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best cider i ever made was the simplest


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#1 EWW

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Posted 10 January 2013 - 08:42 PM

After this years cider press of 4 tons of honey crisp apples I brought home 43 gallons in kegs and didn't have time to do anything "fun" with it so I just left it in the kegs and bleed off pressure throughout fermentation. Basically it just went from press to keg, no additives, no yeast, no gravity readings, no transfers, no nothing. After 2-3 mo I just pulled my first sample...this is probably the best apple based ferment I have made, and I've made a number of them in the past years. Once this clears it will be a really nice traditional dry cider. It's hard to beat the simplicity and the finished product. In the past when i've attempted to improve upon nature with yeasts and nutrients I've never gotten something this clean...I typically get a bit of SO2. If you have access to raw fresh cider DO NOT fear the wild ferment. Next year I'll follow the same process...until then I should have enough cider to last me:cheers:

#2 neddles

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Posted 10 January 2013 - 09:39 PM

Damn that sounds great. Nice for you.So you like the cider honeycrisp makes? I ask as it is one of the few trees of mine that is producing in any quantity. We mostly eat the sh_t out of them.

#3 positiveContact

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Posted 11 January 2013 - 06:51 AM

I'm on year two of naturally fermented cider. the first years was/is excellent. year two seems to be shaping up to be similar. I'm probably not using the ideal blend of apples for cider but it still tastes good.

#4 EWW

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Posted 11 January 2013 - 07:31 PM

Damn that sounds great. Nice for you.So you like the cider honeycrisp makes? I ask as it is one of the few trees of mine that is producing in any quantity. We mostly eat the sh_t out of them.

for a single varietal cider it's very nice...decent tartness and acidity. We get our apples from a cold storage facility in E WA and it was one of the varieties that was recommended by the owner who is also a home brewer. I like the product better than the straight Jonagold ferments I've done. He also recommended Gravensteins as a potential single varietal, but I haven't tried that one.

#5 positiveContact

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Posted 12 January 2013 - 08:22 AM

for a single varietal cider it's very nice...decent tartness and acidity. We get our apples from a cold storage facility in E WA and it was one of the varieties that was recommended by the owner who is also a home brewer. I like the product better than the straight Jonagold ferments I've done. He also recommended Gravensteins as a potential single varietal, but I haven't tried that one.

there is a place in my state that actually grows cider apple varieties and sells cider. I've been meaning to contact him to see if he'd sell me the unfermented juice. It would be an interesting comparison to what I'm currently doing which is just buying unpasteurized juice (intended for non-alcoholic cider) from a regular orchard.


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