I have two batches going - one from the cider press at Webbers, and another
from the club buy. The first I did as Rick Larson suggested - tossed it in
a sanitized corny and refrigerated it. (Skipped the two days at basement
temps step.) It is slowly and deliciously fermenting. I hope there's
enough left when it's done fermenting!
The other I boiled 6 gal down to 4 gal (as Mark Glewwe suggested) and
pitched with the new Wyeast Cider Yeast. Racked it into the secondary last
night, but it's still bubbling away slowly. It's pretty tart and dry, I'm
thinking of adding some honey to it to sweeten it up.
- Al
"Russell
Loucks" To: mba(a)thebarn.com
<rjl(a)mm.com> cc:
Sent by: Subject: Re: Cider
owner-mba@the
barn.com
11/14/01
03:43 PM
Holy Wild Yeast, Batman!!!
I was hoping the wild yeast present in my batch of cider would be strong
enough to ferment, but no!!!! After two days of no activity I had to pitch
some champagne yeast..... I got my cider at the 'club press' at Webbers.
This year's batch of cider is the first batch that didn't didn't have
enough
wild yeast on it to ferment. Oh, well. I just racked mine into
secondaries. Rather dry tasting (as a result of using the champagne
yeast....).
Enjoy!
R
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick Larson" <rick(a)adc.com>
To: "My Beer Alias List" <mba(a)thebarn.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2001 3:28 PM
Subject: Re: Cider
> Jim's cider post reminded me to give a quick update on
> my cider.
>
> I hope everyone's cider is happily fermenting. The club buy
> cider is really getting great (a bit of sulfur in the nose does
> blow off). I was racking some off into a serving container
> until the boys said the cider was tasting "funny".
>
> My technique is very simple. Pour jugs into sanitized
> corny keg. Let sit for 3 days at basement temperature.
> Put in fridge. Chill. Blow off any pressure and serve it.
>
> I've been really enjoying this years batch and hope to have
> some left by Thanksgiving.
>
> I'll have to try some more tonight :-).
> rick
>
Cider is also fermenting very well at the Garden View Brewery.
I used a very similar technique. Had a bit of a "pressure surge" at the tap handle last evening but it is working very nicely. A little sulphur notes but it does blow off. Cooled down quite a bit to help control ferment. Thinking about sterile filtering since I have one demo set of sterile pad filters but will wait just a wee bit longer.
Thanks again for the post and thanks Mark Glewwe for all the work involved in tracking, pressing, storing, hauling, for the last three or four years!
Rick O
>>> "Rick Larson" <rick(a)adc.com> 11/14/01 03:28PM >>>
Jim's cider post reminded me to give a quick update on
my cider.
I hope everyone's cider is happily fermenting. The club buy
cider is really getting great (a bit of sulfur in the nose does
blow off). I was racking some off into a serving container
until the boys said the cider was tasting "funny".
My technique is very simple. Pour jugs into sanitized
corny keg. Let sit for 3 days at basement temperature.
Put in fridge. Chill. Blow off any pressure and serve it.
I've been really enjoying this years batch and hope to have
some left by Thanksgiving.
I'll have to try some more tonight :-).
rick
Jim's cider post reminded me to give a quick update on
my cider.
I hope everyone's cider is happily fermenting. The club buy
cider is really getting great (a bit of sulfur in the nose does
blow off). I was racking some off into a serving container
until the boys said the cider was tasting "funny".
My technique is very simple. Pour jugs into sanitized
corny keg. Let sit for 3 days at basement temperature.
Put in fridge. Chill. Blow off any pressure and serve it.
I've been really enjoying this years batch and hope to have
some left by Thanksgiving.
I'll have to try some more tonight :-).
rick
Dining In, Dining Out/Style Desk; Section F A Revolutionary Idea:
Trading Grape for Apple By AMANDA HESSER
11/14/2001 The New York Times Page 1, Column 4 c. 2001 New York Times
Company
A THOUGHTFUL host may have the best intentions, beginning the evening
with a splash of Champagne, perhaps, and then pausing with a crisp
Alsatian white, before settling into earthy reds for the main course.
