March
2009
From CiderbyRosie Blog
New
Cider by Rosie blog
Well this "blog on the wiki" has been going in the present format for quite a few years now, and it's time for a bit of a change. So March 2009 updates and future news are being posted over on the Cider by Rosie blog. (Note – this is now continued on www.ciderbyrosie.co.uk)
What remains at UKCider will stand as a historical archive of the last six years of growth mainly from 2003-2008.
We
sell real cider
On Thursday Frances and I paid our first visit of the year to the Square and Compass. Our village had been suffering a series of power cuts due to an intermittent fault. In the midst of the latest of these cuts that had already lasted for several hours, we felt like getting out and going somewhere cosy. There had been a few inches of snow overnight but it was already turning slushy when we left home. 'It will be alright when we get there. It never snows in Purbeck. Maritime air all around the place', I said.
I proved to be as wrong as I was to prove fortunate. There had been a heavy snowfall south of Corfe Castle and the little road that turns off for Worth Matravers was looking very tricky indeed. The fortunate thing was thad we'd decided to take the Landrover rather than the the Ford Focus. It was slow going but we made surefooted and steady progress thanks to the four wheel drive. By the time we reached the village we were really looking forward to enjoying a drink and a hot pasty beside the Square's big log fire. Everything proved to be up to our expectations. We found Kevin clearing the snow from the path at the front of the pub. Once inside the pub it was obvious that he had already been busy within. The famous pasties were already piping hot. Being the first customers of the day we felt as though Kevin had built up the fire especially for our arrival. When he brought in the pasties he told us that earlier they had had to get a tractor to tow the Hopback brewery van up the hill out of the village. We had passed this vehicle on the way and now I understood why the driver had been shaking his head at us, as we approached. I was relieved that we had got to our homely destination without incident and felt all the more contented to be sitting by the fire enjoying Heck's 'Port Wine of Glastonbury' and the pasty.
After a while a few hardy walkers drifted in. One group were accompanied by six dogs, which surprised us by settling themselves into a heap under the table without so much as a whimper. Presumably they were extra tired from their walk in the snow. I contrasted the peaceful lunchtime scene with that of the Square in mid summer. Those of you who know the pub will be aware of the long queue for drinks that forms in the corridor from the front door to the small serving hatch that has been the bar throughout its long history. In the madness of the summer season I've yet to hear any of the holiday visitors complain as they wait their turn to be served. I'm sure they appreciate the uniqueness of this real pub, unspoilt by modernisation.
On this quiet snowy morning I enjoyed the unusual ease of walking over those well worn flags and up to the little bar. As I did so it came to me that this is the true focal point of the old place, even more so than its fine log fire. There was the blackboard on the wall with the list of real ciders and ales and there right beside the hatch something familiar caught my eye; Jez's ukcider sticker' WE SELL REAL CIDER'. I was pleased to see that Kevin had put it in such a prominent position and also that the colours were still as good as when Dick printed them.
Rose.
Best before date
I'm prompted to write about this again, having had an email from Tim Wale of Tutts Clump Cider in Berkshire. Having read my recent note about BB dates on bag in box packaging, Tim asks what I do about BB dating on my bottles. I have so far been of the opinion that there is no requirement for BB dates on bottles of cider since 'wine or similar products' are exempt. This was the general opinion that was also elicited from our group, when I mentioned being reprimanded on this matter by Dorset Trading Standards two years ago.
I had another tussle with them last year, when I was again told that there should be a BBD on my bottle labels because cider is not exempted from the regulation. The inspector was only assuaged on noting that over 90% of my output is in bag in boxes and that these are BBD marked. Ironically the regulations exempt quantities greater than 5 litres supplied to catering establishments (pubs?), so In most cases I am marking the boxes unnecessarily!
It is common sense to put a date on the boxes since they are only intended for short term storage, but I've still not resolved the problem with the bottles. Not only is it a fiddly business date marking bottles without special machinery, it is also hard to know what length of time to specify. How long is a piece of string? I noted recently how my bottled cider had markedly improved after two years. Perhaps the bottles need to be marked with a 'best consumed' date band corresponding to say, between one and three years after bottling! It is a difficult issue that I am trying to resolve by looking at what others are doing. Looking at a number of bottles from the various large manufacturers, I've noticed that they are stamping BBDs on their bottles or on the bottle cap of typically one year from the selling date. Bottles of beer are also marked in the same way. I wonder if is purely nominal, being that they mass produced items where the marking machinery exists as a standard function of the bottling line. The question is, am I, or are we, breaking the law by not date marking bottles of craft cider?
I tried to resolve the issue by using google. The main Trading Standards website is vague and unhelpful. You'd get the impression that beer and cider does not exist! Then I started looking at various local authority trading standard standards sites to see if they contained more specific information concerning exemption from BBD marking. I could not even find a mention of BBD on the Dorset site! Eventually I came across the one from Wirral which helpfully states that, 'wine and similar drink obtained from fruit other than grapes' is exempt.
