boiling/heating cider

[kegtoe]

Is it wrong to heat or boil cider before or after fermenting?? I was thinking i could warm or boil the cider before fermenting to kill any bacterial or germs?? WHat about after to kill yeast or germs again.

I havent seen much discussion about boiling in the forums, thats why i ask.

 

[ryane]

you can add campden tabs to kill off yeast before you ferment, and with raw cider this is a good method unless you plan on letting wild yeast do the fermenting

Not sure why you would want to boil cider after its fermented, boiling will drive off the alcohol, and theres no reason to kill the yeast - youll need them to carbonate, and no pathogenic bacteria can survive the alcohol

 

[lumpher]

not many entries on it since it's not really a topic. if you get the apple juice from a bottle, it's already sterile. if not, it's too much work

 

[Pappers_]

Kegtoe, you can pasteurize the bottled cider to kill the yeast and stop the fermentation/carbonation. I use 190 F water and leave the bottles in for about 10 minutes.

 

[kegtoe]

thanks guys, i was looking to do kegging with mine. DO i still need to pasturize. I typically cold-carash all my brews before kegging.

Pappers ive seen a lot of your replies on this subject of cider in general. any info you can provide for a cider newby would be appreciated.

 

[LightningInABottle]

Heating cider makes the end product hazy which is difficult to get rid of. Fermenting the cider makes it hard for bacteria to grow, which is why back in colonial days they kept cider on hand and drank it over water.

 

[oldmate]

I heat my juice to just below boiling (a slight simmer) and I never get any haze. After bottling I bottle pasteurise the same way as Pappers.

 

[Edcculus]

Unless you are bottle pasteurizing, I cant see any reason to ever heat the juice or finished cider.

 

[Pappers_]

Hi Kegtoe. I don't keg so am not a great help to you. I think Ed does, and he has more experience than me making a variety of ciders.

You might consider keeping the recipe straightforward - using juice and yeast. Many people add sugar, to increase the abv I suppose, but the downside is that it increases the time needd for it to smooth out. Also, I think one of the charms of sparkling cider is it's lightness and crispness.

Cheers!

 

[freddyeddy]

I've had good results both kegging and bottling just using the wild yeast.

This will be my first time boiling and introducing a Champgne yeast. Time will tell if that was a good call or not.

I should mention this juice is from wild/"native" trees just growing in the area. Really fortunate to live where a little effort and teamwork results in gallons of juice, apple sauce and pie filling.