Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
Have you ever considered growing an apple tree from seed? The first thing to remember is that most apple trees do not reproduce true to type. In other words, if you grow seeds from a Granny Smith apple, you won’t grow a tree that produces Granny Smith apples. It will be a combination of Granny … Continue reading Growing Apples from Seed
Phenolic compounds found in Granny Smith apples. In this Mālus Trivium, I continue Apple Phenolics looking at one of the standard cooking apple the world over: Granny Smith. You may not normally think of Granny Smith apples being a good choice for cider but I would argue that it can make a nice sparkling single … Continue reading Apple Phenolics: Granny Smith
I mentioned in my last Pizza & Cider post that our rate of sourdough pizza consumption had slowed because we had a new favorite use for our sourdough discard: crackers. My wife discovered a sourdough cracker recipe and as is our normal, we soon augmented it and began creating a plethora of wonderful options. There … Continue reading Sourdough Crackers & Hard Cider
Phenolic compounds found in Arkansas Black apples. One of the biggest challenges most home cider makers face is finding apples that will provide sufficient phenolic compounds. The answer to the problem is often literally staring us in the face. It is the apple peel. “Apple Phenolics” is my attempt to guide home cider makers on … Continue reading Apple Phenolics: Arkansas Black
It seems like a simple question and yet it’s actually a very complex one. For one thing, yeast are found about everywhere and there are thousands of different types of yeast. Should we therefore consider the yeast found on the apple as true cider yeast? What about the yeast found on the equipment used to … Continue reading What is cider yeast?
Phenolic compounds found in GoldRush apples. One of the biggest challenges most home cider makers face is finding apples that will provide sufficient phenolic compounds. The answer to the problem is often literally staring us in the face. It is the apple peel. “Apple Phenolics” is my attempt to guide home cider makers on how … Continue reading Apple Phenolics: GoldRush
What exactly are phenolics? Are they tannins? I don’t think there a simple answer. If I told you there are two basics compounds, flavonoid and non-flavonoid types of phenolics, would that clarify it? It didn’t for me but, chemistry wasn’t my favorite subject in school. If I broke down the flavonoids into anthocyanins, flavan-3-ols, and … Continue reading Phenolics and Cider
The impact of temperature on yeast fermentation. Temperature has a big impact on how yeast ferment. In fact, it can even prevent yeast from fermenting. Pasteurization is the extreme example on the hot side that can kill yeast. Cold can also prevent or slow yeast strains from fermenting but, it doesn’t tend to kill the … Continue reading The Impact of Temperature on Yeast Fermentation
Oxygen, it’s the dreaded enemy of hard cider makers around the world. Or, is it? I’ve written about how you should avoid oxygen in your cider making process. I am also prone to say that the answer to many cider related questions is simply: it depends. Ultimately, oxygen is no different. Oxygen exposure during your … Continue reading Cider and Oxygen
Generalization of how tolerant various microorganisms are to free SO2. Sulfur dioxide (SO2) has the ability to weaken the cell walls of organisms resulting in their death or inability to function. It can also react and bind with phenolic and other compounds impacting color, sweetness, bitterness, and astringency. SO2 tolerance is the ability of an … Continue reading Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) Tolerance
PricklyCider.com 