For years I have bought two gallons of cider, whenever I can find a small, "non-industrial" press: I buy one to drink now, and one to let harden naturally on the back stoop to enjoy later. The alternating warmth and cooling of the autumn sun and lengthening nights typically yield a delicious snap to the end product; but small cider-pressing operations are increasingly hard to find in my area.
My son got involved in home-brewing beer, and his experience prompted me to try making cider in a bigger way last fall. I found on old German fellow with about 8 acres of apples and pears in a town nearby, so using my son's 5 gal carboy I made up a 5 gal. batch last fall. Somehow I got lucky and won a bronze medal in a local AHA sanctioned homebrew competition. Now I'm hooked, and want to try working with 10-15 gal's this year, so I can have more to enjoy myself and share with others.
My son told me about this forum, and I read it with great interest and wish I understood more. A few questions:
- My biggest question now is about using commercially pasteurized juice: will pasteurized juice ferment if new yeast is added?
(I see multiple posts where people seem to be using pasteurized products, but I want to be sure before I waste a bunch of time and
money trying something that I've always assumed impossible.)
- Don't all commercially sold juices also have preservatives? Perhaps it's the preservatives that prevent fermentation?
- Could I use frozen apple juice concentrate to sweeten and add flavor after primary fermentation? (I've considered boiling down fresh cider to make my own concentrate, but worry about the process changing the flavor for the worse. Any comments on this idea -vs- something like Brewer's Best?)
- Aren't there different types of pasteurization? Does it matter HOW the products are pasteurized?
- What's the diff. betw/ Pasteurization that's done commercially and "canning" (like canning meats and veggies?)
- Is there a glossary somewhere for abbreviations and terms I read here but I'm not familiar with?
Sorry for the long list, but I'm excited to get the answers to these questions I've wondered about for a long time!
My son got involved in home-brewing beer, and his experience prompted me to try making cider in a bigger way last fall. I found on old German fellow with about 8 acres of apples and pears in a town nearby, so using my son's 5 gal carboy I made up a 5 gal. batch last fall. Somehow I got lucky and won a bronze medal in a local AHA sanctioned homebrew competition. Now I'm hooked, and want to try working with 10-15 gal's this year, so I can have more to enjoy myself and share with others.
My son told me about this forum, and I read it with great interest and wish I understood more. A few questions:
- My biggest question now is about using commercially pasteurized juice: will pasteurized juice ferment if new yeast is added?
(I see multiple posts where people seem to be using pasteurized products, but I want to be sure before I waste a bunch of time and
money trying something that I've always assumed impossible.)
- Don't all commercially sold juices also have preservatives? Perhaps it's the preservatives that prevent fermentation?
- Could I use frozen apple juice concentrate to sweeten and add flavor after primary fermentation? (I've considered boiling down fresh cider to make my own concentrate, but worry about the process changing the flavor for the worse. Any comments on this idea -vs- something like Brewer's Best?)
- Aren't there different types of pasteurization? Does it matter HOW the products are pasteurized?
- What's the diff. betw/ Pasteurization that's done commercially and "canning" (like canning meats and veggies?)
- Is there a glossary somewhere for abbreviations and terms I read here but I'm not familiar with?
Sorry for the long list, but I'm excited to get the answers to these questions I've wondered about for a long time!