But Thanksgiving dinner is a meal that, even in the best hands,
stretches the definition of hearty. By the end, it is a triumph if you
are not stuffed, tired and tipsy.
But there is a drink that can be more graceful than wine, and in some
ways much more appropriate in balance and tradition for Thanksgiving
dinner. It is hard cider, made from fermented apples or pears. And if
you're tasting Martinelli's in your head, then keep in mind that it is
to hard cider what purple grape juice is to a grand cru.
In Colonial America hard cider was as common as beer. In 1775, 1 out of
every 10 farms in New England owned and operated its own cider mill,
according to Ben Watson in ''Cider, Hard and Sweet'' (Countryman Press,
1999). Fermenting the juice was a way to make it last. But as the
number of family farms diminished and Prohibition took hold, the
tradition vanished.
It is just in the past decade that cider making has revived, with a
small cluster of fruit growers around the country turning to cider with
a winemaker's approach. Meanwhile, importers have begun bringing in
artisanal ciders from France -- some like fragrant, delicate
Champagnes, others bracing, yeasty brews.
Ciders are low in alcohol, usually 3 to 7 percent, and generous in
nuance. They are also fantastically cheap. Most cost less than $10 for
a 750-milliliter bottle, and most wine stores have at least one in
stock. You can also find fermented ciders -- as long as they're not
fortified -- in better grocery stores.
Cider can be sparkling or still, dry or sweet. You could start a meal,
for instance, with the frothy, sweet bubbles of Henri Bellot, cidre
bouche from France, and make your way to a clean, dry Farnum Hill cider
from New Hampshire, with aromas of cherries and melon. All the while
your palate will remain alert, your appetite unblemished, and your mind
clear.
French ciders tend to have floral, mineral aromas and lighter body,
more like dew than nectar. Duche de Longueville makes a brut called
Antoinette, which is a beautiful golden liquid with a soft, flabby
bubble, and a Muscadet de Dieppe, which is much sweeter, like honey,
and just 2.5 percent alcohol. It is perfectly pleasant, but not all
that challenging, when you compare it with artisanally produced cidre
bouche like that made by Henri Bellot in Chaource, France. Its frothy
bubbles race around your palate, spreading a buoyant mix of grass,
cooked apples, yeast and butter.
In the same vein is Sydre Argelette, a cider made by Eric Bordelet in
Normandy. Mr. Bordelet, who used to be the sommelier at Arpege, the
Michelin three-star restaurant in Paris, revived an old orchard and
began making artisanal ciders combining more than a dozen apple
varieties. From the slender neck of the bottle flows a cider the color
of amber. Fine, feisty bubbles release a robust, fresh fruit flavor. It
is heartier than you might think and quite dry -- a good thing to serve
with turkey.
His Poire Granite, or pear cider, made from an orchard of 300-year-old
trees is so delicious I would drink it with anything. It is pale,
almost weak-looking, like a pinot grigio -- a disguise. It is much more
elegant than the apple cider, more like Champagne with a clean sparkle
and a potent aroma of pears and flowers.
>From France, there are also some fine ciders that align more closely
with good beer. The cidre bouche, brut de Normandie, from Etienne
Dupont, is a dense yellow and rustic with delicious, sharp, yeasty
flavors and almost none of the friendly fruit aromas you get from
others. It complements things like game, steak and fried potatoes.
European ciders have long been made with bittersweet and bitter-sharp
cider apples, most of which are hard and inedible. They produce more
austere qualities in the cider and less obvious fruit flavors.
Such apples are rare in American orchards, and American cider makers
are less hemmed in by tradition in general. They experiment with apples
and techniques, some producing ciders that are dense and fruity, others
making cider that tastes of earth and minerals.
Elizabeth Ryan, the founder of the Hudson Valley Draft Cider Company,
first intended to make apple brandy, but was inspired by a research
trip to England, where she visited a number of cider producers. Steve
Wood, an owner of Farnum Hill Ciders in Lebanon, N.H., came to cider
making as a way to save his sputtering fresh apple business.
