture notes section
on MLF that I reference. I also read the UC Extension reports on perry
production, as they are trying to promote Mendocino County as a pear
producer. Great .pdf's on perry trials on a craft scale free if you search
google. I've had great luck searching references to MLF in cider on line
and if you are persistent, you can find the pdf's online without having to
pay Elsevier or the like.
Hops:
I dry hop everything because I can't get a proper tannin bitterness to my
ciders. I use whole leaf Cascade because I grow it, but I would recommend,
low alpha acid, high beta acid, high volatile oil varieties like "noble
hops" from Germany, the UK, Slovenia, or Czechia, or their US counterparts.
If you want to avoid the grapefruit note, stay away from high alpha
varieties, or those high in farnescene oils. These noble varieties deliver
more aroma than flavor, and they have a high level of "soft resins" that
are reported to round out alpha/beta acid bitterness. They also have a
higher level of polyphenols, which are related to tannins. However, they
are more like tea tannins than wine tannins. These tannins will stick to
any residual proteins, and with time drop out of solution. My dry-hopped
ciders are always more clear than my standard ciders as a result.
It should be noted that un-boiled, that is, un-isomerized alpha acids,
will not skunk, so dry hopping shouldn't give you the "skunk" problem. It
should be note that pre-isomerized alpha acid hop extracts will eventually
skunk in a clear bottle. They are not "skunk proof" as widely believed,
and incredibly difficult to dilute to the levels used in craft. While
beta acids are not bitter, they will oxidize over time and produce some
bitterness - especially prized in Belgian ales. Both alphas and beta acids
have a anti-biotic effect, and will slow if not eliminate MLF. Best added
after that step is complete, if you try it. Hop pellets are easier to
filter, but leaf is fine. Hallertau, Saaz, and Spalter will give you more
herbal notes,along with their US derived brethren Mt. Hood and Sterling.
Fuggles, Goldings, and Styrians will be more floral.
Pressure Vessels:
Anything that is designed for pressurized processing is required by law in
the US to be stamped as such, along with limits. The typical 5-6 gal
carboy made in Mexico is not, and should never be pressurized - with gas,
or with a solid cork bung for secondary fermentation. The story shared
about the brewery worker with the lacerated leg should be ample warning.
When using CO2 counter pressure, I have always racked into a CO2 flushed
Corny keg, and then filtered to another CO2-evac'ed keg once the source keg
was pressurized. We always put the CO2 into the outlet side, as it went
down the stem into the fluid, and carbonated it through the medium, instead
of putting top pressure through the standard inlet of the keg.
pH Meters:
I've seen a to of pH meters over the years, and they stand up to abuse and
neglect fairly well. The key thing is keeping the probes wet in buffer.
I've even seen dry probes be re-wetted and used, and been okay. We never
did any R&R trials with them to verify, but it was good enough for
government work. (Literally). Hach is a good brand. If you can afford
them and can store them, they are the way to go, and really easy to use.
Cheers,
Robert
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End of Cider Digest #1682
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