[Sca-cooks] Stefan finally succeeds in making cider

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Melanie Wilson wrote:
>  >Yup. The cider that you get here is just the unfiltered apple juice.
>
>Apple juice :)

Well, in the US there's a perceived difference between what is sold 
as apple juice with is a filtered and clarified, thus nearly 
transparent, amber colored liquid, and what is called cider, which is 
often close to freshly pressed, unfiltered, thus opaque and cloudy 
liquid.

Naturally the unfiltered is more flavorful. But it is often only 
available in the autumn during peak apple harvest.

Often it is flash pasteurized (people died a few years ago from 
drinking unpasteurized cider that has been contaminated with some 
nasty beasty). Some is even frozen, so that there is cider for a 
while after harvest.

And, yes, one *can* purchase hard, i.e. alcoholic, cider in some 
places in the US. We have several brands available here in California.

>  Is home brew not a normal occurance then ?

Making wine and beer at home for personal consumption is legal, but 
few people do it. The SCA encourages home brewing, so there may be 
more people giving it a try in the SCA than in the general 
population. Also in some geographical regions folks are more likely 
to brew at home than in others.

However, in my experience, which is limited, and therefore not 
necessarily exemplary, most folks in the SCA just make what we call 
"cordial" - liqueur (vodka or brandy, occasionally rum or something 
else) with fruit and sometimes spices macerated in it for a long time 
to flavor it, sweetened most often with simple sugar syrup, aged for 
several months, and usually strained before serving.

My kingdom has a Brewers Guild, and one of our local brewing Laurels 
(i know you're not in the SCA, but i think you're familiar with the 
meaning of this term) makes *good* stuff. I generally do not care for 
beers, although i find some ales more appealing. And i actually drank 
*a whole cup* of one of his brews!

Anyway, most folks in the US have a fear of bacteria and yeasts, so 
most folks edge way from brewing and vintning - plus it's a fair bit 
of work.

Many folks honestly don't have time for - some people spend about 4 
hours total commuting to and from work, then minimum 9 hours at work 
(counting lunch and breaks, not counting working extra time as is 
often expected), and 7 or 8 hours sleeping (gotta work in dinner and 
taking a shower or two per day and doing laundry and shopping once in 
a while), so there's not much time for other activities.

And takes up space that folks often don't have to spare in urban apartments.

Some folks are just too impatient to wait. And some folks are afraid 
of the possibility of explosions.

Me, i don't like most beers, and have found few wines i like (and 
those i usually can't afford). I'm interested in mead and fermented 
fruit beverages other than grape, so some day i may give it a try. 
There's room in my apartment for a couple jugs.

Anahita