In other articles, I described how the apples and yeast you use are the two most important elements in defining the quality of your hard cider. However, there is another component that might be equally as important but it’s often overlooked in most cider books and discussions. My hypothesis is that this is because most books and discussions assume hard cider is made from Bitter apples or at least a blend that includes Bitter, Sharp, and Sweet apples. However, if you don’t live in one of the three cider countries or even in specific regions within those countries, using Bitter apples, or what many call cider apples, may only be a dream. In that situation, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), may be just as important as the apples and yeast you use. In fact, it might be just as important for anyone who makes cider. The problem is we understand it less than yeast and apples, which I believe is because of how cider differs from wine. With wine, the stated goal for lactic acid bacteria is to perform malolactic fermentation. After that point, the goal is to neutralize the bacteria and prevent it from further influencing the organoleptic characteristics of the wine.
I hypothesis that for cider, we should be encouraging lactic acid bacteria, or at least specific species of it. The types of lactic acid bacteria in apple juice should be similar to that in grape must. The fruits are grown, harvested, and processed in similar ways. The microorganisms that would be found on grapes and apples should be common. There are four genera of LAB commonly found in wine(1). Just like yeast, the species of lactic acid bacteria tend to be diverse at the start of the process without a dominate strain. This is similar to how non-Saccharomyces yeast often dominate at the start of fermentation but Saccharomyces yeast tends to dominate the end (unless you inoculate). For LAB, Lactobacillus and Pediococcus strains tend to dominate early while Oenococcus tends to dominate at the end of the process and specifically, O. oeni strains, which at the start are actually negligible. The interesting aspect of this is that lactic acid bacteria, like yeast, is sensitive to alcohol and the selection and dominance is often impacted by the amount of alcohol present. Oenococcus is the most alcohol tolerant so it becomes the dominant lactic acid bacteria in wine. However, that dominance doesn’t start until the alcohol levels get above 9% ABV, which is the level where the other genera start declining(1). This highlights how cider and wine may have similar characteristics, but also differ significantly. Cider doesn’t go above 8.5% ABV in most countries and realistically is usually around 6-7% ABV.
| Genus | Fermentation Type | Strains |
| Lactobacillus | Homofermentative & Heterofermentative | L. plantarum L. casei L. hilgardii |
| Pediococcus | Homofermentative | P. damnosus P. pentosaceus |
| Oenococcus | Heterofermentative | O. oeni |
| Leuconostoc | Heterofermentative | L. mesenteroides |
LAB are simpler organisms than yeast but like yeast, they are chemoorganotrophs. They process organic compounds into other compounds as part of their reproduction process. Interestingly, there are two unique fermentation pathways for lactic acid bacteria. LAB is usually either homofermentative or heterofermentative. The homofermentative pathway creates lactic acid while the heterofermentative pathway creates lactic acid, ethanol, and acetic acid. It is this last compound, acetic acid, and the propensity for O. oeni to produce it during aging that most information about enology recommend treating wine with sulfites. Sulfites are recommended immediately after fermentation for white wines where malolactic fermentation is not desired and immediately after malolactic fermentation in red wines where it is desired. But, cider is not wine and this highlights a potentially big difference.
With 8.5% ABV, the majority of LAB is probably homofermentative strains of Lactobacillus or Pediococcus. These create lactic acid from malic acid using small amounts of sugar to generate the energy needed to reproduce, which it does in an anaerobic environment. Unfortunately, I haven’t found much research about non-Oenococcus LAB strains or LAB in cider. Anecdotally, I find malolactic fermentation in cider takes longer, doesn’t produce large amounts of CO2, and doesn’t seem to generate high amounts of volatile acidity (i.e. acetic acid). I continue to find that the longer I age my ciders, the better they tend to get. Even recent accelerated aging experiments that I have performed using heat are showing this accelerated cider has a higher quality.
I have already highlighted why not adding sulfites to your juice before fermenting should be the standard for cider making. In fact, learning more about why it’s added to wine only reinforces my position. But, if homefermentative LAB are the dominate strains in cider because the alcohol content is lower, encouraging these strains should lead to a smoother cider of higher quality without the risk of excessive volatile acidity developing. This means that you should not only stop killing your juice, you should also stop killing your cider. This is why lactic acid bacteria may be just as important to your cider quality as the apples and yeast you use. It’s why the common adage of many cider makers is that time really is your friend when making better cider.
(1) P. Ribereau-Gayon and associates, Handbook of Enology Volume 1, The Microbiology of Wine and Vinifications 2nd Edition, Chapter 4-6, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2006 ISBN: 0-470-01034-7
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