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While cleaning out the cellar of my parent's old house, I found some old cider I made in the early '90s.
Normally back then I used 50 gallon whisky barrels, but I found a full carboy with dry airlock and a sealed 30 gallon plastic drum (the kind used for industrial corrosives) still full of liquid. I'm sure I put it there, and all I made was cider and beer back then, no wine, and I bottled and kegged all my beer. Yet this stuff tastes like watery sherry. It was probably somewhat fortified with sugar or honey, I can not remember,, pretty sure I never had an airlock on the chemical drum. I do remember the stuff in the drum had turned to jelly at some point, years later, but many years ago, but smelled good, now it is the color of grade B maple syrup, and liquid, smells just like the stuff in the carboy.
By what process could cider turn to a sherry like product? It tastes and smells pretty good, considering, but not sure I'd find myself drinking much of it.
I also found some for sure cider I had bottled up after fermentation in barrels during that period, and it tasted predictably like sour, oxidized cider.
Normally back then I used 50 gallon whisky barrels, but I found a full carboy with dry airlock and a sealed 30 gallon plastic drum (the kind used for industrial corrosives) still full of liquid. I'm sure I put it there, and all I made was cider and beer back then, no wine, and I bottled and kegged all my beer. Yet this stuff tastes like watery sherry. It was probably somewhat fortified with sugar or honey, I can not remember,, pretty sure I never had an airlock on the chemical drum. I do remember the stuff in the drum had turned to jelly at some point, years later, but many years ago, but smelled good, now it is the color of grade B maple syrup, and liquid, smells just like the stuff in the carboy.
By what process could cider turn to a sherry like product? It tastes and smells pretty good, considering, but not sure I'd find myself drinking much of it.
I also found some for sure cider I had bottled up after fermentation in barrels during that period, and it tasted predictably like sour, oxidized cider.
