I've read numerous ideas on this forum regarding aging ciders. Opinions range from racking off the lees after 2 weeks and aging in carboys for 6months (or longer) to simply racking off the lees into carboys and immediately bottling. Almost uniformly everyone agrees that aging cider is a good thing but there is no consistency in what "aging" means. My question is this: does anyone know the chemistry of aging? What happens when cider ages to make it taste better. And as corollaries, does it make a difference whether the cider is aged in bottles or "bulk" aged in a carboy? If so, why?
I've got my first batch of apflewein that I primed and bottled after 2 week primary and 2 week secondary fermentation and I plan to taste 1 bottle every week after new year just to see what happens. No way I could be patient enough to watch it for 6 months in a carboy. Still, it would be nice to know the science if anyone does.
I've got my first batch of apflewein that I primed and bottled after 2 week primary and 2 week secondary fermentation and I plan to taste 1 bottle every week after new year just to see what happens. No way I could be patient enough to watch it for 6 months in a carboy. Still, it would be nice to know the science if anyone does.