Cider work to do...

It's June now, and I find myself playing catch up to get ready for cider
season only three months away. There's the garage/mill to clean out,
scrub down, and prep; supplies to line up and such. The bigger issue is
the 9 carboys and 1 30 gallon tank of cider that need emptying (i.e.
blending, stabilizing, kegging/bottling, etc) from last year, and
bottles to wash...
It'll happen, in due time.

TB

Bastard Cider: Latest Cider Competition Results

I sent my 2007 Kingston Black Special Reserve off to the Great Lakes International Cider and Perry competition in early December and took home a silver medal. This event is the preeminent cider event in the US with exceptionally well-trained judges thanks in no small part to Gary Awdey's (and others) judge training sessions. Now I'm not greedy, and am very happy and honored to be recognized with a silver which I feel is a very respectable award. So when I get the judge sheets back I was interested in the comments behind the ranking. I don't have them in front of me but the gist was that it was a great british cider, true to style aside from one thing...apple aroma. According to the BJCP Cider Guidelines English Ciders should have "No overt apple character, but various flavors and esters that suggest apples. May have “smoky (bacon)” character from a combination of apple varieties and MLF. Some “Farmyard nose” may be present but must not dominate; mousiness is a serious fault. The common slight farmyard nose of an English West Country cider is the result of lactic acid bacteria, not a Brettanomyces contamination..."

This cider was fermented from 100% Kingston Black, reknowned as the premier British cider apple. Given that, and the management of the juice and fermentation, and the dryness of the finished cider, it seemed like the best (only?) category to put it in.

So the general comments stated that the cider was really good, but it was out-of-style because it has a nice apple aroma and flavor. This flavor was deliberately kept in their through cold fermentation and multiple racking, and I consider it a testament to my skill (hand pats self on back) to make a fruity, but not overly so, cider from this apple.
So the judges did their job correctly in ranking the cider based on the guidelines, and I feel the guidelines are correct in their definition of true English Cider. Does a fruit-forward cider made with English fruit therefore belong in another category? I would guess 'Common Cider" would fit the bill, but that is to be made from "...culinary/table apples, with wild or crab apples often used for acidity/tannin balance..."

I guess I'll just be happy with my admittedly good, award-winning, bastard of a Kinston Black cider.

TB

Cider Vinegar Available

Hey Folks:

I still have a good bit of my all-natural Live Mother Cider Vinegar
around, so if anyone wants some, give me a shout via the email link in
the right column. Price same as in the garage, $7 for 750 ml. Bulk
orders are good, I'd do a case for $60 ($5 per bottle).

TB

"Miss'n Apple Cider"

Don't know about the 'rotten fruit' part, but this is pretty cool (I'll even let it mess with my window size):

[Fwd: Commercial Cider Mills in Washington State]

Terry:

Just read through your website and would like to provide some more cider
mills for your consideration.

I am a fairly new home cider maker with no financial connections to some
of the commercial cider mills (Sweet & Hard Cider) from around
Washington State (from a short Google search):

*_SWEET CIDER:_*
http://www.bellewoodapples.com/

http://www.allaboutapples.com/orchard/wa02.htm

http://www.washingtonapplecountry.com/

http://www.lattinscider.com/applecider.html

http://www.orondociderworks.com/

*_HARD CIDER:_*
http://www.washingtonapplecountry.com/

http://www.fishbrewing.com/ciders.html

http://www.tulipvalley.net/

http://www.bluemountaincider.com/?page_id=9

There is also a Pacific Northwest Cider Society that may be of interest,
see their site at:
http://www.nwcider.org/index.html

Best Regards,
Carl

2008 Cider Season by the Numbers

Sweet Juice (jugs) sold......279 gallons
Sweet juice unsold (vinegar, frozen, given away)......111 gal
Fermenting stock sold......243 gal
TB's fermenting stock......100 gal; 1/2 will go to vinegar
Vinegar sold......4 cases
Total # Squeezes......54
Total Gallons Squeezed......780
Profit (juice sales - apples, jugs,etc.)......$1800
Mill improvements (Pan, steelwork, paint)......$450
Net Profit......$1350
Hours spent......100 (very conservative)
Return on time ($/hour)......$13.50

Not included is initial cost of mill, home orchard, etc that could
probably be amortized over say ten years for about $350 per year, puts
my time under $10 per hour.

Obviously I don't do this for money, but more to spread the good cider
culture about and cover my expenses while I'm at it. Also not taken
into account here is the lack of a day off from Labor Day to Halloween,
and Julie's time spent tending to Alice and out home life alone while
I'm squeezing away. I need to officially thank Julie and Alice for all
they deal with while I'm hiding out in the garage on weekends.

Worth it? Yes, but I'm always glad when the season's over, and look
forward to it as it begins. Sounds like it's balanced itself out a
little. And no, I don;t ever plan on going into November.

TB

Wild stuff

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in
waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht
the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total
mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the
huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but, the wrod as a wlohe.

Ptetry amzanig huh?

Re: Keeving Question

Dave:

Gary Awdey has produced some nice instructions of getting a keeve
going. I don't have them handy but they can be summarized as such:
Since you are starting with a juice with a good proportion of
bittersweets I don't see where PME enzyme is necessary, and as we
discussed it isn't really available in the states anyway.Allow the juice
to rest in a cool spot, preferably <50F, around 40 is better. Add your
CaCl at a rate of about 9 grams per 5 gallons, a little more won't hurt.
Keep the carboy covered, a dry airlock or even a condom works well.
Watch for signs of keeving over the next few days. Gel should start to
form within a few days; the key point is when it coagulates and rises to
the top of the carboy. Siphon the clear juice under the gel into a
fresh carboy. Sometimes the cap just won't float up, in this case you
can do a 'bottom keeve' and siphon the juice off the top of the gel.
There are some pictures on my website
<http://www.lostmeadowvt.com/cider/keeve.htm>. I've had some problems
getting spontaneous ferments from the press this year, so you may want
to pitch a few grains of packaged wine yeast into the juice at the start
of the whole process. Ferment to clarified juice as you would any cider
or wine, but keep it cool. You may wish to rack it in midwinter if a
good yeast bed forms.

Good luck!

TerryB

> Hi Terry,
>
> Thanks again for the cider and the carboys. Since I have my mind set
> on doing French cider, I probably could not have found a better
> contact than you. I appreciate all the advice and support.
>
> A question about the keeving process: Apart from putting some calcium
> chloride in the cider you gave me, do I need to do anything else? I
> will be keeping the jugs in my cider room (soon to be finished) in my
> basement and I will try to keep the temperature there at around 50
> degrees once it gets colder). How long should it take for the keeving
> to happen, a month? two months?
>
> Thanks very much.
>
> Best,
>
> Dave