Cider Chronicles Episode III

As time for bottling my golden elixir draws nigh, I thought I would write about just how exactly I got to where I am in the brewing process. I do this for two reasons and neither one of them is any of your business. ;-)

We start with the juice. I started with 2 gallons of store bought apple cider from my local grocer. Pasteurization need not rule out a particular brand of apple juice, but should the juice contain any preservatives it is not fit for hard cider. Pasteurization has a negative effect on taste and nutritional content, but it has no destructive effect on the fermentation process. Preservatives in store bought juice will cause your cider to rot before it ferments. This being my first rodeo, I thought I would start with a base commercial juice (pasteurized) and add my own fresh juice for flavor. I added 6 lbs each of Rome and Granny Smith apples to my cart and headed for the lab.

Using my Juice Man Jr. I liquefied 12 lbs of apples into roughly one gallon of juice. I know this isn't the best method of juicing but I don't have a press and decided to use the tools readily at hand. After it was all said and done I learned three things from this juicing process. The first was the Rome apple seems to contain far more fiber than the Granny Smith and yields about 25 % less juice. The second is my Juice Man was not designed to juice that much fruit in one sitting. The motor got a little hot (warped plastic) and the juicing screen needed to be cleaned with great frequency (especially with the Rome apples). Though this method had the desired end, I will pursue other means to get my juice in the future.

I dumped my 3 gallons of juice into my cleaned and sanitized primary fermenter (a 6 gallon bucket with a locking, air-tight lid and a hole for an air-lock). Research shows a consensus, in belief, that wild yeast in fruit produces unpredictable taste results in cider. It is better to curb wild yeast growth from the start. I used campden tablets to achieve this end. Campden (sodium metabisulfite) releases sulfer dioxide when it is dissolved in liquid. Sulfer Dioxide will kill bacteria and inhibit wild yeast development that is naturally present in fruit. The tablets I picked up from an on-line supplier impart 75 p.p.m. of sulfer dioxide when dissolved in 1 gallon of liquid. This is a very low concentration of an antimicrobial preservative. I crushed a couple of the campden tablets and tossed them in with ¾ tsp of yeast nutrient. I let that sit, covered, for 24 hours at room temperature (78 degrees) to allow the sulfer dioxide to do its business on the wild yeast.

Before adding sugar on day 2, I took a couple of readings with my hydrometer so I could get an idea of the alcohol content possibilities before and after adding sugar. With my must in its natural condition, my readings and calculations put it at around 5.2 % on the possibility scale. 5% alcohol doesn't have a great shelf life so in the pure interest of making my cider last longer and southern frugality I sought to raise it. See, if I raise the alcohol concentration to 10% I get the bang of two drinks for the price of one. And you thought all us rednecks were sum kina ignorant. 3 cups of sugar brought my must up to a starting gravity that would give my cider a 9.7% A.C. possibility. I know there are other types of sweeteners that can be used to raise A.C. but I wanted to keep it simple and, “ Go easy, because this is my first time”.

With the starting gravity in an acceptable range it was time for yeast. There are so many types of yeast out there that it was hard to choose. I ended up going with a yeast called Cote des Blancs made by Red Star. I chose this yeast because it was described as a “good yeast in the champagne family for a semi-sweet cider”. I opened the packet and sprinkled its entire contents over the top of the must. I let the yeast hydrate for 5 minutes, on top of the must, before stirring it in. The final step was to snap on the top, fill the air-lock with a bit of water and throw the bucket in my upright basement. You know the rest of the story.

What's that? I should have wrote about this first and then followed with the other posts in consecutive order! Ain't you never seen them Star Wars picture shows? Some people got no appreciation for creativity. ;-)

I had talked earlier about my previous juicing method being unacceptable; my remedy is to get my own fruit press. After taking a look at the prices for some of these relatively simple contraptions, I will be building my own. So if you see smoke coming from this direction, call the fire department.

Talk to ya soon.