modern cider

So cider was probably the very first alcoholic drink. With the yeast Saccharomyces pombe naturally being found on apple skins ever since we figured out how to make apple juice we've been making cider - or hard cider if you prefer. Either way we've got a lot of cider farms in the UK mostly in the region of Somerset and its always the same old story

1) juice apples (mix of sweet and bittersweet varieties)
2) ferment in big oak vats
3) rack and mature in more big oak vats
=very primitive=

But I came across a delightful cider the other day called Koppaberg
http://www.kopparbergs.com/ it's made in sweden and its amazing; crystal clear fruity and 4.5%.

So here's my plan to recreate it: according to the bottle its made with "apple wine" which is diluted down with a certain amount of apple juice to reach the desired 4.5% but the colour is something else so I reckon it's brewed more like a lager. Lagers originated from these cold areas of europe with the naturally cold climates and Swedens one of the coldest so I'm guessing if you were to ferment at say 8 degrees C and then lager your cider in a fridge at -2degrees C you would achieve a much similar effect.

anyway - I'm off to give it a go

Matt

I have to say i'd prefer a good glass of scrumpy but if you wanted to experiment you'd need to use a lager yeast and (with the British 'Summer' due soon ) a fridge to make sure the fermenting temp didn't rise above the lager yeast range. Good luck!

First batch of lager on the go in the next month - fingers crosses . (nabbed my grans old fridge) although I'm in the market for a chest freezer to mod with a refrigerator thermostat. The only place I've found Koppaberg so far is Wetherspoons - you should hunt one down As far as scrumpy I'd do anything for a glass of Westons "Old Rosie"

frothy said:

As far as scrumpy I'd do anything for a glass of Westons "Old Rosie"

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Old Rosie is one of my favorites at the moment!