Jack
Well-Known Member
I was doing some reading about the traditional way of making champagne, the methode champenoise, and I was thinking about giving it a try in making a sparkling mead or cider as an experiment.
From what I understand, the advantage of doing this is that autolysis takes place which imparts a richness of flavor to the beverage (at least in wine). Furthermore, dégorgement ensures that nearly all the yeast is removed from suspension resulting in a very clean tasting beverage of exceptional clarity.
Here's something along the lines of what I'm thinking of trying...
1. Prime bottles with a priming solution of sugar and yeast in fermented still cider (liquer de tirage). Cap.
2. Rest bottles on the lees at cellar temperature for a long time (for wine this would usually be ~1-3 years). This is supposed to be long enough for the yeast cells to autolyse.
3. Place bottles in a special rack that allows you to change the orientation of a bottle from horizontal to vertical. This collects the yeast in the neck of the bottle.
4. Prepare a freezing cold brine solution. Insert the neck of the bottle into the brine long enough to freeze the neck contents. Supposedly when the bottle is quickly turned upright and the cap removed, the pressure shoots out the frozen portion (that includes the collected yeast).
5. Replace removed volume (dosage) with fermented still cider, mixed with some sugar if desired to determine final sweetness.
Does anyone have any experience with any of this? Mostly, I need to know the following specifics:
1. How much sugar should I add in the priming solution to produce a fairly dry cider?
2. How long does a cider have to rest for autolysis to take place. (Yes, I know... my homebrewer intuition tells me that autolysis is normally a bad thing.)
3. How much sugar should be added, if any, in the dosage step to produce a fairly dry cider?
It's far too complicated for me to use it as my standard priming procedure, but I thought it might be worthwhile to give it a try and see how it turns out.
From what I understand, the advantage of doing this is that autolysis takes place which imparts a richness of flavor to the beverage (at least in wine). Furthermore, dégorgement ensures that nearly all the yeast is removed from suspension resulting in a very clean tasting beverage of exceptional clarity.
Here's something along the lines of what I'm thinking of trying...
1. Prime bottles with a priming solution of sugar and yeast in fermented still cider (liquer de tirage). Cap.
2. Rest bottles on the lees at cellar temperature for a long time (for wine this would usually be ~1-3 years). This is supposed to be long enough for the yeast cells to autolyse.
3. Place bottles in a special rack that allows you to change the orientation of a bottle from horizontal to vertical. This collects the yeast in the neck of the bottle.
4. Prepare a freezing cold brine solution. Insert the neck of the bottle into the brine long enough to freeze the neck contents. Supposedly when the bottle is quickly turned upright and the cap removed, the pressure shoots out the frozen portion (that includes the collected yeast).
5. Replace removed volume (dosage) with fermented still cider, mixed with some sugar if desired to determine final sweetness.
Does anyone have any experience with any of this? Mostly, I need to know the following specifics:
1. How much sugar should I add in the priming solution to produce a fairly dry cider?
2. How long does a cider have to rest for autolysis to take place. (Yes, I know... my homebrewer intuition tells me that autolysis is normally a bad thing.)
3. How much sugar should be added, if any, in the dosage step to produce a fairly dry cider?
It's far too complicated for me to use it as my standard priming procedure, but I thought it might be worthwhile to give it a try and see how it turns out.
