gregbathurst
Well-Known Member
English craft cider making.
I have read Andrew Lea's excellent book (the goodlife press, Preston, 2008) and looked at internet forums etc and decided to distill a few point about English cider making so people can easily understand the process. It is important to understand this isn't really about recipes. The only ingredient is cider juice with sulphite, it is about methods and the environment. You need the right sort of climate for this method, it won't work for hot dry climates, or places where late season pests and diseases are a real problem. I can't try this sort of thing, my cider ferments quickly and is bottled and drunk within a few months. Very little of this stuff is from my own experience.
Varieties.
Because this method involves a long, slow ferment, it is best to use late season fruit which can be milled and pressed when the weather is cool.
The best varieties seem to be; Bittersweet - Harry masters jersey, dabinett, Yarlington mill. Sweet - sweet alford. Sharp - browns apple. Bittersharp - kingston black. Sweet and sharp apples are used for blending to get a good balance of acidity and tannin. The bittersharps and bittersweets provide the tannin which gives body and flavour, so they are the most important varieties to grow, you can always use dessert or culinary apples for blending. These varieties are not necessary for this method but are regarded as the best varieties. You can make really excellent cider from a lot of other varieties, but for this method you need late ripening apples.
Ripening.
Late varieties can be left on the tree until fully ripe if in good condition. I don't mean they have to look good, they may be quite small and gnarly but need to be free of rot and excessive insect damage ( a grub here and there won't matter). You should be able to get a SG equal to between 6 and 8% abv for the finished cider, preferably around 7%. The problem with bittersweets is that pH can get very high with this late ripening, so other low pH apples are necessary for blending to give a good acidity. Because these varieties only ripen slowly in cool weather, they don't need to be pressed immediately but can be stored for weeks.
Processing.
I won't go into depth here, the milling and pressing is the same for any cider. A popular mill is the stainless steel shredder style "fruit shark". Press designs can be easily found on the internet. Pressing is usually done from late October into December.
Fermenting.
Fermenting is left up to natural yeast. SO2 eg camden tablets is added so that proper fermentation yeasts can dominate over the less desirable yeasts. It is important to remember that this so2 will be inactivated by fermentation. A closed container with a fermentation lock is used.
Temperatures should be kept cool, below 10C, to give a slow gradual fermentation. Without refrigeration this means an uninsulated shed in a cool climate. You need a climate with cold winters but not so cold the cider will be frozen all winter. It isn't unusual for the fermentation to take a couple of weeks to get going. At low temperatures there isn't so much risk of the juice spoiling. If the fermentation is started at slightly higher temps then allowed to cool it helps. Also one batch that has started can be used to inoculate a stubborn batch. SG should only drop gradually and fermentation may even appear to stop. Fermentation will probably be finished sometime in the new year, after which the cider should be racked off the lees into a container with a small headspace.
A natural Malolactic fermentation usually happens as part of the ageing process, when the cider warms up in spring.
Blending.
Cider is usually a blend of varieties. It is good to test for pH and titratable acidity to blend for a cider with good acidity, but tasting is necessary to blend for tannins and aroma. You want a pH around 3.4-3.8 and a TA around 7g/L tartaric, but that is just a rough guide. I don't have experience of this, it's the sort of thing you learn by practise.
Bottling.
The cider can be bottled in spring, but it's mainly consumed in pubs in the "bag in box" type packaging, and is a still, uncarbonated drink. An MLF after bottling may give a little fizz, though not very much. If you want added security it is good to add SO2 before bottling.
I have read Andrew Lea's excellent book (the goodlife press, Preston, 2008) and looked at internet forums etc and decided to distill a few point about English cider making so people can easily understand the process. It is important to understand this isn't really about recipes. The only ingredient is cider juice with sulphite, it is about methods and the environment. You need the right sort of climate for this method, it won't work for hot dry climates, or places where late season pests and diseases are a real problem. I can't try this sort of thing, my cider ferments quickly and is bottled and drunk within a few months. Very little of this stuff is from my own experience.
Varieties.
Because this method involves a long, slow ferment, it is best to use late season fruit which can be milled and pressed when the weather is cool.
The best varieties seem to be; Bittersweet - Harry masters jersey, dabinett, Yarlington mill. Sweet - sweet alford. Sharp - browns apple. Bittersharp - kingston black. Sweet and sharp apples are used for blending to get a good balance of acidity and tannin. The bittersharps and bittersweets provide the tannin which gives body and flavour, so they are the most important varieties to grow, you can always use dessert or culinary apples for blending. These varieties are not necessary for this method but are regarded as the best varieties. You can make really excellent cider from a lot of other varieties, but for this method you need late ripening apples.
Ripening.
Late varieties can be left on the tree until fully ripe if in good condition. I don't mean they have to look good, they may be quite small and gnarly but need to be free of rot and excessive insect damage ( a grub here and there won't matter). You should be able to get a SG equal to between 6 and 8% abv for the finished cider, preferably around 7%. The problem with bittersweets is that pH can get very high with this late ripening, so other low pH apples are necessary for blending to give a good acidity. Because these varieties only ripen slowly in cool weather, they don't need to be pressed immediately but can be stored for weeks.
Processing.
I won't go into depth here, the milling and pressing is the same for any cider. A popular mill is the stainless steel shredder style "fruit shark". Press designs can be easily found on the internet. Pressing is usually done from late October into December.
Fermenting.
Fermenting is left up to natural yeast. SO2 eg camden tablets is added so that proper fermentation yeasts can dominate over the less desirable yeasts. It is important to remember that this so2 will be inactivated by fermentation. A closed container with a fermentation lock is used.
Temperatures should be kept cool, below 10C, to give a slow gradual fermentation. Without refrigeration this means an uninsulated shed in a cool climate. You need a climate with cold winters but not so cold the cider will be frozen all winter. It isn't unusual for the fermentation to take a couple of weeks to get going. At low temperatures there isn't so much risk of the juice spoiling. If the fermentation is started at slightly higher temps then allowed to cool it helps. Also one batch that has started can be used to inoculate a stubborn batch. SG should only drop gradually and fermentation may even appear to stop. Fermentation will probably be finished sometime in the new year, after which the cider should be racked off the lees into a container with a small headspace.
A natural Malolactic fermentation usually happens as part of the ageing process, when the cider warms up in spring.
Blending.
Cider is usually a blend of varieties. It is good to test for pH and titratable acidity to blend for a cider with good acidity, but tasting is necessary to blend for tannins and aroma. You want a pH around 3.4-3.8 and a TA around 7g/L tartaric, but that is just a rough guide. I don't have experience of this, it's the sort of thing you learn by practise.
Bottling.
The cider can be bottled in spring, but it's mainly consumed in pubs in the "bag in box" type packaging, and is a still, uncarbonated drink. An MLF after bottling may give a little fizz, though not very much. If you want added security it is good to add SO2 before bottling.
