I need some knowledge dropped on me!

[jkmcd3]

Hello all!

I have been brewing for just about 6 years (no expert by any means), however, ciders are new to me. Sorry if some of this has been asked before.

I read the stickys and understand the process (juice+sugar+yeast = magic) but I am still curious about a couple things:

1. The term cider implies apples correct? So making a, say 100% peach or strawberry 'cider' is not technically a cider right? It would be more correct to call the end result a fermented and carbonated peach beverage/wine, or something like that?

2. Kind of related to no. 1 are apples the base of all ciders. If I wanted to make a flavored cider i would just brew a simple apple cider / ferment / and add fruit or fruit extract to taste in the secondary (I understand everyone probably has there own way of doing this, just trying to get a generalization)?

3. Can acidic fruit juices be fermented (e.g. orange, cranberry, lemon etc...)?

4. I have read that some recipes say use cider not juice and others say it doesn't matter? I think from what I have read its the preservatives to watch out for?

5. If i use an organic apple cider that is naturally cloudy, will it eventually clear?

Again sorry if some of this has been asked and thanks for any feedback!

John

 

[AdamWiz]

1. technically, the term cider does refer to apples only - but I still call it cider even if there are other fruits in there as well, because the apples are still the base.

2. the basic method you mention here is how most people add fruit to a cider or beer. Some add the fruit right away before primary fermentation, others wait until primary is done and add the fruit to a secondary fermenting vessel. I think secondary is better because it leaves more of the fruit aroma in the finished beverage.

3. acidic fruit juices can be fermented. I have seen a lot of recipes that use lemonaid, lemon juice, or oranges. But it is usually added to a beer, cider, or wine - I have never seen anyone ferment strictly lemons or oranges. I have seen cranberry wines, but I think that they are usually a blend of grape and cranberry.

4. Both cider and juice work as long as there are no preservatives added. I have used 1 gallon jugs of organic apple juice from my local health food store and liked the results.

5. It will get a bit clearer, but unless you add some pectic enzyme it will always be a little cloudy. But pectic enzyme is pretty cheap to buy. It is just an enzyme that breaks up the chains of pectin contained in the fruit that cause the cloudiness.

 

[gregbathurst]

2. Apples are a fruit that is "in the zone" as far as suitability for fermenting is concerned. They have a good pH, enough sugar to make a good drink, and end up with a good flavor. Not many fruits share all these qualities so it is natural if you want to make a fruit-based drink to use apple as the base. Apples don't need added sugar, but most fruit wine recipes require added sugar to get a good alcohol content, and often added acid and flavours. With apples you're starting with something that already has the qualities of a good drink, which you can add to if you want to try something different.

 

[RobWalker]

Some more on 1) -

Cider is apples indeed, but the reason is it's only in recent years that pretty much anything else has become popular enough to consider another type of cider. After all, the whole reason it exists is because of people who owned apple orchards.

Fruit Cider covers cider made with apples and blended with other fruits. Same goes for Pear Cider which is a blend of Pears and Apples.

Anything made from pure pears would be Perry - although if it isn't made from perry pears that are grown in west england/east wales, it's basically sub-standard perry

so, anything made from another fruit 100% would be a fruit wine, although it's all a bit up in the air, as fruit wine would probably be stronger. My suggestion to you - give it your own name if you make some, that's what most people here do!

 

[jkmcd3]

Awesome, Thanks for the feedback.

I really like Ace Pear, and have noticed that it says perry on the bottle (not sure if it would be classified as a sub-standard perry, but good to my taste none the less).

The apple-fruit bled for fruit ciders was the one that I was most curious about, so thanks for the clarification, that helps.

If I ever come up with a cool name I will be sure to let you know. Again appreciate all the feedback.

Cheers,

John

 

[Tnoodle]

Some info for #3, acidic fruits like lemons can be fermented. Although most people use lemonade concentrate to make a hard lemonade or lemon wine. I have about 6 gallons of this bottled and waiting for my company party. Those ferments require some TLC for the yeast because of the hostile environment caused by the acid. Hopefully Yooper will chime in here he/she is a wealth of knowledge on ciders and wines.

 

[RobWalker]

Ace Pear would be crap perry, but hell, I'm the same. Electric Pear was one of my holiday favourites - awful quality, but sweet and delicious. As I say, these are all just technicalities really, and unless you're going for a specific style, don't worry too much about the connoisseur side of things, and just make what you want to drink

Oh, and - the main thing to make sure of when brewing from juice/cider is that it's 100% fruit, not from concentrate - otherwise it's pretty awful. I use Morrisons 100% Organic Apple Juice which is £1.19 a liter, anything else similar to this is fine. You'll probably get a better cider from what you yankees call Cider, that being cloudy pressed apple juice. You won't go far wrong after that!