Hello All
This was our first year of making our own cider. From the results of
the first batch it appears we have done ok. The cider is very smooth
no nasty after taste but possibly lacking in depth of flavour and
could be slightly sharper (any tips?).
I am very happy with the results however and would like to thank
everybody who gave me advice over this season. Look forward to racking
off my next batch.
Hi Brian,
Blending is the answer to your query on raising the sharpness. My advice would be to source some local dessert or culinary fruit (I wouldn't use Bramley's but that is my personal opinion) and either ferment these separately and blend later, or press separately and blend this dessert / culinary juice into your main juice checking pH regularly and/or tasting as you go.
Narrow range pH papers are readily available online, ie: http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/PH_2.8_-_4.6_Strips.html
and you should try targeting something around pH 3.4 - 3.6; but again, that is often down to personal tastes.
Titration kits are probably better / more accurate but are a bit more fiddly IMO.
NB - This reply and thread were first posted on the Cider Workshop mailing list 08/07/10
making perfect cider is an art . . . mostly said
you need to be an artist to create a perfect cider.
Hello.
I'm a newcomer to the cider making art. I'm here incase I get stuck and need some help. However, I thought I'd mention what I'm going to try, to see if it's going to work or not...
I was going to try mixing Braeburn with Bramley juice, and make cider from this. Good idea? Bad idea? I hear the Braeburn makes a nice, light, refreshing cider, and I thought I might try adding the Bramley to make it a little tart.
For information, I have about 15lbs of Braeburn to 5lbs of Bramley...so, what do you think? Finally, I was going to use Champagne yeast...
TC
ThunderCracker, I'd think carefully before using Champagne yeast. I have used it in the past and I found that it fermented out to produce a very dry but high alcohol cider - which is fine if that is to your personal taste but perhaps it is not to everyone's taste. However the juice that I pressed from my apples had a specific gravity (brix) of over 16. Of course much depends on the type of apple you are using and their ripeness. I can't speak for the types of which you speak or their sugar level this year. If they have a high specific gravity and you chose to use Champagne yeast, you could arrest the fermentation prematurely but you might think of using a yeast which ferments out at a lower alcoholic level with more of the fruit flavour remaining.
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