Cider Tasting #1

Upcoming Cider Events

• August 30th 2015 – Cider Balancing and Blending Workshop @ The

Homebrewer

• September 19th 2015 – Cider Fest L.A. (Volunteer or Tickets for 25% Off)

• (TBD) October 2015 – Cider Workshop

NOTE: Please follow-up after this presentation on QUAFF list to let me know the

good, bad, and ugly.

This input will help me and QUAFF to always bring you and San Diego the best!

Cider Fest LA

• Cider Houses – Ireland, England, Local CA, Spanish Sidra, Canada, New

England, Ice Ciders, and Cysers.

• Meaderies – Golden Coast (Frank), Hi-Wheel, SF Mead Co, and Moonlight.

• Breweries – The Bruery, Eagle Rock, Monkish, Noble, Phantom Carriage,

and MacLeod Ale

• Volunteers Needed

• Tickets for 25% OFF

CiderFestLA.com

Info and Tickets

How About Them Apples?

Exploring Craft CiderBrian Trout

QUAFF at Karl Strauss

Tuesday, August 25th 2015

Who Am I? Why Should I Speak?Silver Medal for Sour Ales - 2015 NHC Final Round

Gold Medal for Belgian and French Ales - Masters Championship of Amateur Brewing XVII (MCAB)

Bronze Medal for Stong Ale - MCAB XVII

First Place for Sour Ales - 2015 NHC First Round

Second Place for Spice Herb Vegertable - 2015 NHC First Round

Second Place for Dark Lagers - 2015 NHC First Round

“Muchas Grazias” Pro Collaboration Blending & Cellarwork Mike Hess Brewing - 2015

“Sir Maxwell Mild” 3 Different Ways Pro Brew Home Brew Co. - 2015

Mike Hess Brewing 4th Anniversary VIP Cask Collaboration - 2014 (Pro Brew Cask Project) “Muchas Grazias”

Homebrewer Of The Year - 2011/2012 & 2014 QuAFF

Brewing Machine (Most Winning Brewer) - 2014 & 2015 America’s Finest City Homebrew (AFC) Competition

Best of Show Mead/Cider - 2013 & 2015 AFC

Gold for Dark Lager - 2015 AFC

Gold for Other Mead - 2015 AFC

Silver for Sour Ale - 2015 AFC

Bronze for Spice, Herb & Vegetable - 2015 AFC

Bronze for European Amber Lager- 2015 AFC

Bronze for Strong Ale - 2015 AFC

Silver Best of Show for Saison - 2014 Society of Barley Engineers Homebrew Competition (SBEHC)

Gold for Belgian and French - 2014 SBEHC

Silver for Bock - 2014 SBEHC

Gold for Strong Ale and Old Ale - 2014 Mayfaire • Gold for Bock - 2014 Mayfaire

Gold for Cider - 2014 Mayfaire

Silver for Cider - 2014 Mayfaire

Bronze for Mead - 2014 Mayfaire

First Place Regional - 2014 AHA NHC

Gold for Belgian & French Ale - 2014 AFC

Gold for Strong Ale - 2014 AFC

Gold for Amber Hybrid Beer - 2014 AFC

Gold for Bock Lager - 2014 AFC

Silver for Standard Cider & Perry - 2014 AFC

Bronze for European Amber Lager - 2014 AFC

Gold for Standard Cider & Perry - 2013 AFC

Gold for Specialty Cider & Perry - 2013 AFC

Bronze for English Brown Ale- 2013 AFC

Bronze for Spice, Herb, & Vegetable - 2013 AFC

Silver for English Brown Ale - MCAB XV

Gold for English Brown Ale - 2012 AFC

Bronze for Bock Lager- 2012 AFC

Third Place for Milk Stout in Stout Competiotion - Oktoberfest V University City 2013

First Place for Spice, Herb, & Vegetable - 2013 AHA National Homebrew Competition (NHC) First Round

First Place for Standard Cider & Perry - 2013 AHA NHC First Round

Second Place for Specialty Cider & Perry - 2013 AHA NHC First Round

Third Place for European Amber Lager - 2013 AHA NHC First Round

Third Place for Stout - 2012 San Diego County Fair

Forth Place for Amber Hybrid - 2012 San Diego County Fair

Brooks Dry Cider

• Medium Sweetness – It says Dry.-1.010fg

• Petilant

• 6.0% ABV

• Common American with English Influence

• Bouquet? Flavor? Appearance?

Mouthfeel? Anything unique?

Born in California but raised in England,

Brooks Dry is a west coast interpretation

of the drier ciders popular overseas. This

isn’t a sweet alcopop you’ll often find in the

US but a well-crafted, perfectly balanced

cider. We only use 100% apple juice (no

juice concentrates or essences here)

fermented in Napa with champagne yeast.

