Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
What is respiration and how is it different from fermentation? Have you ever heard that oxygen is bad and to avoid oxygen exposure when fermenting hard cider? It is or at least it can be. Yes, this is another one of those questions where the answer is, it depends. Generally speaking, yeast have two main … Continue reading Respiration versus Fermentation
Winter: Lager yeast fermented hot and aged on hickory. One day I woke up with a crazy idea for a hard cider recipe. Okay, it’s more than one day but, sometimes they actually work. I had been reading about fermentation temperatures and whether hotter or colder fermentations are better. I noted that much of the … Continue reading Making Winter Cider
The Source of Aroma Compounds In Hard Cider The aroma of hard cider is vital to its flavor and ultimately, it’s quality. If a cider has unpleasant or off-flavors, it can turn off potential drinkers or for home cider makers, the loss of bragging rights at your next get-together or family reunion. That aroma is … Continue reading Hard Cider Aroma Sources
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
