Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
Have you ever wondered how the yeast used to make bread is different from that used to make cider, beer, and wine? First off, the standard yeast used for most fermented food products is Saccharomyces cerevisiae. So, fundamentally, the yeast has the same basic characteristics. However, just like yeast have different characteristics when fermenting wine … Continue reading Cider Yeast Bread
Ehrlich Pathway: Fusel Alcohol Creation Fusel alcohols or what are also called higher alcohol add aromatic complexity to hard cider and other fermented beverages. Yes, too much of them can lead to undesirable or overwhelming flavors. But, like all things in life, moderation is the spice of life. While most Yeast Assimilable Nitrogen comes from … Continue reading Ehrlich Pathway Explained
I like to experiment, especially with food and hard cider. Research I have read indicates that clearer juice will yield hard cider that is fruitier. One of the ideas is that with less sediment and solids, you reduce the level of bacteria and natural yeast that might generate off-flavors. I wondered if this would be … Continue reading Wild Thing: A Cider Process Experiment
Amino Acids in Hard Cider If I asked you to identify one of the most important compounds found in apple juice that impacts the quality of your hard cider, what would you answer? Would you say the sugar? Maybe you would advocate for the yeast. However, I would argue that the key compounds in your … Continue reading Amino Acids: The Key to Great Hard Cider
After six articles on pairing pizza and hard cider, you would think I’d run out of recipes and options. That’s what makes pizza and hard cider so wonderful, there seem to be infinite possibilities. For this group of four pizza recipes and hard cider pairings, we pushed the crust even further when we did a … Continue reading Pizza and Hard Cider – Part VII
Yeast Cell Wall - Mannoprotein Structure What are mannoproteins and why would they be important to hard cider? Mannoproteins are a combination of polysaccharides and proteins bound up in the yeast cell wall. They are connected to the cell membrane that surrounds the yeast. This membrane retains all the key parts of a yeast cell … Continue reading Mannoproteins in Cider
Black & Gold Cider Label Black & Gold Cider is made from two of my favorite apples: Arkansas Black and GoldRush. I enjoy eating them, though I recommend cutting up the Arkansas Blacks as they can be a little hard. However, they both have a fair amount of tannins and acid as well as aroma. … Continue reading Making Black & Gold Cider
Glycerol & Non-Saccharomyces Yeast Much of my recent research and reading has been on yeast, especially non-Saccharomyces genera. Wine, beer, bread, and most commercial food fermentation is performed by the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genus. But, there is a new push to explore and use non-Saccharomyces strains, especially in wine making. The biggest reasons are 1) aroma … Continue reading Glycerol: The Benefit of Non-Saccharomyces Yeast
Yes, hard cider goes with seafood. In fact, it goes with anything. This is because hard cider, like wine, reflects the fruit you used to make it. You can have dry, tart cider with some effervescence or a still astringent cider that’s slightly bitter and has a heavy mouthfeel. You can also have sweet hard … Continue reading Lobster Rolls and Hard Cider
Key numbers to remember regarding carbonation While some people enjoy their hard ciders still or without much noticeable carbonation, others enjoy some bubbles or even sparkling. The fermentation process under open atmospheric conditions at 21C (70F) will naturally have around 0.85 volumes CO2. You may remember from my Mālus Trivium on Volumes CO2 that the … Continue reading Key Carbonation Numbers
