When summer comes, do you always feel a bit lazy, can’t refresh yourself, just want to drink some aerated ice drinks? If you think beer is too ordinary and want to drink something new and interesting, try cider. Cider, or Cider, is low in alcohol, sweet and sour, and has a small amount of sparkling. A bottle of cider at any time is very refreshing.
Cider is very popular abroad and in some places is considered a substitute for beer. More and more cider brands are entering the market, and there are even many domestic cider brands. Don’t miss your chance to try them (the figures below are Silver Heights Spring Dance Cider and Kumquat Project Wonder Fruit Cider).
The History of Cider
As early as 7,000 years ago, our ancestors learned to make wine from fruit. At that time, people gathered wild fruits and naturally fermented them into delicious juices that were a source of great joy. Since then, wine has been inseparable from human life. In ancient times, science was not well developed. People did not know how wine fermentation worked, let alone the existence of yeast, and thought that fermentation was a manifestation of some mysterious power.
Basically, all fruits can be made, of which wine is the most famous, and cider is the second most popular fruit wine after wine. The earliest systematic records of apple juice fermentation and wine making date back to 55 B.C. when the Romans entered what is now Kent, England and discovered that the natives could make cider. In addition, cider is also recorded in documents from across Europe in the 13th century. Cider was one of the most popular drinks in Europe and America in the 19th century and remains popular in some countries in Europe and America.
Different styles of cider
There is a wide variety of cider, and like beer, it is also produced on a large scale, relatively “boring” “cider. The bjcp’s Beer Style Classification Guide also includes a cider section that classifies cider as dry, semi-dry, medium, semi-sweet and sweet based on the amount of residual sugar. In addition, the guide mentions that cider can be non-bubbly or b-bubbly very well, but cider without bubbles is much less common, see again.
Also, just like wine, cider can be made from a single variety or a mixture of different apple varieties. In some regions, cider is also matured in oak barrels and other containers, which can take weeks to years, so the types and styles of cider can be very diverse!
Cider Making Process
Traditional cider is made from 100% fermented apple juice. The varieties of cider are different from the common edible apple. They are more acidic, have thicker skin, and more pronounced tannins. They are not tasty on their own, but are very suitable for wine making (just as many grapes for wine making are not tasty). Simply put, cider is made by extracting the fresh juice from apples and fermenting it with yeast.
So how, exactly, is cider made?
In fact, the process consists of chopping, juicing, fermenting, ripening, blending and bottling the apples after harvest, similar to the production of wine and other fruit wines.
Chopping and juicing: Apples are not easy to extract juice from, so first you need to chop the pulp, then squeeze the puree and extract the juice.
Fermentation: After collecting the pressed juice, you can add yeast to start the fermentation process. Some breweries will use wild yeast for fermentation, but the process will be more uncontrollable. During cider fermentation, a unique “malolactic-lactic fermentation” takes place, which converts the intense acidity of malic acid into a more rounded lactic acid, which is also common in wine fermentation.
Maturation: After fermentation, the cider is usually allowed to rest for a period of time. As mentioned above, some wineries will use wooden barrels for maturation, which can range from a few weeks to several years.
Blending: Blending is a very important part of the cider making process to ensure consistency in quality and taste from batch to batch and to achieve a balance of flavors. In addition, some brands will add apple juice or sugar to adjust the sweetness and taste here.
Bottling: The final bottling step is also important. In the case of sparkling ciders, carbon dioxide is usually re-injected, but some makers do this by adding sugar to the bottle and fermenting it a second time (similar to champagne).
Cider from around the world
Cider is traditionally drunk in many parts of the world and was introduced to New World countries such as the United States and Australia with the colonization of England. In today’s world, cider from England, France and Spain is the best. It is the three main players in the cider phase, each with different styles and traditions.
The UK produces around 500,000 tons of cider annually, accounting for over 60% of the total production in the European Union. It is the largest producer in the world. The UK produces a lot of cider for the mass market, but there is also a traditional home brewed cider called scrumpy, which uses a completely natural fermentation, usually without filtering or excessive adjustment, and tends to be drier, more complex and wilder in flavor.
French cider comes from the northern regions of Normandy and Brittany, also considered to be one of the birthplaces of cider. The cider here is sweet, tannic and naturally bubbly, using a unique “keeving” process to remove excess nutrients from the juice, which effectively extends the fermentation time of the yeast, making the fermentation process gentler and bringing more complex flavors.
Also interesting is Sidra, a cider from the Asturias and Basque regions of Spain, made from high acidity apples and fermented in oak barrels. The fermentation temperature is higher and there is a wilder sour beer. People here drink Sidra by dropping it from a height and injecting more bubbles into the wine to give it more flavor. In northeastern Spain there are also many apple hotels where you can taste Sidra, called Sidrias. It is a place where the locals like to get together and socialize. Don’t miss the opportunity to travel there.
After reading so much about cider, would you like to have a glass?
