Jean-Yves on Cider!

3 - Selection and Pressing of the Apples

Remember that in the second part we said : collecting good apples, that means:

Don't press unripe apples which give a wort poor in sugar, difficult to clear and ferments too quick so you get a cloudy cider which is low in alcohol.

Remove all the rotten apples, they also give a cider low in alcohol with too much sediment, so no good to drink.

WASHING:

This must be done to get a cider which will keep; drain off the water.

GRINDING:

Grinding produces a thin pulp and makes the extraction of the juice easier; it's done with an apple mill.

Leave the pulp to rest for about 6 hrs (at about 8°; or 2hr at higher temperatures) to get a better aroma, more juice and a better colour of the cider.

PRESS:

There are a lot of different types of press available, most of them are good, but the most important thing is to press slowly, 1 000 kg per hr or more, to get the best of the juice ( quantity and quality ).

WHAT IS THE WORT MADE OF?

SUGAR : 100 to 150 gr per ltr, as with beer it forms alcohol with the yeast during fermentation.

MALIC ACID : from 2-4 gr per ltr in the sweet, sweet/bitter and bitter apples to more than 10 gr per ltr in the acid apples. The acid protects against diseases in the cider, helps to clear the wort and conserves it, keeping it fresher.

TANNIC MATTER : less than 1 gr per ltr in the acid apples to 2-3 gr in the sweet/ bitter apples and about 5 gr or more in the bitter apples. They give the color, the body and the bitterness of the cider.

NITROGEN MATTER : gives food to the yeast to transform the sugar into alcohol. If the wort is poor in nitrogen matter, the yeast stops working earlier and the cider still has a high gravity at the end of fermentation. If the wort is clear well before fermenting, 30 to 50% of the nitrogen matter are eliminated, that helps a lot to get a natural sweet cider.

PECTIN (glucid substances ) : they are only in well ripened apples; they coagulate with the enzymes "methyl esterase" to make the "chapeau brun" during the clarifying period (it take 5-8 days ).

MINERAL SALTS : there are many of these : carbonates, phosphates, sulphates, potassium chlorides, calcium, magnesium. These salts are essential for a good yeast growth (there're also useful for the human body!)

ENZYMES, AROMA MATTER and MICRO- ORGANISMS .

By this you've understood that clarifying the wort is the most important stage, we call it : faire le "chapeau brun".

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