In the 1980's, Mr. Wood began planting heirloom cider and eating apples
on his farm. ''I pretended it was a commercial venture,'' he said. ''I
think it was closer to gardening.''
''By the late 80's we started taking it seriously, as the apple market
was deteriorating,'' Mr. Wood added. ''By the early 90's we were taking
it very seriously, indeed. In order to continue to grow apples on these
bony hillsides with a straight face we need to have something viable to
keep doing it.''
So Mr. Wood began making cider with the heirloom fruit. ''We're not
really following any tradition,'' he said. ''We're trying to make cider
that's reflective of the fruit we grow and the place we grow it.''
This is why American ciders are difficult to pin down. Hudson Valley
Farmhouse Cider is reminiscent of English ciders, with lazy bubbles, a
lot of body and assertive acidity. It smells much like a Sauternes,
with the aroma of golden raisins, minerals and rubber. Its dryness
would balance well with sweet potatoes, turnips and turkey, but
probably stomp all over a dainty hors d'oeuvre.
Farnum Hill's ciders stand alone. If you swirl a glass of the sparkling
semidry, a waft of citrus blossoms and pear travels up to your nose. It
is dry and crisp, with a gentle warming quality, like a Scotch. Mr.
Wood blends up to a dozen rare varieties of apples like Esopus
Spitzenberg, Dabinett, Yarlington Mill, Kingston Black and Medaille
d'Or. His extra dry has the same kind of vibrancy, with an aroma of
cherries and melon that seems to leap from the glass. It is dry and
distinct with a pleasant sharpness reminiscent of bitter oranges. Both
would be terrific with a meal.
Mr. Wood has also begun experimenting with single-variety ciders, where
there is still a mix of apples but one variety's flavor is amplified.
West County Winery in Colrain, Mass., has already headed down this
road. Its Redfield cider, made with the red-fleshed Redfield apple
along with McIntosh, Northern Spy and others, is clean and tart. The
cider is an apricot pink and smells like fresh apple skins and spice.
They also make Tremlett's, which is a little fuller with gentle hints
of pear and lemon.
None of those flavors are what you would expect from fermented apples.
But you should, considering that no one expects wine to taste like
grapes.
A carefully made hard cider is produced much like wine. The apples are
ripened fully on the tree so that their sugar content is very high. In
France, and sometimes here, the fruit is allowed to fall and sit on the
ground for a few days to ''sweat,'' or dry. The apples are then
crushed, pressed and fermented. Because apples and pears contain less
sugar than grapes, they produce a drink with lower alcohol.
It is at this point that techniques diverge. Bill Rhyne, an owner of
Rhyne Cyder in Sonoma, ferments the apple varieties separately, then
blends them before bottling. As the cider is bottled, he adds a little
unfermented juice so that the cider goes through a second fermentation
in the bottle, like Champagne. ''This brings out the apple flavor,'' he
said.
West County Winery also bottles right away, but it lets the crushed
apples ferment for a few days before pressing, a technique that draws
out many delicate flavors in the skins.
Hudson Valley Farmhouse Ciders and Farnum Hill both age their fermented
ciders in barrels before blending and bottling. Mr. Wood uses French
and American oak and stainless steel. ''Cider is so delicate,'' said
Ms. Ryan, who matures her cider in redwood, ''We don't want wood
flavor, but we do want slow oxidation which builds complexity over a
few months. Literally the cider is being allowed to breathe. If it goes
too far, it can get too complex and too interesting.''
Cider makers are careful not to turn away new drinkers, which is why
Mr. Wood makes some of his sparkling. ''A few bubbles make the whole
thing a little bit jollier,'' he said.
Cider, in the past, was not something you drank for nuance or fun, or
because you wanted to get in the mood of the season. ''You have to
think,'' Ms. Ryan said. ''What was there? There was water, there was
milk and there was cider. There was a little bit of wine and beer and
not much else.'' At one time, Westchester County was renowned for its
ciders. ''New Jersey had hundreds and hundreds of cider mills,'' she
added.
