Craft Hard Cider: Recipes, Tips, and Ideas for Making & Enjoying Hard Cider
Chemoorganotroph: Creating energy from organic compounds. You must wonder where I find some of my cider words, especially a word like chemoorganotroph. It sounds made up, but I promise that it’s not. I was reading the Handbook of Enology Volume 1 (1), when I came across this gem of a word. The book highlighted how … Continue reading Cider Words: Chemoorganotroph
Transamination: A binding of amino groups to form new aroma compounds. If you are like me, you’re probably wondering how to say it let alone what it is. But, transamination is one of the most important and positive chemical reactions that can happened to your cider. It involves the transfer of an amino group from … Continue reading Cider Words: Transamination
Types of Cider Drinks Just like wine, you can distill cider into a spirit. Please recognize that this process is illegal in many countries without a specific license. This is because it can be dangerous. One reason is because of the method, heating a flammable liquid, often over an open flame, and the other is … Continue reading Cider Words: Pommeau
Systems Biology: Interactomics Yeast were first identified by Pasteur around 1860 and the isolation and propagation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae soon followed. However, for over a hundred years, yeast were mostly isolated from wild fermentations and propagated based on their fermentative and organoleptic properties. Not until the 1990’s did we really start breeding or mutating yeasts … Continue reading Cider Words: Interactomics
Enzymes commonly found in cider and perry. Enzymes are proteins that act as catalyst for chemical reactions. In cider making, they can enable or speed up these reactions. This enzymes can improve clarification, increase juice yield, extract color, enhance aroma and flavor, and stabilize your cider(1). They can also improve the nutritional characteristics of foods … Continue reading Cider Words: Enzymes
Tannin Polymerization Polymerization can be a key part of the aging process for cider. It is a chemical process in which the tannins found in the cider combine to form larger and more complex molecules. This process is enabled by oxygen through oxidative coupling. Tannins are found at higher concentrations in apples known as bitters, … Continue reading Cider Words: Polymerization
Yeast Regulation: Upregulating and Downregulating Yeast are single cell organisms that are seeking to survive and thrive in whatever environment they find themselves. As a single cell organism, we might be inclined to think of them as simple but, that would be a mistake. Yeast have a vast amount of processes they perform to live … Continue reading Cider Words: Yeast Regulation
Cider Aroma Faults: Butter Sometimes too much of a compound is the cause of a fault. Other times, the definition of whether its a fault depends on the beverage. Diacetyl (C4H6O2) is an example of such a compound. In most beers, it’s considered a fault but, in most California chardonnays, it’s desired. Butter is the … Continue reading Aroma Faults: Diacetyl
Yeast Morphology: Common Yeast Shapes Morphology simply means the form or structure of a plant or organism. Yeast morphology in this context is the shape of yeast cells. You may be surprised to learn that not all yeast cells are shaped the same. As a cider maker, if you assess your yeast under a microscope, … Continue reading Cider Words: Yeast Morphology
Cider Aroma Faults - Solvent or Vinegar Some compounds contribute positively, initially. But, if there is too much, they quickly become faults. Ethyl acetate (C5H8O2) is an example of such a compound. In low quantities, it can contribute to the aroma of a cider but in large quantities, it becomes a fault. It will turn … Continue reading Aroma Faults: Solvent
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