I've tried the commercial ciders. I've tried the "craft ciders". My favorite is JK Scrupmy. In fact, I am writing a few articles about them as a member of the American Press Association. They will be finished soon.
I have three batches of my own going. All of them are from fresh pressed apples.
One batch is the Scrumpy way, no additives only apples and naturally occurring yeast. It is in the secondary carboy. First taste is like sewer water. No carbonation, no sweetness, nothing but "spit quickly".
The second batch is fully treated. I've outlined on other threads how I managed it. Major difference is that I used Nottingham yeast. I've not tasted it at all, yet.
The third batch is fully treated, and uses Safeale yeast. I tasted it tonight. Flavorless, almost apple wine.
What the flock can I do to get the kind of incredible taste of JK Scrumpy farmhouse cider without a bunch of backside manipulation?
I've seen their operation from the inside. It's truly apple juice in big plastic vats, racking from one to the other then into bottles. Seriously, there is no back sweetening, no artificial carbonation, nothing.
And if you think what they sell in bottles is good, you ought to taste what they have on tap. If they could ever capture that fresh clean effervescence in a bottle, the Anhueser horses would be put out to pasture.
So what does your cider taste like? Send me somewhere to another brand that you think is close to what you are producing. I'd like to see them all.
And I will be writing about them and the whole cider market.
I think we're onto something here and I want to produce a cider I can be proud to serve. So far I'm a miserable failure by comparison to the good ones.
Please share your secrets.
I have three batches of my own going. All of them are from fresh pressed apples.
One batch is the Scrumpy way, no additives only apples and naturally occurring yeast. It is in the secondary carboy. First taste is like sewer water. No carbonation, no sweetness, nothing but "spit quickly".
The second batch is fully treated. I've outlined on other threads how I managed it. Major difference is that I used Nottingham yeast. I've not tasted it at all, yet.
The third batch is fully treated, and uses Safeale yeast. I tasted it tonight. Flavorless, almost apple wine.
What the flock can I do to get the kind of incredible taste of JK Scrumpy farmhouse cider without a bunch of backside manipulation?
I've seen their operation from the inside. It's truly apple juice in big plastic vats, racking from one to the other then into bottles. Seriously, there is no back sweetening, no artificial carbonation, nothing.
And if you think what they sell in bottles is good, you ought to taste what they have on tap. If they could ever capture that fresh clean effervescence in a bottle, the Anhueser horses would be put out to pasture.
So what does your cider taste like? Send me somewhere to another brand that you think is close to what you are producing. I'd like to see them all.
And I will be writing about them and the whole cider market.
I think we're onto something here and I want to produce a cider I can be proud to serve. So far I'm a miserable failure by comparison to the good ones.
Please share your secrets.