It is the fine details that cider makers now tend to. Mr. Wood said:
''I drink a lot of wine and a fair amount of beer, and I don't think
our cider would be what it is if I didn't.
''If I had my way, I'd be making all dead-dry still cider and people
would be flocking to buy it because it would be so lovely. The still is
the purest expression of the fruit.''
But all ciders are an expression of the harvest. What better time to
celebrate them?
Photos: GOOD WITH TURKEY -- Several varieties of heirloom apples go
into Farnum Hill cider, which is made in Lebanon, N.H. (Rose
McNulty)(pg. F9); FEISTY BUBBLES -- Sydre Argelette is a sparkling dry
apple cider from Normandy. (Tony Cenicola/The New York Times)(pg. F1)
------------------------------ http://www.menet.umn.edu/~jellings/ *
* Dr. James Lee (Jim) Ellingson, Ph.D. jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651/778-4398 *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
I will append one item to Todd's message. I asked the Brewer about the
demise of Alexander. He told me that beer was a marketing development and
was never his own idea. It was also he who asked Palm to discontinue the
beer and not the other way around. He said that he felt strongly about the
one type of beer and the two levels to which the finished products are
blended and was not interested in a fruit beer. This jives with the press
release of a year ago about Alexander not being a "credible beer". Could be
propaganda but the Brewer definitely has a passion for the one style of beer
he makes at the brewery.
~jcs
-----Original Message-----
From: todd ashman [mailto:tashman@AMERITECH.NET]
Sent: Monday, November 12, 2001 7:09 PM
To: CBS-HB(a)LISTSERV.UIC.EDU
Subject: Rodenbach...
Hey Everybody-
Had a good time in Belgium with Jeff and Joe. Had good tours of
Rodenbach, Moortgat, Hoegaarden and Orval. Of course side trips to
Dusseldorf, Beersel and Brussels made for a great time.
Rodenbach is alive and well though some things are changing. I don't
know how much of what we were told was propaganda and what was true but
I came away with the following. They are installing a new brewhouse
with a Muera Mash filter(very cool). We were the first 'foreigners' to
step foot in this 'under construction' area. The old brewhouse is still
chugging away. Lot's of work is being done on the physical plant but
much of it is being done painstakingly to preserve old buildings which
are considered historical and as such are part of Belgium's past. The
Rodenbach's were very important people. The last part of our tour was
the oak 'casks'. They're still being used and they are quite proud of
them. The casks themselves may reach historical status and the brewery
may get funds from the government to help with their upkeep. When the
tour was over we had a 'degustation' of Rodenbach and the Grand Cru.
We were joined by the Brewmaster and two of his assistants. They asked
us which of the two beers would be the best to market in the US. This
of course brought more questions than answers as a possible product
pullback may loom. It seems as though the higher priced Grand Cru is
the one they want to sell here as they want the most return on shipping
dollars spent. We'll see... We thanked our hosts who proclaimed us
ambassadors of Rodenbach and to spread the word that the brewery isn't a
museum.
next...Moortgat
Todd
Hey Everybody-
Had a good time in Belgium with Jeff and Joe. Had good tours of
Rodenbach, Moortgat, Hoegaarden and Orval. Of course side trips to
Dusseldorf, Beersel and Brussels made for a great time.
Rodenbach is alive and well though some things are changing. I don't
know how much of what we were told was propaganda and what was true but
I came away with the following. They are installing a new brewhouse
with a Muera Mash filter(very cool). We were the first 'foreigners' to
step foot in this 'under construction' area. The old brewhouse is still
chugging away. Lot's of work is being done on the physical plant but
much of it is being done painstakingly to preserve old buildings which
are considered historical and as such are part of Belgium's past. The
Rodenbach's were very important people. The last part of our tour was
the oak 'casks'. They're still being used and they are quite proud of
them. The casks themselves may reach historical status and the brewery
may get funds from the government to help with their upkeep. When the
tour was over we had a 'degustation' of Rodenbach and the Grand Cru.
