Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
Aroma apples add complexity to a cider blend. Cider apples are often referenced as Sweets, Bittersweets, Sharps, and Bittersharps. However, this doesn’t highlight a key element that contributes to great hard cider: Aroma. Aroma in hard cider come mostly from esters and alcohols but aldehydes, ketones, and ethers can also contribute. These compounds are created … Continue reading Aroma Apples
That rotten egg smell is hydrogen sulfide and there are 3 common ways it’s created. Have you ever made a hard cider and noticed a rotten egg smell? That is hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the most common yeast used to ferment hard cider, wine, and beer, can create hydrogen sulfide through 3 main pathways(1). … Continue reading The Source of Rotten Egg Smells (H2S) in Cider
Alternative Cider Yeast: Exploring High Aroma Non-Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Yeast While Saccharomyces Cerevisiae is the dominant yeast use for beer and wine, is it the best yeast for making hard cider? Many Saccharomyces Cerevisiae strains used for beer have mutated through yeast harvesting, cropping, and selective pressure placed on them over many years. These have created … Continue reading Exploring Alternative Hard Cider Yeasts
ATP: The energy used to power fermentation You might be asking what ATP is and why you should care. Besides being the energy source for many cell activities, even those in our own bodies, it is what allows yeast to ferment sugar into alcohol. Without ATP, we wouldn’t have hard cider. I have discussed yeast … Continue reading ATP: Adenosine Triphosphate
Polyphenols: The peel and the core Polyphenols are also often called tannins. These compounds are most associated with the bitterness and astringency of hard cider but can also impact color and mouthfeel. There are several types of polyphenols including flavonoids and phenolic acids. Apples, like most fruit, concentrate polyphenols in the peel and the core … Continue reading Polyphenol Concentration in Apples
The impact of MLF on Specific Gravity Malolactic Fermentation, also known as MLF, is the conversion of malic acid to lactic acid by lactic acid bacteria, known as LAB. It was mistakenly called fermentation because of the decarboxylation that occurs in the process. While we tend to think specific gravity measures the sugar in your … Continue reading The Impact of Malolactic Fermentation on Specific Gravity
Cider Oxygenation: The amount of oxygen added to cider by processing It is often stated that you want to avoid oxygen exposure to your hard cider after fermentation begins. While this is a good practice, like most questions related to the production of hard cider, the answer often is it depends. With wine, micro-oxygenation can … Continue reading Cider Oxygenation – The Impact by Process
Modifying genes in yeast can impact how it processes sucrose. Sacharomyces Cerevisiae is the most commonly used yeast for wine, beer, bread, and cider maker. When Saccharomyces cerevisiae DNA was sequenced in 1996, there were around 6,000 genes identified. These genes, which are located in the 16 chromosomes, are what define and regulate biological information … Continue reading Gene Experiments – Sucrose Fermentation
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae: DNA Sequenced in 1996 Saccharomyces cerevisiae was the first eukaryotic to have its DNA sequenced(1). It all started in 1992 when the first chromosome (III) was sequenced and published. 15 more chromosomes followed between 1994 and 1996 completing all 16 chromosomes found in the yeast. This effort was accomplished through a collaborative effort … Continue reading Yeast DNA
Acrolein Pathway Piqûre Acroléique... If you are like me, you may still be wondering how that is pronounced. Then, you might be wondering what it is and what it has to do with apples or hard cider. Piqûre Acroléique is the creation of 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde (3-HPA) from glycerol, which is created by a lactic acid bacteria … Continue reading Piqûre Acroléique
PricklyCider.com 