Monday, August 28, 2017

#7 - Fresh Juice - And still learning

Recently I had a cider making friend share a post on Facebook that the new cidery at Lake Anna, Coyote Hole, was selling fresh pressed unpasteurized apple cider. (Keep in mind that fresh cider is juiced pressed from apples and hard cider is the juice post fermentation.) I was so pumped and that weekend my wife and I drove the hour drive to have lunch on the water and to purchase 2 gallons of fresh juice. Why is this such a big deal you may ask? Why can't you just go purchase juice from the store? Store bought pasteurized juice has either been stripped of certain elements to produce other products and/or the pasteurization strips flavors and aromas. This in turns does not ferment as well as unpasteurized fresh juice straight from the press. Store bought juice after fermentation will lack tastes and tends to be watery tasting.

A couple days later, I made a stop at our local home brew store and picked up 4 packs of yeast and campden tablets. My goal was to split the 2 gallons into 4 half gallon experiments, each with a different type of yeast. I've heard a lot good things from cider makers who have worked with champagne and white wine yeast. I also heard ale yeast can add a certain level of spice to your end product. I picked up one of each and rounded out my selection with the cider yeast that I have been utilizing in my first several batches.

I got home and in my excited I started cleaning and sterilizing all my fermenters, bungs, and airlocks immediately. I popped open the ale yeast and hydrated it in a little water and poured it into one of the fermenters with the juice. The moment I finished pouring the yeast, it hit me, this juice is unpasteurized and unpasteurized juice may contain wild yeast and bacteria from the apples and this could destroy my cider during fermentation. When dealing with unpasteurized juice, you have to crush and drop a campden tablet into the juice to kill all the wild yeast and most of the bacteria. Campden tablets take about 24 hours to work and then the cider maker can pitch the strain of yeast they desire. I had to take a step back and take care of that. I went ahead and pour the juice into their fermenters and crushed campden tablets and dropped the dust into each jug. I sealed each fermenter up and allowed them to sit for 24 hours. The next day, I picked up where I had left off and pitched the yeast.

The next issue I ran into was sealing the fermenters with the bungs and airlocks. The bungs kept sliding up the opening and wouldn't stay sealed. I tried taking a clean paper towel and wiped the bung and the inside of fermenter. Replacing the airlock, it seamed to seal, but when I checked it a few hours later, it had slid up again. I tried to get smart. I separated the bung and airlock and tried pressing the bung into the fermenter first. My hope was that in adding the airlock second, the airlock would push the bung outward press against the inside of the fermenter to seal. As soon as I applied any force the thin plastic airlock broke. A quick snap! And it left a small hole in the bottom of the airlock. It was late at night and I didn't have an extra airlock. The only thing I could think of was wrapping and trying to seal the hole with plastic wrap until I could purchase a new airlock.

The first thing I did the next morning was head back to my local brew store to purchase a replacement airlock. I told the owner what had happened. He just chuckled and shook his head at me. He then mentioned that some wine makers will plug their fermenter with a clean paper towel when they are in a pinch. He didn't recommend doing it, but it was just something he had heard when people are in a similiar situation.

It's been two days since I pitched the yeast now. Two of the four have started bubbling. The other two have been a struggle to keep sealed, but after wiping them down with a dry wash cloth, I finally got them to stick! I am hoping to see their airlocks bubble soon. I plan is to allow these ciders to sit in primary and secondary for longer amount of time than when I ferment the store bought juice. I am so excited for the finished product!



Sunday, August 20, 2017

#6 - My First Review - Estate Reserve Semi-Dry Cider by Black Bird Cider Works




This will be my first full cider review, or at least my first full attempt. I will be enlisting resources from two books to help me describe notes. The first is "Cider Hard and Sweet" by Ben Watson and the second is "Tasting Cider" by Erin James and Cider Craft Magazine. I barely used Watson's book but largely relied on the flavor wheel found in "Tasting Cider."

I have been contemplating on which cider to pick for my first review. I thought maybe it would be easier trying to write about a cider that I have enjoyed many times through. I've never fully tried breaking down a cider before, nor do I consider myself a very good writer. Or, do I go down the spontaneous route and pick out something new?

I went spontaneous. While at Wegmans I reached for a cider that I have had my eye on for a while. Estate Reserve Semi-Dry Hard Cider by Black Bird Cider Works. Black Bird is located in western New York state near Lake Ontario. The cider comes in a 4 pack of 12 oz aluminum cans. I believe they were listed for $8.99 (don't quote me on that). The alcohol content is listed at 6.9% ABV.

