English style dry cider ?

fatbloke · Post by **fatbloke** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:20 am

JMF wrote:---%<---
We just finished fermenting our fist two 250 gallon batches of English style dry cider which we will age for around 6-8 weeks before bottling.
---%<---

Just snipped the quote from an outstanding post - VVV interesting.

When you say "English style dry cider", is it "west country style" (actually made from blended cider apples - often sold cloudy) or is it "Kentish style" (often from a blend of eating and cooking apples - but more "wine like") ?

I ask, because it's a bit of a dream of mine to open my own distillery. My location being smack bang between those two areas of the UK, I'm mainly thinking along the lines of an apple brandy type product - but hell, anything would be great.

I've been looking for info on what actually goes into the mash for "genuine calvados", the idea being to emulate that and Eau de Vie.

Well done, and good luck with the venture.

regards

fatbloke

PenBay · Post by **PenBay** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:35 am

fatbloke- The two batches are different but more Kentish. Both are made with multiple tart and sweet dessert apples. It was just too late to get cider apples this year. They are fermented very dry to about 7.3% abv. and then aging with a little wood to provide the tannins that the cider apples would have provided.

I have been trying to find the apple blend and process for calvados as well. Post in the appropriate forum when you find out and please message me and I will do the same. JMF/PenBay (I am now posting under PenBay since the distillery will be called Penobscot Bay Distillery. I am going to experiment with a large mix of dessert apples both sweet and tart for complexity. ferment as dry as possible and age 4 weeks, then distill in a pot still. I have heard that some slight aging of the cider makes for a better aue di vie and aged apple brandy.

stoker · Post by **stoker** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:56 am

looks like everyone is going commercial

PenBay wrote:aue di vie

it's "eau de vie", french for (literally) "water of life". I would not like you to write aue di vie on your bottles

fatbloke · Post by **fatbloke** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:17 pm

PenBay wrote:fatbloke- The two batches are different but more Kentish. Both are made with multiple tart and sweet dessert apples. It was just too late to get cider apples this year. They are fermented very dry to about 7.3% abv. and then aging with a little wood to provide the tannins that the cider apples would have provided.

I have been trying to find the apple blend and process for calvados as well. Post in the appropriate forum when you find out and please message me and I will do the same. JMF/PenBay (I am now posting under PenBay since the distillery will be called Penobscot Bay Distillery. I am going to experiment with a large mix of dessert apples both sweet and tart for complexity. ferment as dry as possible and age 4 weeks, then distill in a pot still. I have heard that some slight aging of the cider makes for a better aue di vie and aged apple brandy.

Will do. I did read something, but can't remember where it was. I'll look and see if I can find it then PM you a link.

regards

fatbloke

Aidas · Post by **Aidas** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:35 pm

There's not really any hard and fast recipe for Calvados. It's your combination of sweet, tart and bitter apples. Whatever you choose to do is what you choose to to... However, it is my impression that it MUST be distilled from cider (as you guys are discussing above) -- it cannot be made from an apple slurry.

Eau de vie is your clear apple brandy. After you've aged the eau de vie (for two years according to french law), you've got calvados.

Simple as that.

Aidas

stoker · Post by **stoker** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 1:15 am

acording to that law, you cant call your spirit Calvados, unless you live in Normandie

Aidas · Post by **Aidas** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 2:17 am

Too true. I guess we'll have to call our stuff "Kalvados".

Aidas

fatbloke · Post by **fatbloke** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 2:40 pm

Aidas wrote:There's not really any hard and fast recipe for Calvados. It's your combination of sweet, tart and bitter apples. Whatever you choose to do is what you choose to to... However, it is my impression that it MUST be distilled from cider (as you guys are discussing above) -- it cannot be made from an apple slurry.

Eau de vie is your clear apple brandy. After you've aged the eau de vie (for two years according to french law), you've got calvados.

Simple as that.

Aidas

Yes I understand that, it's just that I was thinking about which varieties of apples were used in Penbays cider because I understand that Normandie cider is made using all 3 types of apples but still comes out more "wine like" than west country cider, which is a bit confusing as apparently "kentish" cider is often just eating and cooking apples, but more wine like.

so it's a case of whether "they" actually just use the pressed juice, or whether they add water to pulped apples and ferment it as a mash and distill that.

so far I haven't found the answer, and it'd take too long to go over and see if i can find anywhere to have a look.

I'd like to know what it actually looks like before it goes into their still i.e. pure cider or something that looks different. I'm intending to make some cider kits up and run that to see what i get. I can't stretch to oak barrels, but I don't see why glass with oak chips/cubes shouldn't produce something reasonable.

As for calling calvados, that's an AOC protected name, so enforced in the EU courts. Apple brandy would be OK, the bloke who makes it down in somerset calls his "cider brandy".