cider and methyl alcohol

[zahna]

I've heard that fermenting cider produces methyl as well as ethyl alcohol. I know methyl alcohol is bad stuff. Can anyone confirm whether 1) this is true, 2) it produces enough methyl alcohol to be harmful, 3) how much methyl alcohol is considered harmful.

thanks everyone,
Scott

 

[david_42]

Only if you ferment the crushed apples. If you ferment strained juice, no problem. The methanol is produced from the cellulose. It takes a while for the process to get going, which is why a red wine can be fermented on the skins for a week without any trouble. And why homemade grappa is so dangerous.

 

[zahna]

Hmmm... the cider I ferment is cloudy. The orchard I get it from simply crushes the apples and puts the cider into gallon jugs. What do you mean by strained juice?

 

[david_42]

No chunks.

 

[alemonkey]

Rdwhahb...

 

[Caplan]

homemade grappa is so dangerous.

Yes it is.
Just crushing apples (skins, pips, and flesh) for use in basic cider isnt a worry.
However if you try and distill your cider like a French Calvados (which is an apple variation of grappa) you're on your own.....

 

[OdinOneEye]

But if you freeze your stuff into apple jack (you didn't hear this from me, by the by) you won't have any methylated problems.