HOMEBREW Digest #34 Fri 23 December 1988

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	FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
		Rob Gardner, Digest Coordinator

Contents:
  Re: Homebrew Digest for December 21, 1988 (a.e.mossberg)

Send submissions to homebrew%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com Send requests to homebrew-request%hpfcmr at hplabs.hp.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Return to table of contents
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 Return to table of contents
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