QED ? I'd like to think so. What do others think?
Rose
Andrew Lea writes:
I believe that cider is exempt from BBD under regulation 22 (b) of the Food Labelling Act. See [1] See also the Food Standards Agency guidance notes [2] Annex Section 3.3
However, I believe that Lot Marking *is* required for traceability. See the same guidance notes Annex Section 2.9
If in any doubt you can phone Food Standards Agency for clarification. Or, since you are a member of 3CCPA, ask them to ask the NACM. Andrew
I think the local Trading Standards have got it wrong. I will try the 'similar
drink made from fruit other than grapes' clause on them when they visit me this
year. - Rose
I discussed this with Richard Toft at Pershore College when he bottled my last batch in November. As I understand it, advice from Hereford and Worcester Trading Standards is that BBE is not required on cider. However a Lot Number *is* required (though a voluntary BBE can act as a substitute lot number if you wish), since all batches of food must be traceable. So I have no BBE date but I do have a lot number (I sell very little but I like to be legal). I just checked some recent bottles of Tom Oliver's fine produce and he does likewise. Tom is an ex-Chairman of 3CCPA and has a high profile in the craft cider community so I doubt he'll be getting it wrong. I suggest you get your Dorset TS people to check with their counterparts in Hereford and Worcester (where arguably much more cider is bottled and they are more up to speed!). - Andrew
The
Europump again!
Dont throw away that Europump!
Like many of us here, I’ve been using one of Vigo’s little Italian Europumps for a good few years. It is such a useful pump for all manner of small filling jobs. Its only vice is the well known propensity of cutting out to rest and cool down, after about 20 minutes of continuous use. I have been able to forgive this little foible, because it is usually possible to fit in some other part of the job, while the pump cools down.
I have noticed another problem, in that after a long period of non use the pump can refuse to start at all. This is because the pump rotor has stuck to the steel end plate of the plastic pump housing. It seems to happen, no matter how well the pump was flushed out with water before being laid up. The cure is simply to remove the three screws holding the end plate. Take the plate off and clean it, give the rotor a little twiddle by hand and then reassemble the plate.
I’ve had to do this this a number of times, so I was not surprised when I got the pump out today and found that it would not start. However on this occasion I found that the pump rotor was well and truly stuck. The motor had seized completely. I was about to ring Vigo for a new pump, when I thought that I might as well look inside the pump to see if it could be fixed. This proved to be easily done, since the two halves of the case are held together by self tapping screws. I then found something, rarely seen these days. The little motor was made to be serviced! Five minutes later I had the whole thing to pieces. The armature and bearing plates were easily removed from the motor body, just by undoing two nuts and bolts. The armature shaft was solidly seized to the bearings, but I was able to remedy this with a spray or two of WD40. Another 5 minutes and the Europump was back together and working once again. It is a joy to service, not a rivet or ‘tamperproof’ screw anywhere within its little body!
The problem had been caused by the ingress of juice via the gland on the pump drive shaft. It really could do with a new gland, from somewhere. In the meantime I will try and prevent a reoccurrence by making sure never to use it with its pump end uppermost (ie above the motor).
These little pumps defy the throw away age!
Rose.
Blending
keeved cider
The other day Barry and I were talking about blending keeved ciders. He told me that by so doing, he had achieved a pleasing blend that has settled out at around 1010. I’ve since been wondering if anyone else who has done this, or even perhaps regularly does so, would care to comment.
I have blended juices after pressing that were then successfully keeved, but I’ve not blended ciders after keeving. This year I would like to, because of the considerable disparity between my batches. This puts me in a dilemma as I’m not sure what the outcome may be.
If I were to set a GCE question on the subject it would go something like this:
Two keeved ciders whose fermentations are essentially stabilised, one at SG 1.03 and the other at SG 1.01 are blended together in equal quantities. What is the resultant SG?
The answer would seem to be 1.02, but is it? I am wondering if the less perfectly keeved cider would act disproportionately on the high level of sugar remaining in the well keeved cider and thus drag the resultant SG down to its own level?
Rose.
Re:
The Europump again!
Nigel,
My Europump is yellow, though I’m not surprised by yours being blue as the new ones in the catalogue are red. The Italians are either just fond of colour, or perhaps the colours could relate to a number of engineering upgrades. I think my yellow one is a MK 1 prototype! As for the spares, I do know that Barry, being desperate to obtain a replacement for the little spring that couples the motor to the pump, eventually made contact with the manufacturer and found them to be very helpful. Mind you, I think he has got a whole box full of tiny springs now!
It is a pity that Vigo have not acquired the full range of spares to provide a back up, in the same way that they have, for example with their stainless 850 & 1500 mills. I don’t really want a box of glands.
Perhaps Barry will come up with the contact details.
Rose.
cider nigel wrote:
Hello Rose
I have said blue pump, it has never siezed or cut out it was a super thing,
however Alex cant supply impellers and so it sits on the shelf , if you have a
source of bits I would love to know.