It’s crisp and light with a mighty good bite.

Crap Cider vs. Craft CiderMarketing $$$$ vs. Craft

• We’ve heard, “I don’t like cider.” “Cider is a girls’ drink.” “Cider is too sweet.”

• Crap Cider Cloyingly Sweet - 24grams of sugar per serving? 2 apples in every bottle?

• Flabby. Dull. Lifeless. Or one cider with many kinds due to flavorings.

• Craft Cider Connects us with History. - England, Spain, France, Colonist, Pioneers.

• Extremely food friendly. Burgers, Seafood, Steak, BBQ, Eggs, Cheese, Charcuterie.

• Crisp & Refreshing, Complex and Nuanced. Acids, Tannins, Funk, and Salinity &

Minerals?

• Gluten-Free

• It tends to get you schnockered quicker. Alcohol % is often very deceptive.

• Fermentation is usually long, slow, and cool. Wild fermentations. MLF.

Cider Tasting #2

History - Cider Is Wine• Origin of the apple - valleys and rugged

foothills of Tien Shan Mountains NW

China and Kirghizstan. AlmaAta means

“Father of Apples”.

• Wild apples were depicted Paleolithic

cave art 35,000 – 8,000 B.C.E. Asia and

Europe.

• Carbonized remains of apples were

found Anatolia 6,500 B.C.E. and

Neolithic lake settlement Switzerland

and Italy 2,000 – 1,600 B.C.E.

• “Ova ad malum” Roman.

• Approx.1304 seventy-four out of eighty parishes in West

Sussex were paying tithes in cider.

• 1902 France producing around 647 million gallons

“commercially.”

• Farm to Factory = Industrial Revolution. “Devonshire

Colic” Lead + Acid

• George Washington, John Adams, Johnny “Appleseed”

Chapman, Harrison & Tyler

• Temperance, Cider Palsy, Brutal Winters, Prohibition

Cider – A Drink Rich In History

2012 – 90%, 2013 – 89%, 2014 – 72%. Still in it’s craft revival. Craft Beer – around 18%

Cider – A Drink Rich In HistorySomerset Wassail

Wassail comes from the old Anglo

Saxon ‘wes hal’ – to be whole in good

health.

Queen is chosen over apple

cakes and mulled cider.

Drinking, eating, singing, and dancing

Queen dips a piece of toast on a

pitchfork into cider and places the

oldest tree. Then pours the rest of

her mulled cider around the tree

Guns are fired into top branches

and noise is made.

Sea Cider - Pippins

Pippins is a “sharp” style cider, thanks to the Yellow Newton Pippin

apples we use and cool fermentation from champagne yeast. Off-dry

and chapitalized to 9.5%, it is an example of a New England style of

cider that was meant to be as strong and robust as North America’s

pioneers. Pippins features pineapple and confectionary notes, and is

incredibly food friendly. It fits just about every occasion and its crisp

bite will pair perfectly with everything from steak and salad to spicy

curries. Certified Organic by PACS 16-259 9.5 % alc./vol.

•Dry Ó Ó Ó Ó Ó Sweet - 1.004fg

Tasting Notes:

•Appearance: Effervescent, warm straw in colour, clear, bright.

•Aromas, flavours: Citrus, apple, pear, lemongrass, pineapple,

confectionary.

•Acid/sweetness: Intense acidity, balanced by slight residual

sweetness.

•Mouthfeel: Crisp, sharp to the tongue.

Suggested Food Pairings: Truth be told, Pippins pairs well with

pretty much everything! But as it is a bold cider, it matches well with

bold, intense flavours, such as strong cheeses, BBQ, Thai or

Indian cuisine, pulled pork and spicy foods.

What Is Chaptalized Mean?

French chemist Jean-Antoine Chaptal

Adding Sugar to Must

Pre-Fermentation

Doesn’t add Sweetness

Increases Fermentable

Sugars

Cider Tasting #3

What Makes A Cider Apple?

• Apples we usually eat are dessert apples. Not used very much in cider making.

• A small percentage of dessert varieties are sometimes added to the cider blend.

• Cider Apples are not very good for eating. AKA “Spitters”

• The fermented hard cider tastes a great deal different from the fresh pressed cider or

must. (Does wine taste like fresh grapes? Do we snack on wine grapes?)

• Blending varieties of cider apples is utilized to achieve finished hard cider goal.

• There now over 12,000 varieties of apples! This does not include wild and heirlooms.

• Many of the heirloom and vintage varieties of cider apples are very difficult to find.

• Artisan Cider makers know by taste of cider apples what ratio to use to achieve final hard

cider desired.

Types Of ApplesDESSERT / TABLE

Sweet and have some tartness to be sprightly and not cloying on the palate.

Fuji

Red Delicious

Pink Lady

Gala

Types Of ApplesCULINARY / COOKING

Usually higher in acid and/or less sugar than dessert apples. Flesh will cook down into a soft, pulpy puree. Applesauce, Pies, ApfelStrudel, etc.

Cameo

Granny Smith

Rome Beauty

Northern Spy

Types Of ApplesSWEET

Low Tannin and Low Acid

Egremont Russet

Lord Lambourne

Orleans Reinette

Sweet Coppin

Types Of ApplesBITTERSWEET

High Tannin and Low Acid

Bulmers Norman

Dabinett

Medailledor

Yarlington Mill

Types Of ApplesSHARP

Low Tannin and High Acid

Bramley

Crimson King

Frederick

Grenadier

Types Of ApplesBITTERSHARP

High Tannin and High Acid

Broxwood Foxwhelp

Skyrmes

Stokes Red

Kingston Black

CIDER APPLES

CIDER APPLES

Fine Fat

Hard

Soft

101 Cider House

Super Dry, Local, Living

Probiotic, No Sulfites,

Unfiltered, Unpastuerized,

Natural Carbonated, Wild

Fermented, Raw. – 0.995fg

<0.1 Gram of Sugar.

101 Cider House – I.P.C.

• Bouquet?

Flavor?

Appearance?

Mouthfeel?

Uniqueness?

Hopped Cider

Simcoe, Nelson,

Centennial and

Loaded with Citra Dry

Hops.

Cider Tasting #4

Making Cider

Harvest

Making Cider

Sweating

Making Cider

Milling

Making Cider

Milling

Making Cider

Pressing

Making Cider

DIY or Die Trying (Note: Please do not die trying.)

Making Cider

DIY or Die Trying (Note: Please do not die trying.)

Cider Making – Wild Yeast

• Yeast is everywhere! Apple skins do have wild yeast on them and will ferment.

• Skins may take a while to start and can allow many variables and can infect a batch with an undesirable

character. “Fermentation Roulette.”

• Let’s look to those awesome sour ales of Belgium. Note: “Yeast” used to be referred to as “God Is

Good” prior to Louis Pasteur.

• House Character in Cider? Solera Method.

• Inoculation from pressing equipment. Wooden pressing stacks. Cheeses.

• Cheeses used to be built-up from straw and horse hair. Now canvas, burlap, cheese cloth, linen, and

other fabric is used.

Cider Making – Wild Yeast

Riestra Sidra Natural

• Bouquet?

Flavor?

Appearance?

Mouthfeel?

Uniqueness?

Cider Tasting #5

Cider - Resources

Cider: Hard & Sweet by Ben Watson

The Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Schramm

Craft Cider Making by Andrew Lea

The Orchard Artisans by Dave Carpenter

from Craft Beer & Brewing Magazine (April-May 2015)

Various Craft Cider Makers both Home and Pro

Sea Cider - Prohibition

Crafted with home-grown heritage apples, Rumrunner’s apples are

hand-pressed using our traditional rack and cloth press, slowly

fermented with Champagne yeast, then aged in rum-soaked bourbon

barrels (Screech Barrels)for a minimum of six months. Aromas of

brown sugar and rum show the complexity of this semi-dry sparkling

cider. Delicious cold, or mulled and heated with butter, Rumrunner

pairs well with steak, Caribbean and Moroccan food, and is perfect for

marinades, barbecue sauces and cocktails! Certified

Organic by PACS 16-259

12.5 % alc./vol.

•Dry Ó Ó Ó Ó Ó Sweet

Tasting Notes:

•Appearance: Rich mahogany, gently effervescent.

•Aromas, flavours: Molasses, apple butter, rum.

•Acid/sweetness: Semi-dry, good acid balance.

•Mouthfeel: Smooth, long finish.

Suggested Food Pairings:

Pears, walnuts, duck, pork, blue cheeses, aged cheddar, salty cured

meats, braised meat dishes.

Screech?

How About Them Apples?

Exploring Craft Cider

Thank You

• George and Molly – The Homebrewer

Resource Center

• Chris Banker – Cider For Slackers

Presentation and NHC 2013 Cider

Seminar and in QUAFF Archives

• Stan Sisson – Zen Homebrewer of

Party Ciders and Julian Ciderworks

• Half Pint Ciders – Craft Cider

Distribution for all the good stuff

• And all of you. – CHEERS!

Show of Hands Vote: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5?

How About Them Apples? - Q & A

Craft Ciders in San Diego County

Half Pint Cider

San Diego County