Scandinavian vs. English Style

[Pappers_]

I've got another batch of cider underway. My spouse loved the last batch and I did too - really easy to make and turned out great, light and refreshing.

I use an easy method - commercial apple juice, a little pectic enzyme, dry ale yeast (Nottingham in this case). Bottle when its at my target gravity and sweet/dry level. Pastuerize when the bottles are carbonated.

The reason for this post is that I'm going to do a little experiment with this batch. We just came back from 5 weeks in Sweden and Denmark and they had cider on tap everywhere, usually multiple varieties. It was different than what I think of as the english-style ciders we get here, though - they were much sweeter. And pear cider seemed to be very very popular.

So, I'm fermenting a five gallon batch, which I'll let get down to a semi-dry 1.010 or so. Then I'll split the batch in half. One half I'll bottle as is, for the dry-ish english-style cider. The other half, i'm going to add pear juice, to taste, to add sweetness and the pear flavor and then bottle.

Any thoughts? I'll post the results, of course. Skaal!

 

[PintOfBitter]

that sounds really interesting. I may give that a shot. I've done some pasteurization experimentation myself, and have been scheming about different methods. what's your method?

 

[Pappers_]

Hi PoB. I heat a stockpot of water to 190 F and carefully put the 12 oz bottles in for 10 minutes. With the size of my pot, I can do 6 bottles at a time without crowding them.

I just wrote out a fuller explanation for MeadWitch in another thread at https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/cider-house-rules-187921/ - it might be helpful to you. And here's a link to more info http://www.singingboysbrewing.com/Apple-Cider.html

If you have any questions or if i've been unclear, please ask.

 

[oldmate]

Is there any danger of the bottles going bang? Does the entire bottle need to be submerged, or will, say, half the bottle being submerged gather the same results?

 

[Pappers_]

I have the water come up to the neck of the bottle, so that the bottle is almost submerged. The point of pasteurizing is so that the bottles don't explode, by killing the yeast and stopping fermentation.

 

[PintOfBitter]

I posted my experimentation here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/results-my-first-bottle-pasteurization-experiment-121101/

Since then I've done it a couple more times successfully, but it's cumbersome. I am thinking of starting to use a hotplate and a controller submerged in the bath water next time. hopefully I can get to where I don't feel the need for the pressure canner to contain shrapnel, should it be produced again

thanks for sharing your methods.

 

[Pappers_]

Anyone have any thoughts on the pear juice addition I'm thinking about?

 

[PintOfBitter]

I've never had perry or any pear flavored cider, but it sure sounds fantastic. I don't see how you could go wrong. pear juice is pretty neutral flavored, used in lots of juice concoctions to just support a different fruit. a good, very ripe pear is a thing of beauty. I would love to try something similar.

 

[EoinMag]

Look at the labels on the Swedish ciders, none of them are real cider that we can get here. They are effectively alcopops, with a base alcoholic fizzy drink having sweeteners and concentrate added. I was very unimpressed. Maybe they do have some real fermenteds fruit juices, but it ain't Kopparberg or Rekorderling or any of the big names.

 

[Maarten]

Exactly so. Actually, the legislation is Sweden has banned a lot of non-alcoholic ciders from using that name. They are now soda with cider character (sic). Seriously, Swedish cider is crap. It's carbonated apple soda with added alcohol. Nothing compared to the English fermented apple juice.

 

[Pappers_]

Never saw a cider bottle, was on tap everywhere, and as stated above, was very sweet. Surely not to everyone's taste. I of course make real cider and the Swedish cider's use of pear juice has inspired me to try adding it to a batch.

Another unusual Swedish beer was their small (2.1% abv) beer, which was available everywhere and seemed very popular.

 

[BBBF]

Never saw a cider bottle, was on tap everywhere, and as stated above, was very sweet. Surely not to everyone's taste. I of course make real cider and the Swedish cider's use of pear juice has inspired me to try adding it to a batch.

Another unusual Swedish beer was their small (2.1% abv) beer, which was available everywhere and seemed very popular.

Is there still a government monopoly on alcohol in Sweden or did the EU finally put an end to that? The 2.1% was the only beer that could be sold in grocery stores.

I drank lots of cider while I was studying abroad in Sweden and some perry, but I don't remember the cider and perry being mixed.

 

[Pappers_]

Is there still a government monopoly on alcohol in Sweden or did the EU finally put an end to that? The 2.1% was the only beer that could be sold in grocery stores.

I drank lots of cider while I was studying abroad in Sweden and some perry, but I don't remember the cider and perry being mixed.

I don't know, BBBF. I didn't buy beer in grocery stores, just restaurants, bars and the occasional outdoor stands. I think that Sweden has state-run liqour stores, for wine and distilled beverages - we went to one a couple of times to buy bottles of wine to bring as gifts with us when we were visiting folks.

 

[MeadWitch]

Pappers, do you have much trouble getting the bottles out of the stock pot without busting? Or do you let the water cool down first, then remove from pasteurization?

Can you use this method with carbonated mead?

 

[Pappers_]

Pappers, do you have much trouble getting the bottles out of the stock pot without busting? Or do you let the water cool down first, then remove from pasteurization?

Can you use this method with carbonated mead?

Hi MW! I use kitchen tongs to put the bottles in and take them out. I heat the water first, without the bottles in the pot, and then turn off the heat. Add the bottles, wait, retrieve the bottles. Before adding a new set of bottles, I check the water temp. If I need to add more heat, I do. Then put in another set of bottles, etc.

I've never made mead, but I imagine the method would work.

When we were in Denmark, we visited a very small brewery that had a really interesting pasteurizing machine - very low tech but works great. its just a big rectangular metal box with a shelf in it. You load it full of bottles, close the lid, and fill it full of with hot water. Let it sit. Drain out the water, open the lid and take out the bottles.

You can see it in some of my pictures in this thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/visit-ribe-bryghus-denmark-photos-188183/

 

[MeadWitch]

Awesome pics! It looks sort of like a tilt skillet, the way it is constructed. It am gonna try your method on some very dry mead I carbonated for a friend of mine. If they busted, no love lost on my end.