Brown cider

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billpa

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Just curious how many people have used brown cider. I have an orchard down the street from me that sells it in one gallon jugs. One thing though is that they are all refrigerated. Actually every brown cider I have come across is always refrigerated. Im wondering if this is because there are no preservatives.

Cheers,
Bill
 
If by brown cider, you mean fresh, unfiltered, that's what I normally use. The orchard I buy from doesn't filter or add preservatives.
 
david_42 said:
If by brown cider, you mean fresh, unfiltered, that's what I normally use. The orchard I buy from doesn't filter or add preservatives.

Do they keep theirs refrigerated? Yes, as far as I know, I mean fresh unfiltered cider.
 
billpa said:
Any ideas? I really want to use this cider but Im afraid of some spoilage because it is refrigerated.

I could be completely wrong... But isn't the point of refrigerating something to keep it from spoiling?
 
I think that's what he means... if it's refrigerated, then he has it at 68-70 for fermentation, something could go wrong.

Me, I have no idea and am trolling this section to get more insight (as I'm probably starting an Apfelwein this weekend) :)
 
Alot of reasoning behind the refrigeration is due to no pres. in the juice. Straight pressed juice without the addition of some acid will discolor very quickly. This is due to oxyidation occuring. Without vaccum packaging the O2 will deteriate the juice without the reduced temps.

In the fermentation process the O2 is used by the yeast. The CO2 blankets the carboy as it is heavier than O2. The O2 then is pushed out first. So when your racking the cider, wine or mead off it is very important to not splash it around as we want to keep the O2 out. When the cider is bottled or any brew is bottled for that matter, that is why we want to keep very little headspace. I have cider sitting in bottles for months but try to keep them as I do with any wines down around the 68 range. Just remember most ciders are only going to be 5-9% ABV and this is not enough to maintain a long term storage. Six months should be okay but I never have any left that long!!
 
Sigafoos said:
I think that's what he means... if it's refrigerated, then he has it at 68-70 for fermentation, something could go wrong.

Well, yes; something horrible like, oh, a bunch of yeast eating the sugars and producing alcohol might happen. For someone selling fresh cider, this is a problem; for someone brewing hard cider, it's not.

If you want to reduce the chance of an opportunistic microorganism taking up residence along with the wild yeast, you can use potassium metabisulphite to treat the juice prior to pitching your commercial yeast.
 
The orchard keeps the cider chilled, but they also squeeze every day during the season. Chilling won't prevent your yeast from doing the job. Just bring the cider to room temperature & pitch.
 
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