JoeSponge
Well-Known Member
I am loving this mad-scientist experiment I'm calling "Cider".
I have essentially four batches going, in my own lo-tech way... two use local orchard organic squeezins', one in a low-temp slooow fermentation chamber (refridgerator), and it's brother w/ a pound of brown sugar to sweeten it up.
Two more batches in an apartment that I use during the week, using off-the-shelf apple juice w/ Montrachet and br sugar, and a micro-batch a la the "eat the weeds" technique to get some organic yeast going.
The off-the-shelf was burbling happily away when I left the apartment for the week. I don't expect the micro-batch to be active for another week. The refer batch is, well, slooow, and won't be sampled for months and months.
But the brother batch... that's where I have the questions.
I kind of flew my own recipe... brown sugar, the existing natural yeasts, and a 1/4 dose of Montrachet, split into two containers. It has been a slow ferment, and my wife would patiently give me reports while I was away. I had it on the floor, near the garage, hoping that the temperatures would be steady.
I noticed tho', that the temps were 57-58 degrees, and I was wondering if that was the reason for the slow ferment. I pulled them up to the table where the temps are 68 degrees, meaning to check the fermentation speed and them return them to the floor.
I couldn't resist, and I took a tiny sample of one of the splits, and while it tastes a little _beery_, it's still very appley. Interesting, and lots of fun for a first attempt.
When I put them up on the table, I didn't think about light entering the equation.
I have read that beer is sensitive to light, but is cider?
Have I dorked the process? I know I have deviated from any regular recipe (you shalt have one yeast), but I figure the first batch really is a newb brew.
Fermentation is pretty slow, but still there. I am tempted to rack it and give it to some of the guys I know for review. Heh. Guinea pigs.
That's all. I love this game. I am hoping that when I return to the apartment, I'll have something very good to tipple.
I have essentially four batches going, in my own lo-tech way... two use local orchard organic squeezins', one in a low-temp slooow fermentation chamber (refridgerator), and it's brother w/ a pound of brown sugar to sweeten it up.
Two more batches in an apartment that I use during the week, using off-the-shelf apple juice w/ Montrachet and br sugar, and a micro-batch a la the "eat the weeds" technique to get some organic yeast going.
The off-the-shelf was burbling happily away when I left the apartment for the week. I don't expect the micro-batch to be active for another week. The refer batch is, well, slooow, and won't be sampled for months and months.
But the brother batch... that's where I have the questions.
I kind of flew my own recipe... brown sugar, the existing natural yeasts, and a 1/4 dose of Montrachet, split into two containers. It has been a slow ferment, and my wife would patiently give me reports while I was away. I had it on the floor, near the garage, hoping that the temperatures would be steady.
I noticed tho', that the temps were 57-58 degrees, and I was wondering if that was the reason for the slow ferment. I pulled them up to the table where the temps are 68 degrees, meaning to check the fermentation speed and them return them to the floor.
I couldn't resist, and I took a tiny sample of one of the splits, and while it tastes a little _beery_, it's still very appley. Interesting, and lots of fun for a first attempt.
When I put them up on the table, I didn't think about light entering the equation.
I have read that beer is sensitive to light, but is cider?
Have I dorked the process? I know I have deviated from any regular recipe (you shalt have one yeast), but I figure the first batch really is a newb brew.
Fermentation is pretty slow, but still there. I am tempted to rack it and give it to some of the guys I know for review. Heh. Guinea pigs.
That's all. I love this game. I am hoping that when I return to the apartment, I'll have something very good to tipple.