We were joined by the Brewmaster and two of his assistants. They asked
us which of the two beers would be the best to market in the US. This
of course brought more questions than answers as a possible product
pullback may loom. It seems as though the higher priced Grand Cru is
the one they want to sell here as they want the most return on shipping
dollars spent. We'll see... We thanked our hosts who proclaimed us
ambassadors of Rodenbach and to spread the word that the brewery isn't a
museum.
next...Moortgat
Todd
The St. Louis Brews are proud to announce the 2001 Happy Holiday Homebrew
Competition.
The competition is a qualifying event for the Fourth Annual Masters
Championship of Amateur Brewing (MCAB4). The Competition will be held
Saturday, December 15, 2001, entries are due December 8. For further
information, rules, and online registration please visit our website
http://www.stlbrews.org and click on the 'competitions' button. Please
join us as a judge or steward; you may register online also.
So you think your beer can be a contender? Find out by entering it in the
HHHC01.
We are only interested in sending these emails to beer-lovers and brewers
who are interested in receiving them. If you don't want to receive
notifications regarding our homebrew competition simply reply to this
email and tell us. Thanks.
Still time to enter.
Forwarded message:
> From hhhc(a)stlbrews.org Thu Nov 8 19:41:44 2001
> From: hhhc(a)stlbrews.org
> To: <piatz(a)cray.com>
> Subject: Happy Holiday Homebrew Competition
> Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 19:40:21 -0600
> X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200
> Message-ID: <G32UDVCDGTL4HM2aYY60000039c@g32udvcdgtl4hm2>
> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 09 Nov 2001 01:40:21.0570 (UTC) FILETIME=[7EA26A20:01C168BF]
> X-Virus-Scanned: by AMaViS-perl11-milter (http://amavis.org/)
>
> The St. Louis Brews are proud to announce the 2001 Happy Holiday Homebrew
> Competition.
>
> The competition is a qualifying event for the Fourth Annual Masters
> Championship of Amateur Brewing (MCAB4). The Competition will be held
> Saturday, December 15, 2001, entries are due December 8. For further
> information, rules, and online registration please visit our website
> http://www.stlbrews.org and click on the 'competitions' button. Please
> join us as a judge or steward; you may register online also.
>
> So you think your beer can be a contender? Find out by entering it in the
> HHHC01.
>
> We are only interested in sending these emails to beer-lovers and brewers
> who are interested in receiving them. If you don't want to receive
> notifications regarding our homebrew competition simply reply to this
> email and tell us. Thanks.
>
--
Steve Piatz piatz(a)cray.com
Cray Inc. 651-605-9049
1340 Mendota Heights Road
Mendota Heights, MN 55120
And if you want to pursue more beer activities Saturday night, The Old
Kitchen Rug Brewery House Concert Series will be presenting our
Octoberfest, along with Kevin Bowe and The Okemah Prophets at 8pm. Tickets
are $10 - we still have a few available.
- Al
"Rick Oftel"
<Rick.Oftel@t To: mba(a)thebarn.com
oro.com> cc:
Sent by: Subject: Just more beer news
owner-mba@the
barn.com
11/08/01
10:16 AM
Just a quick message to the group that next Saturday, more beer will start
fermenting - Imagine that!  The brew session will likely start in the
morning and the style of the day will be a Koelsch. DWC Pils malt,
Hallertaur and Spalt hops and a mix of filtered and RO water.
Hope to wrap up the session by 12:00 noon. If there are any "morning
folks" out there, feel free to stop by. E-mail me Friday or leave a
message 952 941-9378.
Rick Oftel
Just a quick message to the group that next Saturday, more beer will start fermenting - Imagine that! The brew session will likely start in the morning and the style of the day will be a Koelsch. DWC Pils malt, Hallertaur and Spalt hops and a mix of filtered and RO water.
Hope to wrap up the session by 12:00 noon. If there are any "morning folks" out there, feel free to stop by. E-mail me Friday or leave a message 952 941-9378.
Rick Oftel
