Bibulous

Recipes 

Anyone have info / a method or recipe for Basque cider?

Travelling around San Sebastian in the Basque country, I got to try the local cider - amaaaazing! It is definitely different from other ciders: not nearly as sweet - a tiny bit sour, in fact - but great with food and especially on a hot day. I think the fermentation is 'malo-lactic'? Does that require a different culture than just yeast? Thanks for any light you can shed...!

Orfy

Recipes 

__________________
GET THE GOBLIN
Have a beer on me.

Bibulous

Recipes 

Thanks Orfy! I actually saw that article in my googling...

does anyone know how malo-lactic fermentation is done?

flowerysong

Recipes 

Add a malolactic culture (liquid or powder) and let the bacteria do their magic.

__________________
Primary #1 - Empty
Primary #2 - Empty
Secondary #1 - The Jolly Toper's Undrinkable Ale
Secondary #2 - Empty

bro

Recipes 

It's spontaneous fermentation only, otherwise it can't be legally called sagarno in Basque, or sidra natural in Spanish

mrfocus

Recipes 

Or let the finished cider on the lees for a while.

There's also something called batonnage (you stir up the yeast a lot) after alcoholic fermentation is done. It's supposed to start malo-lactic fermentation.

Which, by the way, gives cider a softer taste (malic acid is harsher than lactic acid).

__________________
MOD EDIT: Sig only takes up 6 lines now. Fermenting: Apple cider x 2, Doppelbock, Red, Oatmeal Stout, West Coast IPA x 2
Bottle conditioning: RIS
Keg conditioning: La Fin du Monde clone
On tap: Maudite clone, Double Munchen, Oktoberfeast, Oktoberfest Pilsner
Planning: Brewed in 2011: 22 (2010: 15, 2009: 29, 2008: 21, 2007: 1)
Wine made in 2010: 6 kits (2009: 19, 2008: 30)

bro

Recipes 

here's another article

Sagardotegi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

ssf

Recipes 

my apologies in advance for digging up an ancient thread, but there is really not a lot of information online about creating basque ciders and I wanted to relay my experiences.

I made a batch of cider from pasteurized, unfiltered juice to which I added red star montrachet yeast and bottle dregs from a couple bottles of basque cider (isastegi and sarasola: see http://www.overcarbed.com/?p=1616). about a month later I went to rack the cider and discovered an impressive pellicle along with a very lambic-like aroma similar to the ciders from which I had pulled the dregs.

the cider appears to be "sick" at the moment, but I will update with results in a few (6+) months with future developments. I'm thinking about adding oak cubes, and maybe attempting another batch with a less attenuative yeast.

__________________
http://overcarbed.com

flowerysong

Recipes 

That's pretty funky looking.

__________________
Primary #1 - Empty
Primary #2 - Empty
Secondary #1 - The Jolly Toper's Undrinkable Ale
Secondary #2 - Empty

jusware

Recipes 

ssf .. is there an update on your cider? I just had one get infected with lacto and it is starting to get a pellicle.