Black Bird describes this cider as a "medium dry hard apple cider with a fruity apple aroma, crisp refreshing taste and a light finish. This classic American session cider pairs well with a wide range of artisan fare." Their website was a little more vague with its description: "A dry, lightly carbonated English style draft cider with an apple bouquet and honey notes."

On pouring the cider, a head immediately appeared and dissipated quickly. It had a strong carbonation with a lot of little bubbles appearing in the glass. I am still a little weak in color descriptors but I would classify the cider with a brilliant pale straw color. You be the judge.

On the nose I first felt like I was about to drink Mott's apple juice. And as I took sips and continue to sniff, I began to find aromas of uncooked apples.and vague notes of honey. 

On the palate, I got a soft acidic crisp taste with light amounts of citrus. It feels a little astringent as I swish the cider around my mouth. It has good carbonation with tiny bubbles. I know Black Bird describes it with a light finish, but I don't quite get that. It finishes thick with an after taste of maple syrup or honey. I am not quite fond of this component and it reminds me of Crispins "The Saint" in which they add apple juice concentrate to get this finish. 


As an overall view, I do like it. This won't be a go to cider for me. It's something that I have enjoyed and definitely appreciate. I don't care for the price of almost $10 for 4 cans, especially since it comes across more like a commercial cider than a craft. I'd rather spend the same amount to get a 6 pack of Bold Rock. It most resembles a Crispin. It starts refreshing and ends a bit syrupy. It does smells wonderful and looks great. 

Monday, August 14, 2017

#5 - Homemade Scratter and New Press

I am so excited for apple picking season! Last week I just put together my apple scratter and received my new apple press.

Apple scratters online are outrageously priced. So I googled DIY apple scratters and presses to build my own. I discovered many different varieties of machines people have put together. One guy bolted together a scratter with pieces of old wood he had lying around. He created a frame, crank handle and attached a wooden wheel to it. In the wheel he drilled screws in halfway that would dig into the apples and slowly pull them apart as he cranked the wheel. It was a simple contraption but would take some time and I didn't have the tools as well. Soon after I came across a YouTube video of a guy who had bolted a new garbage disposal to an old table and attached a large bowl with the bottom cut out to the top to it. He would feed the apples into the bowl, which would fall into the disposal and it would mash them up and spit them out of the side pipe into a bucket. It was simple and quite inexpensive compared to buying a new scratter online. I purchased my new disposal at lowes for $90 and a 2 gallon food grade bucket (also from lowes). I cut a hole in the bottom of the bucket and bolted the disposal to the bucket. It was pretty awesome.

As for the press I had managed to find a small fruit press online for around $65. It came with a small base, wood cage, and a handful of small wooden blocks to help press the fruit.

Once I got everyone together, I decided to test everything out! I grabbed some store bought granny smith apples chopped them up to remove the core and seeds. As I tossed the slices into the disposal, it quickly diced the apples up and spit out the pulp.


After I grounded up all my apples, I placed my mesh bag into my pressed and began pouring the apple pulp into the press. I wrapped the bag up to close it, placed the wooden pieces over top of it, and began cranking on the press. My first issue I discovered, at least with using so few number of apples, is that the crank screws down into the wood cage and you cant use the handle to get any leverage on the crank. I had to hand screw the press down. It still worked, however, I knew I would be leaving a little bit of juice behind in the pulp. I will have to get some bigger wooden blocks to help press every little bit of juice out of the apples.

As I cranked, the juice began to seep out from the wood cage and drain into my bucket. The juice was clear and tan as it dripped. When I was done, I poured into a wine glass and enjoyed a fresh glass of fresh cider. The clearness had dissapated to cloudy and the color had darkened.

Friday, August 11, 2017

#4 Lessons learned

Tuesday was an extremely productive day in my cider making journey. I started by bottling my 3rd batch. I had high hopes for this batch. It had sat in primary fermentation with Trader Joe's cider, extra sugar for alcohol boost, and a half of can of frozen apple juice concentrate for flavor boost. I allowed it to ferment for about two weeks. During this time I also set aside a container of oak chips soaking in bourbon. I racked this batch into secondary a couple weeks ago and added the soaked chips to a mesh bag and added that into the jug. It was quite difficult to squeeze the bag through the little whole of the jug with all of the oak chips and I had to slowly feed it through. I allowed the cider to sit in secondary for another 2 weeks.

