Subject: Cider Digest #1443, 21 March 2008 Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:16:42 -0600 (MDT) From: cider-request@talisman.com Cider Digest #1443 21 March 2008 Forum for Discussion of Cider Issues Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor Contents: RE: Cider Digest #1442, 16 March 2008 ("Julian Temperley") stopping a fermentation (runspamrun@aol.com) Re: Cider Digest #1442, 16 March 2008 (Bill Rhyne) Calvados ("Timothy") Bellwether get together (Barton) In bottle pasteurization (Jason MacArthur) 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: RE: Cider Digest #1442, 16 March 2008 From: "Julian Temperley" Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:57:53 -0000 Dear Timothy. In England we make apple brandy. You need the best cider possible, fermented without s02 or added sugar and then you need to distill it. Even very simple systems can work very well providing the cider is good. If you have duff cider turn it to vinegar. The distillate should be around 70% alcohol. Mature for 10 years in oak barrels and good luck, its worth the trouble. You can pick up some more info from www.ciderbrandy.co.uk. Regards Julian Temperley ------------------------------ Subject: stopping a fermentation From: runspamrun@aol.com Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 10:07:59 -0400 Dwight, Keeving is a very difficult and somewhat unpredictable way to preform a simple task.? Most decent winemaking books will have information on how to stop a ferm.??This?is not a task unique to cidermaking.? Here are the basics:? 1. Start with a yeast that gets sluggish @ low temps - epernay/cotes de?blanche?is easy to get a hold of.??2.? Rehydration yeast an ferm as ussual (~15oC), but do not add on yeast nutrients.? 3.?Take brix readings/taste your samples for sugar/acid balance when you get close to your target r.s.? 4.?When you have your correct r.s. (or maybe a little above) you need to act quickly - within a few hours - to:?(a) chill your?cider down to as close to freezing as?possible and (b) separate as much yeast as possible.? As a homebrewer - you can rack through a cold plate or jockey box into a clean container.?? This will chill your cider really fast and separate it from a lot of the yeast.? 4.? Now, keep it really?cold.??0oC if possible.? The yeast will settle out shortly.??Warming it up will start the fermention again.? Keep the free so2?around 40ppm.? 5.? Rack when clear, or filter it if you have one.? (northern brewer has one for $50 bucks) Do?NOT bottle this cider unless you?can sterile filter/pasteurize.??SO2 and sorbate?MAY work?too, but only if you know what you are doing.? Otherwise, you?could have?some hand grenades.?? Check back when you get close to bottling for help. ------------------------------ Subject: Re: Cider Digest #1442, 16 March 2008 From: Bill Rhyne Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 07:15:39 -0700 (PDT) RE: Calvados Licensed distillers (brandy/whiskey folks) are the folks to talk to about the strong stuff. We talked to Hubert Germain-Robin who is from a French family of brandy producers. His company is in Mendocino County in California. I think he is in Ukiah. He was interested in making calvados (apple brandy) several years ago so we met with him since he needed a source for cider. He said that he needed cider did not have much flavor as he would introduce the flavor by his aging techniques with barrels and blending. Needless to say, it takes a lot of cider, which we didn't have at the time, and he said that our cider had too much flavor for his purposes. To get cider from 6-7% alcohol level to brandy at 40% requires a lot of cider. In Alameda, California, there is another distiller named St. George's Spirits. I think that I saw some apple brandy from their factory recently. In New Jersey, Laird's Apple Brandy is an old time producer. Their apple brandy has a sort of coconut flavor which one gets from using American oak. If one tastes the Calvados from France, it has a different flavor and I think that it can be attributed partly to the barrels used. Bill Rhyne ------------------------------ Subject: Calvados From: "Timothy" Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:50:47 -0400 Thanks for the comments on Calvados....I plan to stick with regular cider. Regular cider has more taste and is easier to make....and is legal since 1978 here in the US. Tim ------------------------------ Subject: Bellwether get together From: Barton Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:29:57 -0400 3^rd Annual Hard Cider /Rendezvous/, Sunday March 30, 2008 Calling all home cidermakers, commercial cidermakers, hard cider aficionados, ?. A causal get together that has almost become a tradition at Bellwether. Bring hard cider that you?ve made and share it with other cidermakers. If you don?t make cider but want the fun and camaraderie of getting together with the cider geeks, this is your event. This is a slow time of year in the tasting room with traditional wine trail visitors, so starting at 3PM, we?re turning over our tasting room to a vast array of hard ciders. In past years, our entire tasting bar and several other tables were jammed with all manner of home and commercial efforts, including some apple jack and ice ciders. Since cider is so food friendly, this is also a potluck dinner. Bring some food along to help soak up the cider! 3PM until whenever. Please rsvp so we can plan for tasting space and food. ------------------------------ Subject: In bottle pasteurization From: Jason MacArthur Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:41:06 -0400 I know this subject has been discussed before on the digest, but I can't seem to find any detailed references or how-to's. Can someone who has succesfully experimented with the hot water bath method of pasteurizing semi-sweet cider describe what they have done? Thank you! Jason MacArthur ------------------------------ End of Cider Digest #1443 *************************