Organic?

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BadgerBrigade

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I am pretty new to brewing cider. I like the idea of being a naturalist. I don't like the thought of adding metabisulfite and different chemicals to brew... I'm sure it's okay, it just feels kind of funny to me to put any chemical substance into my brew.... I know some of these things are natural but once they've been processed by man they just don't seem so natural anymore to me. But I was in Trader Joe's the other day and I saw an organic cider. It was Samuel Smith's organic cider...
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My question is what makes a cider organic and what would make it not organic?
When I rack to my secondary I add fresh juice... And when I back sweeten I will have natural juice and nothing else. Does that make my cider organic?
 
I am assuming organic cider is pressed with organic apples, meaning the trees were not fed with man made chemical's, nor were chemicals used for pest control. Also I believe the tree is probably a clone off of an organic tree, not a hybrid bred one....
 
IIRC to be able to put 'organic' on the label, the fruit must be grown organically and certified as such. Meaning all sprays and fertilizers must be organic or certified organic as well. No sulfites allowed during production of the cider either.

I'm a big fan of being good land stewards and leaving the earth better than how we found it but the 'organic' label doesn't stand for much anymore. Factory farms can be 'organic' while being much worse for the environment that a well cared for standard farm. For the record, I'm not claiming anything negative about Samuel Smith.
 
Potassium metabisulfite and campden tablets are both products which can be obtained in organic form. Check out 7 Bridges Brewing co-op in Santa Cruz. They are an all organic home brew supply.
 
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