CIDER AND PERRY MAKING.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 170, 20 July 1928, Page 15

CIDER AND PERRY MAKING.

WILL IT BECOME AN INDUSTHY ? (•"p'ti. the »s.Z. SMALLHOLDER") rider and perry arc just two simple <>f turning tbe wholesome orchard waste into profit. Generally »|ienking, both apple juice and pear juice *re treated in the same way to make rider and perry respectively, so that a description of cider making will answer for perry also. Cider may be alcoholic or non-alcoholic, j It has been roughly grouped in four I classes: — (1) Teetotal cider, which is apple juice sterilised by heat. (_) Dry cider, with from 7 to 10 per cent alcohol by weight. Owing to low alcoholic content it needs keeping in a cool even temperature. i 3) Sparkling cider, with 10 to 12 per cent alcohol. (4) Sweet alcoholic eider, 15 per cent alcohol. 1 his will keep in changing temperatures. How Much Cider to the Ton? We may expect to squeeze IWO gallons of juice from a ton of apples. The apples * lould he unwashed, clean, and free from decay or insect pest, but need not. otherv. ise. be marketable. The cider or perrv, l licrefore, beyond the cost of manufacture, is clear gain. Suitable Varieties, It is lield by perry experts that pear# of an astringent, uneatable qualitr, unmixed, generally make tbe beat'perry. Hut our proper course is to use what pears are available and note results. For cider, on the other band, mixing sorts is considered advantageous. In Britain, where orchards used to be planted mainly for cider production, a great array of unfamiliar names denote the varieties prescribed by connoisseurs, chiefly characterised by astringent qualities. This will not suit New Zealand requirements, where the dessert fruit is the chief money crop and the cider merely the absorber of the overflow. We. therefore, use w hat sorts the dessert market favours. Among these, certain ones have made tolerably good cider. Northern Spy, Rome Beauty, Xewtown Pippin, and Adams' Pear main yield, when ripe, heavy juice, testing about 0.1070 speeifio gravity. Sturmer. Five Crown, and Rymer hare recorded lighter. A heavy test is usually, but not always, advantageous. Selecting the Ffoit. The fruit should be ripe. l : nripe fruit gives inferior acid cider. The fruit is usually kept a short time to become mellow. and the art of extracting the jtiice at its most palatable and juicy stage should be studied. The Materials. A sack of apples will yield about ten gallons of cider. A crusher and press may be purchased (we do not know of any'N.Z. vendors) or may be home-made, or a wine press used. Any apparatus that will satisfactorily press out the juice may be called a press. Tbe complete equipment needed to treat a ton (17 sacks) of fruit has l>een specified by the Government wine instructor, Mr. S. F. Anderson, as follows: —Crusher, press, tubs, copper boiler (about 18 gallons), filter, saccharometer, glass jar. thermometer, funnels and wooden tap*. cloths and hessian bags, pump and hose, three dO-gallon hogsheads, three or four quarter-casks, kegs, and jars.

In addition, there should tie (1) a cider-making shed with concrete floor that will drain away the washings, situated a way from stables or other contamination; and (2) if possible, a cellar for storing, and, of course, bottles for bottling. The Process. Washing the fruit, is undesirable, as it is believed this removes some useful ferments which are attached to the skin. Stand the crusher and press on wooden trays, from which the juice may run into tubs. The juice escapes through the battens or other porous walls of the press, lined or covered with hessian or cheese cloth or other suitable clean materials to retain ths pulp. Adequate weights are applied, and the pressing allowed to proceed unhurried. Clarifying and Fortifying. Apple juice is thicker than the juice of pears and other fruits, and needs more straining. This is done first through fine cheese cloth and afterwards through flannel or cotton wool. Alcohol, and Why We Have It Alcohol is useful as a preservative, nnd. like all other preservatives, it is a necessary c\il. It is produced during fermentation by the sugar changing its chcmical form, and it is therefore a part of the science of cider-making to know the quantity of gujar in the juice. This is ascertained by the saccharometer, placed into a fair sample of the juice at a temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The reading on the floating ■accharometer where it iB level with the surface of the juice indicates the specific gravity, Tf this is 0.1060 it indicates about 14 per cent of sugar and that the finished article will contain only about 7.35 per cent of alcohol, and need keeping in a cool even temperature. Different Qualities of Cider. To increase the keeping qualitv we add more sugar, and thus create "more alcohol. Cane sugar (2oz) added per gallon will raise the alcohol one per cent. An alcoholic strength of about ten per cent is often preferred, requiring Goz of added sugar per gallon to such a juice as we are discussing resulting after fermentation in a hard dry cider. A sweet cider with alcohol increased to 15 per cent is made by adding about lib of sugar per gallon of apple juice testing 0.1060. The fermentation leaves a little sugar, unfermented. and this gives the sweet taste and helps in the preserving. It requires longer time to ferment than cider with less sugar and alcohol. Bottled Cider. In making sparkling cider for bottling, about tk»z sugar is added per gallon, and it is well cleared by several processes. V\ hen bottling, add Joz of sugar per bottle by ponring in a syrup made of 5I1» sugar dissolved in a quart of distilled water. Cork and tie down. The fermentation caused by the added sugar produces carbonic acid gas, which is a mild preservative, and causes the approved effervescence. Lay the bottles on their sides in the dark.