Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
While this is only my third edition of popcorn and hard cider, I’m afraid I’m wearing out my Zippy Pop pan. It’s definitely not new but I do still thoroughly enjoy it. Some of my creations are repeats or slight variations of my first post on popcorn or my second post. However, I also sometimes … Continue reading Popcorn and Hard Cider III
Sorbitol: The Hidden Sweetener I don’t have access to perry pears and am generally limited to dessert pears or cooking pears. I have tried a number of varieties including Asian pears. However, one of my favorites to use is Red Bartlett. I can purchase them locally from a large organic orchard. Many of the dessert … Continue reading Sorbitol: The Hidden Sweetener
This is the second of the non-Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast that I plan to explore next season. In my first post on alternative yeast for hard cider, I covered Lachancea thermotolerans. A yeast that was misclassified for over 70 years before being identified through gene sequencing in 2003. This post is about Hanseniaspora uvarum, which is … Continue reading Alternative Cider Yeast: Hanseniaspora uvarum Overview
Apple Trees: Chill Hours Chill hours are defined as the number of hours below 45F (7C) but above 32F (0C) that your tree will experience in a given calendar year. Most apples trees need at least 1,000 chill hours each year. That’s around 42 days or 11% of the available days or hours in a … Continue reading Apple Tree Chill Hours
As I noted in my Mâlus Trivium post about potential alternative yeast for hard cider, there are several I plan to trial for the next season so I thought I would highlight each. One of those is Lachancea thermotolerans. The Lanchancea genus is a relatively newcomer from a classification perspective. In 2003, a new multi-gene … Continue reading Alternative Cider Yeast: Lachancea thermotolerans Overview
Killer toxins to prevent Brettanomyces spoilage In my research on preservatives like Campden (potassium metabisulfite) and potassium sorbate that are commonly used in wine and cider to preserve the cider as well as prevent residual sugar from fermenting, I was always interested in finding alternative methods. Preserving hard cider is generally about stopping various bacteria … Continue reading Natural Preservatives: Killer Factors
Nothing does a better job of showcasing hard cider than food. My wife and I are hopeful that we can soon restart our cider parties. In the meantime, we continue to explore different food and cider pairings. One of my recent favorites was a spicy Thai chicken soup with rice noodles that my wife made. … Continue reading Thai Chicken Soup and Cider
Apple Tree Propagation: Scion and Bud Grafting Apple trees do not grow true from seeds. Just like people, they take genes from both parents and create a new apple. It may have characteristics of one or both or may end up being something completely different, like your blonde haired sibling in the family. To reproduce … Continue reading Apple Tree Propagation: Scion and Bud Grafting
Being able to create a hard cider with some residual sweetness is often referred to as the holy grail of cider. The reason for this is because that sweetness can be used to balance the high acids often found in dessert apples and the tannins found in cider apples. This cider season I set about … Continue reading Experiments in Sweetness: Sweet Hard Cider
The impact of ploidy on apple tree pollination. Apple trees are generally not self fertile and even those advertised as such will often be more productive if there is a second variety nearby(1). That doesn’t mean a second tree of the same variety. That means a second variety of apple: GoldRush, Arkansas Black, Dabinett, Yarlington … Continue reading Apple Tree: The Pollination Impact of Ploidy
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