Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
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
Phenolic compounds found in Arkansas Black apples. One of the biggest challenges most home cider makers face is finding apples that will provide sufficient phenolic compounds. The answer to the problem is often literally staring us in the face. It is the apple peel. “Apple Phenolics” is my attempt to guide home cider makers on … Continue reading Apple Phenolics: Arkansas Black
Phenolic compounds found in GoldRush apples. One of the biggest challenges most home cider makers face is finding apples that will provide sufficient phenolic compounds. The answer to the problem is often literally staring us in the face. It is the apple peel. “Apple Phenolics” is my attempt to guide home cider makers on how … Continue reading Apple Phenolics: GoldRush
Polysaccharides and their influence on wine. Polysaccharides are carbohydrates, which are basically simple sugars, monosaccharides like glucose and fructose, linked together in long chains. Yeast can break these down into the simple sugars for use in creating ATP for reproduction. However, polysaccharides also react and combine with many endogenous compounds found in wine and cider. … Continue reading Cider Words: Polysaccharides
I have been harvesting and including apple peels in my hard cider for several years. As I have noted in other articles (see the tips page), peels are an excellent way to enhance the organoleptic properties of your hard cider. Want a darker hue to your cider, include peels from red apples in your fermenter. … Continue reading Apple Peel Preparation
The simple answer to why apples brown after being sliced is polyphenols and oxygen. Polyphenols in the apple flesh oxidize and turn brown. That’s the shortest Mālus Trivium I have ever written! Well, maybe there is a little bit more to it. As with most things about apples and hard cider, the answer is often … Continue reading Why do apples turn brown?
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
I’ve talked about the color of hard cider and how the process for making wine can be used as a reference. This is because like wine, cider color can be influenced by the fruit as well as the process. In another post on hard cider color, I explored how to make what I call silver … Continue reading Exploring the Colors of Hard Cider
Fruit ripeness can impact a variety of compounds. Ripeness is usually associated with sweetness so confirming that apple cultivars have higher sugars and lower malic acid as they ripen(1), makes sense. It’s always good when what we think it logical is confirmed by science. However, I found it interesting that when O. Laaksonen and associates … Continue reading The Impact of Fruit Ripeness
Apple peels can be yellow, green, red, blushed, streaked, sunburnt, and russeted. However, after noting the wonderful colors and even texture, we often ignore them once we start the cider making process. Did you realize that those peels are potentially the single most powerful ingredient in your cider making process? Most cider makers ignore and … Continue reading Apple Peels: The Missing Ingredient of Hard Cider
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