Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
Have you ever heard of a mistelle? I hadn’t until I was doing some research on pommeau, which is a drink made by blending calvados and apple juice. Calvados is apple brandy, also called applejack in the United States. It is basically cider that has been distilled into a spirit or liquor. If you look … Continue reading Cider Mistelle: A Method for Unique Ciders
Sugar is a fundamental element of making hard cider. Without sugar, yeast couldn’t ferment juice and produce ethanol so we wouldn’t have cider. We also wouldn’t have vinegar because vinegar is formed from the ethanol produced by the sugar. Isn’t it interesting how a single simple compound can have such a dramatic impact on human … Continue reading Cider Fundamentals: Sugar
Maturation: The time needed to make a cider ready to drink. Maturation is defined as the time it takes cider or wine to become ready to drink. I like to broaden that definition to mean the time a cider is stored without preservatives after primary fermentation finishes. I also often call this aging. You can … Continue reading Cider Words: Maturation
Maillard Reactions Create Color and Aroma In 1912, French chemist Louis Camille Maillard identified a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and reducing sugars are those like glucose, fructose, and sucrose. This is a common reaction in bread and baked foods but also occurs in … Continue reading Cider Words: Maillard Reactions
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