Many thanks,
Nigel.
Re:
Blending keeved cider
Tom,
Many thanks for the benefit of your experience. Your results when blending at this time of the year have confirmed my fears. I also think that your phrase ‘moving too rapidly below 1.020 describes what is happening with my trial 5 litre blend.
I think that the final SG is probably unpredictable, simply because there is no
way of knowing the level of nutrients still remaining in the juice.
Blending appears to be a matter of trial and error. I’ve decided that the wisest course would be just to blend a portion of each cider, say 1/3. This will leave similar quantities of each cider unblended, in case things go wrong!
Thanks again,
Rose.
Re:
Blending keeved cider 2
I’ve been mulling over the pearls of wisdom from David and Gary with regard to the errors in SG measurement due to temperature variation and the phenomenon of stratification. When making dry cider these effects are of no great concern. Apart from the all important measurement of SG prior to fermentation, thereafter the hydrometer really only serves as an indicator to confirm that fermentation is complete. This is quite a different matter when it comes to keeved cider. The SG reading and its rate of fall, is crucial at bottling time. One needs to be able to determine that the yeast is becoming starved and that the SG is ‘bottoming out’. Only then can bottling be safely carried out. At SGs above 1010, one has to feel confident that there will not be the potential for more than the small amount of fermentation needed to produce a sparkle. I’m all the more conscious of this now having seen the bottle figures in Andrew’s book. The most a champagne bottle can stand is 1010, should the fermentation decide to go to fully dry.
At this time of the year I’m watching the SGs of the keeved ciders almost day by day, in order to establish when it will be safe to bottle. We discussed this here last year and a useful rule of thumb came to light. If I’ve remembered it incorrectly, please somebody put me right, but I believe that if a one point drop of SG takes a period of 10 days or more, it can be taken as an indication that the SG is bottoming out and that it is safe to bottle.
The implication is that for keeving it is important to
be able to read SG to within a degree and therefore reading errors do need to
be considered. I’ve looked in vain for some figures. David please enlighten me.
Say for example the ambient temp is 10 C, how is the hydrometer reading
affected? Regarding errors due to stratification, that is something that I
never would have even thought about. Thank you Gary, it is good to be aware of
it. I will have a gentle stir before measuring in future, if notable changes in
temperature have
occurred.
Continuing the experimental 50/50 blending of the keeved Porters and Yarlington, I’ve progressed from the demijohn and now have a 120 litre tub of it. Like the demijohn, this is also holding at 1012. As the two ciders were well mixed during their blending, I needn’t worry about stratification. Since the weather has stayed the same for two weeks, around 15 C every day, there is no difference between hydrometer readings due to temperature. Another week of similar readings and perhaps I will feel confident enough to bottle!
I’m looking forward to bottling because I’m dying to try out Barry’s corker, that he has kindly lent me.
Rose.
On Tuesday, March 17, 2009, David Llewellyn wrote:
Apart from the accuracy problem of actually determining small differences while reading along a scale, if the temperature of the cider was much lower at the time of the first reading (ie the cold weather we had weeks ago), it might have accounted for an apparent small change in SG, unless you corrected the readings to 20 degrees C for example. The lower the temperature of the liquid, the higher the SG reading will be, so you have to correct to a standard temperature. Sorry if you have already taken this into account!!
On 19 Mar 2009, at 11:11, Gary Awdey wrote:
Another cautionary note (with more apologies if you’ve already taken
this into account) is the effect of stratification. In the past I’ve
occasionally noted odd readings that go counter to what would be predicted by
the temperature density effect David mentions. When it is warmer you would
expect density (and gravity readings) to be lower. What I’ve found is that
sometimes the warmer weather makes fermentation of keeved ciders
more active with the result that it is de-stratified. Measurement after
racking is also occasionally higher than measurement before (I generally
take samples from near the top). Heavier cider, richer in sugar, is mixed
up from the bottom when fermentation is more active. This phenomenon is mentioned
in several winemaking books so evidently it is not particularly unusual.
When an accurate gravity reading of the entire batch is needed (which is
admittedly not very often) I make sure the cider is adequately mixed by
stirring or sparging with carbon dioxide gas (taking care not to introduce
oxygen at the same time). However I don’t attempt to destratify cider that
is still sitting on top of deposits that might be disturbed. I usually mix
blended ciders thoroughly before measuring gravity. Otherwise measurement
tends to be skewed toward the low side (and presumably the opposite would be
true if samples were obtained from the bottom of the vessel).
Similarly, if two keeved ciders are mixed and fermentation is very slow
(as one would hope it would be) then you may start with a well mixed blend
but see measured gravity drop unexpectedly quickly as stratification
occurs. This would seem to be more likely as a cause of possible
measurement error if you see a notable drop in gravity without seeing a
corresponding amount of gas escaping at the airlock.
Gary Awdey
Eden, New York