Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
Blue Flame Cider Label My love of spicy food has been carrying over into my cider making. One of my favorites from last year was my cider mistelle, Ruby Reaper. It uses Carolina Reaper peppers, which were considered the world’s hottest pepper. I also made a hop and pepper cider called Flamin’ Hops that you … Continue reading Making Blue Flame Cider
Understanding pH to Make Better Cider Have you ever thought about what pH really means and why it might be important to cider making? Well you should. It is one of the key measurements that can help you make better hard cider. It’s also one if the easiest to measure since inexpensive and reasonably accurate … Continue reading CiderWords: pH
I did a previous experiment using heavy toasted French and American oak on a cider to see if we could recognize a difference in the aromas. This led to using oak more often and to even start experimenting with different wood, like maple, hickory, and birch. Wood is a great adjunct for cider. Besides adding … Continue reading Aging Cider with Oak
Proanthocyanidins Characteristics Besides providing hard cider with organoleptic benefits, like bitterness and astringency, phenolic compounds can provide valuable health benefits. The old adage of an apple a day keeps the doctor away has a lot of truth to it. Many studies have shown the healthful benefits derived from the moderate consumption of red wine. These … Continue reading Cider and Health – Proanthocyanidins
Flora Dora Cider Mistelle Label Flora Dora is another fortified hard cider recipe. It is what I call a cider mistelle. I put mistelles in my Dessert style of ciders. These are ciders with higher levels of alcohol and are normally served with the dessert course. The dryer versions I sometimes serve as apéritifs and … Continue reading Making Flora Dora Cider Mistelle
Harrison Apple Phenolic Compounds Since I have been using Harrison apples as my reference for Apple Phenolics, I thought it would be good to provide the details of the Harrison apple. This was an apple lost in American for years. Like so many American apples, especially cider varieties, it fell out of favor along with … Continue reading Apple Phenolics: Harrison
If your hard cider is hazy, it has colloids. Cider colloids are a mixture of small particles or compounds that are insoluble and evenly suspended within your cider. Colloids are generally compounds made up of carbohydrates, color compounds, or proteins(1). The carbohydrates and color compounds are usually derived from the fruit. The proteins are usually … Continue reading Hazy Cider: Colloids
Phenolic compounds found in Red Delicious apples. In this Apple Phenolics we look at the ubiquitous commercial apple that seems to get little love: Red Delicious. When it was discovered and propagated, I’m sure it was a winner. It’s a lovely red color with a fine shape. It a low acid apple that makes it … Continue reading Apple Phenolics: Red Delicious
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
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