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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
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Contents:
  Re: Homebrew Digest for December 21, 1988 (a.e.mossberg)

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Date: Fri, 23 Dec 88 11:54:02 EST
From: a.e.mossberg <aem at ibiza>
Subject: Re: Homebrew Digest for December 21, 1988

In 12/21's Homebrew digest arthur evans asks:

|On a subject more closely related to homebrewing:
|I'm fermenting a batch of hard cider at the moment.
|I didn't add anything to the apple juice except 
|a small quantity of chapagne yeast, and I intend
|to ferment to completion and then bottle with some
|fresh cider for carbonation.  Anyway, I've seen 
|some recipes since I've started, and I seem to be
|going against conventional wisdom: most of them
|call for pounds and pounds of sugar and other nonsense.
|So I'm wondering if anyone out there has made 
|hard cider without added sugar and would like to
|share their experiences.

I think I've dealt with this before, but when I make cider I do this:

	1 gal unfiltered pure apple juice
	remove about 1 pint to allow room for yeast activity
	add 1/3 packet of yeast
	let sit (I let it go 4-10 days)
	replace pint of apple juice from beginning
	place in refrigerator and ouila!

Sometimes I rack the cider before placing in the refrigerator, since there is
a heavy built up of dead yeast (and particulate matter from the apple pressing).

Enjoy!

aem
--
a.e.mossberg    -    aem at mthvax.miami.edu    -    aem at mthvax.span (3.91)
There are a finite number of jokes in the universe.	- David Byrne

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Date: Fri, 23 Dec 88 22:16:12 EST
From: hpfcla!hplabs!amdahl!uunet!ingr!holt!holt
Full-Name: 

Here are some comments on some questions on the net lately.

Hard cider : I made a one gallon test batch about 2 months ago. All I
did was get a one gallon jug of apple juice (I cant bring myself to call
it "cider" - I'm Australian) with no preservatives or sugar in it (it was
"Treetop" brand) and throw in 1/4 cup of sludge from the bottom of a batch
of beer I was bottling (it was Williams wheat beer kit) and whack an
airlock on the jug. It fermented solidly for about 2 weeks, and I bottled it
after about 3 weeks. Since the quantity was small I primed with 1/2 tsp
sugar in the bottles. It came out great - nice dry sparkling cider. The
starting SG was 1.050 and it finished ~.999 so the alcohol content
was about 7%. The only reason I can see to add sugar initially would be
if you wanted a more alcoholic cider. But that just means you cant drink as
much :-).
I'm now making a 5 gallon batch - I started it 3 days ago, and I used
champagne yeast this time. As an experiment I started another one gallon
batch at the same time which is half apple juice and half cranapple juice!
The cranapple juice did have "high fructose corn syrup" in it which is no
problem, but it also has fumaric acid in it. I was worried that might be
a preservative, but the fermentation started OK. Anyone know what fumaric acid
is, and why it would be in the cranapple juice ?

Stuck fermentation : I dont think stuck fermentation is really very common at
all. Quite a few of my fermentations have only lasted a few days - and then
gone almost dormant. The main thing is to check the SG. If its reasonably low
(which will depend on the receipe) and hasnt changed for a few days, its
probably ready to bottle. On the other hand, dont blame me if your bottles
explode!!.

		Jeff Holt		Intergraph Corp HSV,Al
		uunet.ingr.holt.holt

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End of HOMEBREW Digest
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