BYO Cider article (warning: Rant!)

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Albionwood

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2013
Messages
304
Reaction score
134
Was all excited to see cider on the cover of Brew Your Own, though the subheading about "Hopped Ciders" was a little worrying. The article proved a disappointment though, with too many statements that had me thinking, "wait, that's not quite right..."

For example: "As for the cider itself, this is the main ingredient." What? It's the product, not an ingredient... Oh, I get it: she means "juice" and is calling it "cider" because that's how it is sold. Problem is, the same word is now being used with two completely different meanings, and with no explanation for that, it's confusing. But then it gets worse: "As a cidermaker I want some tartness in the final cider to add more flavor and balance the cider." OK, true, but the usual balance problem is too much tartness, since there will be little if any sweetness. But here comes a doozy: "Varieties that are true cider apples... are so tart that you wold probably spit them out if you ate them raw." This is apparently conflating tartness (acidity) with astringency (tannin). Most true cider apples are not very tart; when ripe, they tend to be overly sweet, and the bittersweets are "spitters" because they are astringent, not tart.

Maybe it's just me who prefers a balanced, dry cider with low acidity so I can taste the apple character, but I doubt it. Yet I constantly see this advice to use "tart" apples (or juice) for cider, and to me that results in an unbalanced, overly-acidic cider that requires backsweetening to be drinkable. Is this just what people expect because there are so few examples of balanced, drinkable dry cider on the market? Granted, that kind of cider is not easy to make, since the fruit required to make it is practically unavailable to those who don't grow their own. But you can come close, if you ignore all that advice and seek out the sweetest, least-acidic juice you can find, add in some tannins (several different winemakers additives are now available retail), ferment cold, and use proper yeast.

(Speaking of yeast - there are multiple arguable statements about yeast in the article as well, but I've ranted enough already...)

In conclusion, I'd like to quote Joss Whedon: "Grr! Argh!"
 
I thought the article was rather lame myself. Curious about some of the recipes tho. I was also intrigued at the idea of hopping a cider. I find this message board to be way more useful that most of the stuff I've read in magazines and such.
 
Back
Top