[Sca-cooks] Stefan finally succeeds in making cider

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Melanie Wilson:
>>I ran across a recipe one time, years ago, for making "soft" hard cider
>(something with a really low alcohol content), and it involved 
>buying a jug of the unpasteurized apple cider (in the U.S., Mel, 
>that's an unfermented beverage distinct from apple *juice*),
>
>How does it differ ?
>
>Squeeze apples unfermented is juice here :)

Mostly it seems to depend on the variety of apple and whether it's 
filtered. My experience locally in the US is that in general, fresh 
cider is unfiltered, thick, dark amber, and full (as you might 
imagine), of apple bits. Essentially, apple must. Apple juice is 
light amber, filtered crystal clear, and usually pasteurized. 
However, in the late autumn and winter, you can get gallon jugs of 
apple juice which is, mysteriously, labelled cider.

>  >Cotton balls prevent the ingress of dust and other nasties.
>And allows CO2 out
>
>>>.  Next time I'm in the UK, I *definitely* want to try some over there.

Some of the UK commercial ciders, such as Woodpecker (which are a 
local "package store" staple in my neighborhood, not that anybody 
calls them "package stores, but you probably know what I mean) can 
have an unpleasantly "pickled" flavor, as if they were fermented dry 
and then sweetened.

I also prefer Norman cider, but it's also quite likely that the 
variety and quality of ciders available in the UK are far greater 
than the imported stuff we can get, or the local products which are 
largely imitations of the export-quality UK products.

Perry, on the other hand, is often available here and, while a little 
too sweet, doesn't have that sweet-and-sour pickle thing going on.

>Hate UK cider but love Normandy :)

If I can find a dry version of the UK products (mostly I see 
Woodpecker of the sweet variety, and a host of similar but 
more-or-less-locally-produced stuff), it's usually all right. More of 
the wine-like ciders from Normandy, New York State, and elsewhere are 
becoming more available, though. I guess it largely depends on 
whether you prefer cider that has a wine character or a beer 
character.

Adamantius
-- 




"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la 
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them 
eat cake!"
	-- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques 
Rousseau, "Confessions", 1782

"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
	-- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry 
Holt, 07/29/04