Cider time! Wood aging experiments.

Went out to Oak Glen, CA this Saturday to pick up some 1-gallon jugs of fresh-pressed cider. I also picked up a 10# bag of Winesap apples that I ran through the (meat) grinder and pressed the juice out to add some tartness and tannins to the cider (which almost all cider seems to lack these days, I think us Americans prefer sweet cider).

OG of 1.054 and in goes the WLP775 yeast. I'm going to some experimental batches and post results here:

1. Batch 1, I will simply ferment to dry and bottle.
Batch 2 will get some aging on American medium+ oak.
Batch 3 will be aged on some Apple wood from the same orchards in oak glen, toasted to medium.

I will probably prime all 3 and carbonate them, but it will be interesting to see how aging with Applewood tastes.

Be sure to post your progress, I'm curious to know how the apple wood compares to the oak. Regards, GF.

gratus fermentatio said:

Be sure to post your progress, I'm curious to know how the apple wood compares to the oak. Regards, GF.

Click to expand...

Update on the applewood. It is VERY different from oak. Apple wood seems to impart a tangy, floral, caramel-like flavor to the cider. I toasted it on medium and let it age for a month before bottling and aging.

cinderbike said:

Update on the applewood. It is VERY different from oak. Apple wood seems to impart a tangy, floral, caramel-like flavor to the cider. I toasted it on medium and let it age for a month before bottling and aging.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the update! Interesting, did you start with green wood, or was it dried? Bark on or off? I'm guessing you toasted with a torch? I'm wondering if applewood chips sold for smoking/BBQing would give similar results.
Regards, GF.

Interesting. I'll have to try this.

I'd love to hear more about how you used the wood - how much did you use, blocks/spirals/chips, how long did you leave it in the cider? Thanks!

gratus fermentatio said:

Thanks for the update! Interesting, did you start with green wood, or was it dried? Bark on or off? I'm guessing you toasted with a torch? I'm wondering if applewood chips sold for smoking/BBQing would give similar results.
Regards, GF.

Click to expand...

It was seasoned wood. I bought it from an orchard, every year they trim the trees and pile the wood out in the the field and leave it to air dry for a year or so before selling it. I took it home, debarked and cut it - some into staves, but mostly into chips as they weren't very large pieces of wood.

I then toasted them in the oven on a baking pan at 300°F for 15 minutes (which in my oven was medium toast). You'll probably want to use a torch if you have one though as you run less risk of overtoasting wood.

And yeah, as long as the chips came from non-treated wood you should be fine.