On Tuesday, I bottled this batch. Each bottle I added a varying degree of splenda to experiment with back sweetening. I also bottled two bottles with zero sugar or splenda. I wanted to try it with out any carbonation or sweetener. The carbonation process should take about 2-3 weeks before I can pop those open.

I chilled the still cider and tried it that night. When poured it into a glass the aromas were awesome. I could definitely pull the bourbon with a hint of apple and butter from the oak. However, I quickly learned that oak chips, if left in the cider for too long, can create a very overpowering taste. The bourbon flavor was a tad extreme as well. Being that the juice was store bought, the cider itself didn't carry a lot of flavor to it and all you could really taste was a watery oak and bourbon. It was disappointing. I am hoping once the bottles are fully carbonated that it will have a better taste. Allowing the cider to age a little longer may help smooth the flavors out as well.

I also racked batch number 4. This batch has been in primary fermentation for about two weeks and was made from McCutcheons unfilter apple cider (unfiltered as in it still had its pulp from the apples and was cloudy). I added a half of can of frozen cherry apple juice concentrate for flavor boost and sugar for alcohol boost. I siphoned the cider into a fresh jug and added two cinnamon sticks. From what I have learned from the oak chips, I may rack the cider for a third fermentation to pull the cider off the cinnamon sticks. I don't want it to have an overpowering cinnamon flavor. I will taste test it in about a weeks time and make a decision on my next move.


Wednesday, August 2, 2017

#3 Trader Joe's Apple Cider

With the excitement of starting my first batch of cider, I quickly I wanted to start a second batch. I believe at this point, I had found out that my first batch, made with juice from a Fuji apple, may not turn out very well. If you read my second post, I found out that Fuji apples are considered a dessert apple and dessert apples don't always handle fermentation well. So I went out in search of another apple juice. I first looked in Whole Foods and all I could find was the same Fuji juice I had used on batch #1. My next store I went into was Trader Joe's. They had their own pressed apple cider. I quickly grabbed a gallon off the shelf and took home to start my second batch.

As with my first batch, I added nothing to the juice with the exception of the yeast. The yeast I was using was Premium House Select Cider Yeast. My understanding was that this yeast's optimum temperature for brewing hovered around 65-70 degrees F. It was the perfect selection being that I didn't have a room colder than 70 degrees. In fact the coldest room in the house is the half bath we have downstairs. It is easily cooler than any room in the house. We keep our house around 72-74 degrees. I estimate that the downstairs bath hovers around 68-72 depending on the weather outside. So yes, my half bath is also my fermentation room.

My Trader Joe's batch sat in it's primary fermentation for about two weeks before I racked it into secondary. I was able to get my first test taste and my specific gravity reading at this point. It's taste was sub-par. It was a bit tart, bitter, and watery.

Specific gravity readings measure the bouyance of the fluid and can give you a estimated alcohol by volume reading (% ABV). The initial reading before primary was right at 1.052 which gave me a target of around 6.5% ABV. After primary, the reading was at .998 and gave me an estimated 6.7% ABV. This is a normal ABV for a juice bought out of store and with no added sugar.

After waiting for another 2 weeks while it sat in secondary fermentation, I bottled it. I added 1/2 teaspoon of dextrose (priming sugar/white powder sugar) to each bottle to naturally carbonate. In addition, I split my batch into nine 12oz bottles. The first 3 bottles received no Splenda, the next three received 1/8 teaspoon, and the last 3 received 2/8 teaspoon. Artificial sweetener is used to back sweeten the cider as the yeast will eat up any actual sugars.

I boxed the bottles up to store and wait another 2 weeks. During this phase the yeast is eating up the dextrose and producing carbon dioxide and alcohol. Since the bottles are bottle capped and no gas can leave the bottle, it gets infused into the liquid and carbonates the cider.

At the end of the 2 weeks, I cracked one open to test carbonation levels and to taste. I was disappointed when I popped the top and barely heard any fizz. Upon tasting, it was gross. It had a slight tart and was very watery tasting. I couldn't even drink it. I dumped it down the drain. I still have the other 8 bottles and I am hoping with a little more time carbonation will increase and taste will improve some, however, I don't have high hopes.

I currently have 2 other batches going with added ingredients. My hopes are these will turn out better. More about those future posts to come.

#7 - Fresh Juice - And still learning

Recently I had a cider making friend share a post on Facebook that the new cidery at Lake Anna, Coyote Hole, was selling fresh pressed unp...