This is the motto for this year's vintage cider from my działka. I will not be using fallen apples, only those plucked off the tree. “Nothing from the ground, only from the tree.” Today I completed my first demijohn of cider, which will be joined by many more in the next week or so. Because of biennial bearing (apple trees come into fruit every other year if not sprayed and pruned), this will only be my third vintage of cider production here in Jakubowizna (or Jabłkowizna as it is at this time of year).
The learning process is ongoing; new lessons learned with each successive vintage, augmented this year by tip from ChatGPT and Google Gemini. I learn from both that cider from my apple variety, Antonówka generally lacks tannins, and so adding some crab apples into the mix helps with flavour. I will make a batch to see if that works.
The apples are fully ripe. Many have already fallen to the ground – and there they will stay. Two years ago, I learned the difference between apples lying on the ground and the ones picked off the tree, and my 2024 vintage was a mixture of the two. The former have higher sugar content but are softer in consistency, and there is far more sediment, The latter are crisper, more tart, and produce less sludge, requiring less filtration.
Filtration has hitherto been the choke point in my cider-making. Removing the thick mousse (which, if eaten straight away, on its own or with Greek-style natural yogurt is delicious) takes more time than pretty much all other parts of the production process taken together.
By ignoring fallen apples and using only ones plucked from the tree, things are vastly speeded up. However, less sugar will mean a lower alcohol content, so I shall find how that affects taste. I want tart, I don't want sour.
Below: the first demijohn. The apple juice is still cloudy; the sediment settles; in a couple of days, the fermentation will begin, and carbon dioxide will start to bubble up through the water-trap pipe, which keeps oxygen from turning the juice into vinegar.
The cider will ferment in the demijohns until the autumn, and bottling will begin in early December. The bottles are recycled, having been used in 2022 and 2024; a new batch of bottle-tops will need to be bought.
This time last year:
Fading and resurging Chynów in monochrome and in colour
This time two years ago:
Imminent? I don't think so
This time three years ago:
Dawn tourism – the sights without the crowds
This time four years ago:
Bike ride to the past
This time eight years ago:
The journey there, and the journey back again
This time nine years ago:
Sandomierz – another outstanding Polish town to see
This time 11 years ago:
Food hygiene and lies as Russian foreign policy tools
This time 12 years ago:
Asphalt for ul. Poloneza (to Krasnowolska at least)
This time 12 years ago:
A welcome splash of colour to a drab car park
This time 14 years ago:
To Hel and back in 36 hours
This time 16 years ago:
Honing the Art of the Written Word
This time 17 years ago:
Of castles, dams and brass bands
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment