Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
We have probably all heard the idiom "You say toe-mah-toe, I say toe-may-toe". Is that like saying a wild ferment and a natural ferment? Are they the same or do they mean different things? What about commercial yeast? As these errant thoughts started swirling in my head, I thought this is the perfect topic for a Cider Musing. I can … Continue reading Cider Musings: Wild or Natural
Musing: I believe you are more likely to create sulfur odors adding yeast nutrients than preventing them. Let me explain. The general belief is that sulfur aromas are created when yeast are stressed and lack nutrients, especially nitrogen. This is a true statement but, it’s also a statement about wine, not cider. Cider will generally … Continue reading Cider Musings: Sulfur Odors
Musing: I believe yeast is the most important factor deciding whether a keeve will be successful or not. Let me explain. Keeving is a process that uses nutrient deprivation to create a naturally sweet hard cider. The main characteristic of a keeve is the formation of a thick cap. It is usually gelatinous but sometimes … Continue reading Cider Musings: Keeving
Acetic acid is generally considered one of the most undesirable compounds found in cider. In very small doses, it can have a positive impact but in general, it is something you should try to avoid because of the vinegary aroma and taste it can produce. You might think that the most common producer of acetic … Continue reading The Overview: Acetic Acid Bacteria
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 … Continue reading The Overview: Lactic Acid Bacteria
Languages often have multiple words that can mean the same thing. They also have words that can mean many different things depending on the context or situation in which they are used. Saying it is chilly, cool, or brisk this morning basically means the same thing. You might want a jacket. The temperature is low. … Continue reading Volatile Acidity Versus Vinegar
Last season, I obtained some additional non-Saccharomyces yeast samples from the USDA-ARS Culture Collection (NRRL), which is based in Illinois. In this batch, I received two strains of Zygosaccharomyces rouxii yeast (Y-229 and Y-1294), which is a species that was positively noted in various research papers. For reference, Y-229 was found in grape must in … Continue reading Non-Saccharomyces Yeast: Zygoscharromyces rouxii Results
Most books on cider making say that sanitation of your cider making equipment is important. Is it really? Those who don’t think it is will often note how cider has been made for centuries with rough equipment that may get rinsed out with some water each year but never sanitized. Like always, the real answer … Continue reading Cider Question: How important is sanitation?
You may have come across a recipe for making cider that calls for the addition of sugar or maybe you add sugar to your cider. The answer to the question of should you add sugar, varies. Fundamentally, you should never need to add sugar to make cider. In fact, in many countries, the addition of … Continue reading Cider Question: Should I add sugar?
Should juice be clear or cloudy, or does it really matter? If you are like me, you might think that cloudy juice will provide more flavor. But, as I have learned and demonstrated with some experiments, clearer juice actually creates more fruity aromas. Juice with high turbidity (cloudy) or colloidal compounds means it has higher … Continue reading Cider Question: Should my juice be clear or cloudy?
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