Maceration before pressing

[The_italian_cider_maker]

Hi all!
Do you leave the crushed apples for some time before the pressing? The jolicoeur book suggests to leave for 4/6 hours to macerate before the pressing, this to obtain a greater yield.

Do you think it could be useful or it's just a waste of time?
For my first batch I left macerating the crushed apples for 4 hours but I don't know if the yield changed or not, neither the result in flavour or taste.

Good weekend to all!

 

[Rick Stephens]

Longer you leave, darker it gets. Caused by oxygen and the apple's natural polyphenols mixing - bruising. IMHO, this is a less then optimal for long term taste. Obviously there are other opinions. Personally, I try and press as fast as I grind leaving the time as short as possible in between.

 

[The_italian_cider_maker]

Longer you leave, darker it gets. Caused by oxygen and the apple's natural polyphenols mixing - bruising. IMHO, this is a less then optimal for long term taste. Obviously there are other opinions. Personally, I try and press as fast as I grind leaving the time as short as possible in between.

Great @Rick Stephens , thank you for your experience.
Do you tried both method and found that the taste changed with the maceration method?

 

[Rick Stephens]

Great @Rick Stephens , thank you for your experience.
Do you tried both method and found that the taste changed with the maceration method?

Back when I started the obsession, I mean casual hobby, of cider making, I bought a number of books and read everything I could find. Several of those sources recommended limited mash time. So I have always done it that way.

Where I live in north central Idaho I have lots of tart green apples. And being that I love tartness, I try and leave that character in my juice. The longer a mash sits the deeper the dark brown oxidation gets and the mellower the taste, moving away from that sour bite you get from grannies and braeburns.

I'm also sure it is not *wrong* to age the mash. I'll definitely be tempted to test the theory with a small bit next fall. Thanks for bringing it up. I can't pretend to know all that much about cider making. That's the best part, always something to consider and question.

 

[The_italian_cider_maker]

Back when I started the obsession, I mean casual hobby, of cider making, I bought a number of books and read everything I could find. Several of those sources recommended limited mash time. So I have always done it that way.

Where I live in north central Idaho I have lots of tart green apples. And being that I love tartness, I try and leave that character in my juice. The longer a mash sits the deeper the dark brown oxidation gets and the mellower the taste, moving away from that sour bite you get from grannies and braeburns.

I'm also sure it is not *wrong* to age the mash. I'll definitely be tempted to test the theory with a small bit next fall. Thanks for bringing it up. I can't pretend to know all that much about cider making. That's the best part, always something to consider and question.

Many thanks @Rick Stephens!

 

[gregbathurst]

Macerating is generally accepted, it doesn't hurt the flavour, cider chemistry is different to wine chemistry. However it isn't really necessary either, most small scale cidermakers don't macerate because it is easiest to mill then press the apples, it isn't very convenient to leave it for a few hours in between.

 

[Maylar]

What about leaving the apples out before milling them? Is that called sweating?

I love this video of making farmhouse cider in Normandy. I think they've been doing this for a long time...

 

[The_italian_cider_maker]

@Maylar Yes, I do that. I leave the apples for 1/2 months in a fresh room. I mill them when the apple appears soft under thumb pressure. The yield is less than when the apples are pressed after harvesting but the sugar content is higher.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Thanks for the video. ...funny accents, couldn't understand a word they said