At least three or four times in the last two or three weeks I've heard someone say something to the effect of, "yeah, I get all of my cider from such-and-such orchards 'cause they don't pasteurize their cider. I am just not sure yet what kind of yeast I want to pitch"
... it seems like when people talk about it, they are saying pasteurization is a bad thing and will effect fermentation.
and there is where I wanna make sure I'm not missing something or have it wrong.
Pasteurization has ZERO to do with how well the cider will ferment out. The only thing pasteurization will do is kill the wild yeast in the cider following it being pressed. But unless you WANT "wild yeast", who cares? You're pitching a yeast into a "sterile cider" that's all. And there's nothing wrong with that. We pitch into "pasteurized" wort with every beer we make.
Now... preservatives? Potassium Sorbate? That's a whole different story... but I don't see what is wrong with pasteurized cider as long as there are no preservatives.
It feels like people get "pasteurized" and "preservatives" mixed up.
Am I off?
... it seems like when people talk about it, they are saying pasteurization is a bad thing and will effect fermentation.
and there is where I wanna make sure I'm not missing something or have it wrong.
Pasteurization has ZERO to do with how well the cider will ferment out. The only thing pasteurization will do is kill the wild yeast in the cider following it being pressed. But unless you WANT "wild yeast", who cares? You're pitching a yeast into a "sterile cider" that's all. And there's nothing wrong with that. We pitch into "pasteurized" wort with every beer we make.
Now... preservatives? Potassium Sorbate? That's a whole different story... but I don't see what is wrong with pasteurized cider as long as there are no preservatives.
It feels like people get "pasteurized" and "preservatives" mixed up.
Am I off?