Adding tannin to make Cider from Dessert Apples

[Chalkyt]

This is all subjective, of course, but I am just about to bottle three batches of cider using the same culinary apple juice blend. However, each batch has a different level of added tannin so, I thought it worth sharing the outcome since this should also relate to ciders made from “store bought juice”.

I rank the ciders as… Best = 50ppm added tannin, Second best = 100ppm added tannin, Third best = no added tannin.

This was “inspired” by a study published by Micah Martin and others from Cornell University Department of Food Science, “Tannin Additions to Improve the Quality of Hard Cider Made from Dessert Apples", and also some articles published by “The Beverage People” from Santa Rosa, CA.

The back-story is I was given a heap of what we think are Golden Delicious apples because the owners were going away for Autumn (Fall) and didn’t want their tree wrecked by parrots if they left the apples on the tree.

If you only have access to dessert apples or “bought juice”, these results might give an insight into how a bit of fiddling and additions can turn something “ordinary” into a decent cider.

The juice from the Golden Delicious was quite bland with TA 2.6g/L and pH 4.2 so it was blended with about 20% Granny Smiths and enough Malic Acid to end up at 5.5g/L and pH 3.7... i.e. sort of reasonable numbers to start with. Fermentation was with the ever-reliable S04 and a pinch of DAP at SG 1.030 to minimise the chances of a stalled ferment. Tasting comparisons was done at SG 1.005 - 1.006 (10g/L residual sugar or Semi-Dry)

The added tannin was Vinters Harvest tannin powder which I believe is similar to LD Carlson and Stellartan G available in USA. All brands seem to recommend adding 50ppm of tannin to start with, then add more to taste if needed. In the real world this translates into 0.05g/L or about 1/8 teaspoon per 5 litres of cider (a bit more than a 3.8 litre USA gallon). If using strong tea for a slightly different tannin flavour, about one teabag per 5 litres is around the same concentration.

In reality, I didn’t think that the exact amount of added tannin turned out to be important. There wasn't much difference between the 50ppm and the 100ppm batches which were both more than acceptable, but my preference was for the 50ppm. The 100ppm left a slightly stronger astringency in the mouth which was quite good and lasted as a longer “aftertaste”. Both batches with added tannin were better than the one without, which was a little bland and didn't have as much mouthfeel and body in comparison.

All of this of course is a matter of individual taste, so have fun if you go down this path.

Cheers!

 

[Maylar]

Thanks for the writeup. Typically I use oak for tannins. When I've looked into using powdered tannin I seem to recall that it takes time to integrate, like 3-6 weeks, and you should rack off the tannin dust before bottling. I find that to be true with oak as well. For a batch that I have on oak now I'm going to filter it before long term aging.

I just finished primary on a cyser that I used frozen apple juice concentrate for. First time I've done that. I decided not to oak this batch, and used some FT Tannin Blanc Soft at pitch time. 1/2 gram per gallon. First time for that as well. I tasted it when racking to secondary, and there is a perception of sweetness that defies the 0.996 FG, and also some body in the mouthfeel.

But what I'm curious about is if you sensed any flavor change that you can attribute to the tannin? I get something subtle but different than anything I've tasted before. I think I'll mix some with water and see if it's from the tannin. Hopefully it'll go away with time.

 

[Chalkyt]

Given that the apple blend is quite unremarkable, there is a subtle and reasonably pleasant flavour that I have to assume is due to the powdered tannin. As I said above, there is unexpected mouthfeel and body.

The approach that I have taken is to make something that is repeatable or at least made within some guidelines, i.e. everything (almost) is measurable... TA, pH, SG, etc, hence using the tannin powder which can be measured. I would like to try "proper" oak. Is there any reliable information around regarding how much, how long etc.

I am not trying to come up with a "Brew by the Numbers" approach for cider like the 1995 Zymergy beer article, but do take the line of "If you can't measure it, it ain't real" (i.e you can't repeat it).

 

[Maylar]

Mouthfeel, body and a perceived sweetness I can accept. Flavor contributions I cannot accept. I'll have to see what it's like before back sweetening in a few months.

What has worked well for me in oak is cubes. American+ toast, 0.6 oz. (17 gm.) per gallon, for 3 months. I've done the research on this already, so trust me on this. I've since switched to spheres called Xoakers, but I don't know if you can get them down under. 4 spheres per gallon for 3 months.

Wine oak is an art and science. You can't just take some wood off your woodpile and char it on your grill. The cubes are measurable and repeatable.

