Wanna bet I can't wait past tomorrow?
Actually, I can, mainly because it's so much work you want every sip to be at it's peak. I can tell you from tasting the hydrometer sample (finished at .996, dry as a salt flat), this is a great batch. The challenge will be less in holding out before I tap it than stretching it out once I do. A nice, dry cider like this is so drinkable and refreshing, it's easy to drink it too fast.
On the flip side, the wild cider I kegged up with hope, forget it. I could probably tolerate its battery acid acidity. It's almost like a lambic that way. But the phenolics, whoa. It smells like a dirty diaper rescued from a house fire. I've never been thirsty enough to drink something that nasty. I poured it down the drain and double-sanitized all equipment that's been in contact with it lest any wild yeast that created that evil brew survive to wreck others.
2 comments:
You're so crafty.
I think that looks good. Clear. I thought cider was real cloudy. How's that happen?
When I pitched the cider it was cloudy. Some of that is the yeast in suspension, but mainly it's pectin. I added pectic enzyme when I racked it, which generally gets the stuff clear enough for me. I've experimented with finings such as Claro KC, and they work really well, but I don't mind a bit of haze. If I was entering it in a competition, maybe, because while appearance is only worth 3 of the 50 points, seeing an unappealing beverage sets you up to taste and smell its ever defect and maybe even invent a few.
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