Hard Cider - To heat or not to heat, that is the question.

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The Govna

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I'm making a batch of hard cider from juice that was pressed locally and frozen, but never pasteurized. I want to hear what people think about Camden tablets vs. pasteurizing (160 degrees for 15 mins or so) before adding yeast.
 
good question. You gonna have trouble with that frozen juice. already you have a chance of it being cloudy to start, heating it will cause pectins to form and you definatly have it being cloudy then... I may hate camp tabs for a number of reasons but i have to agree with Tusch... not to say you couldnt heat it and pastureized it will cause problems... you might try home UV pasturization, i have had sucess with that, retro fitted an old UV gogle station to hold two 3 gallon pails of juice, by taking our the shelves. I have heard the same works for putting your juice in bottles and running a UV light into the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket then putting the bucket over one bottle at a time for 30-60 minutes. but you need a rather stong wave UV bulb. The cabinet works for me like a charm. But with lack of a UV setup... camp tabs or another chemical is your best bet.

Cheers
 
I say no boil and no campden! If you hydrate with go-ferm and add some nutrients, it's not necessary. Healthy yeast will do in any bugs before they can even get going.
 
I learned the hard way to use campden; I'd rather not, but I'm not about to risk all the time, effort & money I've invested in 6 gallons of must. I've found that UV treatment doesn't always work & the best juice is never pasturized; for me campden tabs are the only way to go. Regards, GF.
 
Thanks all. That's helpful. I've heard all sorts of opinions. What I was looking for was the "why" of heating vs. pasteurization.
 
Heating will lose some of the flavors as well as set pectins. These pectins make the brew cloudy. If you use heat, you should use pectic enzyme to help clear down the road.
 
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