 

[Chalkyt]

That is good to know. I have three oak trees, a pin oak and two others and occasionally have to remove lower branches. I had pondered drying them out and turning them into chips... glad that I didn't. It seems that chips give up their flavour quite quickly and it is easy to over-do it (probably a bit like hops).

A quick local search shows a few on-line brew shops with oak chips, and eBay has cubes all at around $10 for 100g. I even found Xoakers at 5 for S10 (suits my 5 litre batches). However, oak is almost as confusing as yeast... America, French, toasted, light, medium, rum, whisky, bourbon, etc, etc. The best options seem to be American Medium Toast Cubes or Xoakers, available on-line in Oz. Sounds like a project for next year when I have apples again.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Maylar]

I listened to an incredibly informative podcast about oak at GotMead. It said that after the trees are cut they are stacked outdoors and allowed to be exposed to some fungi that seep into the wood cells and change it somehow. The process takes 2 years to complete. The difference between American, French and Hungarian oak isn't just the species of tree, it's also the strain of fungus. There is a story about a French company that sends their trees to America to let the American fungi do its thing then the trees are sent back to France for processing.

 

[jdubdvdt]

Interesting.

I definitely agree that tannins on store bought juice is definitely a huge bonus and fills a missing void in homebrew cider.
I have done a few things. For a regular cider I like adding a couple teabags of english black tea, steep and pour in fermenter or pour in bottling bucket (or keg) before racking. The tannins in real 100% cranberry juice are great too, but will change the color of the cider.

 

[jnesselrode]

I don't know gram weights, but the ¾ teaspoon per gallon of tannin powder I'm using and 1½ teaspoons acid blend per gallon has me really, really happy with the results!

 

[madscientist451]

I use Jack Daniel’s oak barrel chips, which are sold to use in a smoker, to add tannin and flavor. Even better is to put the chips in a jar with cheap bourbon, then let it for a month or more. Add to taste at kegging. You can dial in how much oak character you get.

 

[Chalkyt]

Yes, it certainly seems that adding tannin is more of an art than a science.

We have just had the first snow of the season, and it is too cold for any outside work, so a bit of scratching around about tannin on the computer was warranted without waffling-on and becoming too technical, or “pointy-headed”, after all making and drinking cider is supposed to be fun. Again, I thought it worth sharing what I found.

The most common recommendation for adding tannin to cider is to start with 50ppm of added tannin powder then go up in 50ppm steps until the desired taste profile is reached.

I certainly found that in my earlier trial there was a taste difference between 50ppm and 100ppm but both were acceptably good, and it was hard deciding which one I liked the most, so I guess that this means that really, taste is the best guide. Generally, the acceptable range for tannin addition to dessert apple ciders seems to be anywhere between 25ppm and 300ppm.

The Cornell study on ciders from dessert apples that I mentioned in the original post added 150ppm of exogenous tannin and those ciders were rated by tasters at JAR (Just About Right) for astringency.

But how do you get there? Oak chips, cubes, etc, are a function of steeping time which has to be determined by taste (except perhaps Maylar’s Xoakers or 17g of oak cubes per gallon for 3 months).

The other “exogenous” sources like powder or tea are interesting. A 2.5g black teabag generally has something like 12 - 15% tannin. At 15% this is roughly 0.4 grams in a gallon (4 L) which turns out to be 0.1 g/L or 100ppm…sort of middle of the range as used in the popular Graham’s English Cider recipe.

In the case of tannin powder, most brands recommend an initial dose of 5g per 100 litres which is 0.05g/L or 50ppm. (The only anomaly I came across was LD Carlson brand with ½ teaspoon i.e. a gram per gallon or 250ppm which is five times what you would expect. I wonder if the package had a printing error and should be ½ teaspoon per 5 gallons which would be 0.05g/L or 50ppm). I notice that the Beverage People refer to a starting point of a gram per 5 gallons which is 50ppm.

However (and there is always a however), in the Cornell study, the tannin addition was 150ppm to the base dessert apple ciders (i.e. three times 50ppm and towards the top of the usual range which could well be the flavour profile they were looking for in the study). But different amounts of endogenous tannin sources were added to the samples. 278ppm of UVA Soft tannin powder was needed to get 150ppm of tannin and similarly 179 ppm of Gall Nut tannin powder to get 150ppm of tannin i.e. the yield is only around 50% tannin from the UVA Soft but getting closer to 100% tannin (actually 84%) from the Gall Nut.

So, this suggests that tannin powders from different sources such as grape skins, chestnuts, gall nuts, etc, may well have different tannin yields for the same amount of added powder. None of the brands publish this information, so once again it does seem that taste should be the final guide.

Cheers!