Campden vs Simmering

[Craig311]

So I am a long time homebrewer taking my first shot at cider. My new neighbors have been making it for a few years but they don't know anything about why they are doing anything... And don't care. Just looking to make something really high abv. Hillbillies! Their recipe is add 5 lbs of sugar to their 6 gallons of unpasteurized cider from the local apple farm, simmer it for a little while, and pitch a packet of "brewing yeast", and wait 3 weeks.

Anyway... They were nice enough to get me 6 gallons and we are planning on making it on Sunday. I offered to get the yeast and, after some reading, decided to go with S04 to keep it simple.

Knowing I want to keep it simple and fun.... The main question I have is whether I should convince them to forget about simmering the 24 gallons of cider and use the Campden tablets I already have a couple of days before pitching. Or convince them that we should try and simmer at 185 for 45 mins.

Is one preferable? Any concern with either approach given the cider will be sitting for 4 more days before pitching?

 

[Craig311]

some more info... I managed to take a gravity reading and it is a 1.052 to start. I'll probably politely pass on the 5 lbs of sugar and add 1 or 2 to mine.

It is all sitting in (hopefully but I didn't do it myself) sanitized buckets in a garage until we pitch the yeast on Sunday. Temps around here are 40s at night and 50s or 60s during the day.

I am leaning towards Campden just to stall any fermentation that might kick off in their garage in the next few days.

 

[Yooper]

Think about what simmering does.

A good example is a fresh apple. Think of the flavor of a fresh apple. It's bright, crisp, and tart and sweet. The flavor of a simmered apple is more like a "cooked fruit", like the fruit in apple pie (but without the cinnamon and sugar). It's a big difference, and I would do anything to not cook my juice before using.

If you're not pasteurizing right away, use the campden right away. Don't wait- a few days is plenty of time for wild yeast and bacteria to take hold. Press, add the campden. That quickly. It also keeps the cider from oxidizing and turning brown.

 

[Craig311]

Thank you for the reply! You won't be surprised to hear that you answered some of my beer questions here when I was getting started several years ago. Very much appreciated.

I will get over there first thing in the morning with my crushed Campden tablets and forget about that simmering nonsense! Makes so much sense now and should have figured better.