has ceased to fcrmciit, it is to be drawn off the
lees by boring a gimlet-hole at the bottom of
the cask✪ Cider Making, a little above the chimb. The liquor
as it runs out is to be received in a clean cask,
which when fviU is to be bunged, and may be
kept for di-aught. Or, after remaining in this
cask for two or three weeks, it may be drawn
off and bottled, when it will soon get into
good order. If the cider be made in cold
weather it will require a longer time to clear ;
and the same will happen if there had been a
very considerable ratio of crabs amongst the
apples. A little dissolved isinglass added will
soon clear it ; but this tends to flatten. These,
and a variety of minor circumstances can be
only learned and provided for by practice. —
Donovan.
Before bottling cider, examine it, and see
whether it is clear and sparkling. If not so,
clarify it in the same way as beer, and leave it
for a fortnight. The night before you intend
to put it into bottles, take the bung out of the
cask, and leave it so till the next day. The
filled bottles should not be corked do\\'n till the
day after ; if this is done immediately, they will
burst by keeping. Use only the best corks.
Champagne bottles are the sort usually chosen
for cider. It is customary to wire down the
corks, and cover them with tin-foil, just like
champagne. A few bottled at a time may be
laid to rijDen in a warm place. Should the cider
be wanted for immediate use, or for consump-
tion during the cooler months of the year, drop
a small piece of loaf sugar into each bottle
before corking. Or, which comes to the same
thing, .cork the bottles two or three hours after
they are filled. In summer, or for long keep-
ing, this practice, however, is inadmissible.
Store the bottled cider in a cool cellar ; the
quality will greatly improve by age. Cider
for bottling should be of good quality, sound
and piquant, and at least a twelvemonth old.
When out of condition it is unfit for bottling.
Mr. Knight, a well-known authority on the
subject, states, that in the manufacture of perry
the pears are ground and pressed in the same
way as apples in the manufacture of cider;
but that it is not usual for the reduced pulp to
bo allowed to remain any length of time with-
out being pressed. In Herefordshire, and in
the counties in its neighbourhood, it has never
been the practice to blend the juices of the
different varieties of the pear, in order to cor-
rect the defects of one kind by the opposite
pro])ertics of another. It is, however, Mr.
Knight allows, more easy to find the required
portion of SHgar and of astringency in three or
four varieties than in one ; hence, he supposes,
a judicious mixture of fruits affords a prospect
of great benefit.
The method of fermenting perry is nearly
the same as that of fermenting cider. The
former, however, does not afford the same indi-
cations as the latter by which the proper period
of rackinw-oft"
may
be known. " The thick
scum that collects on the surface of cider rarely
appears in the juice of the pear, and during
the time of the suspension of its femientation
the excessive brightness of the former liquor
is seldom seen in the latter; but where the
frnit has been regularly rij^e, its produce
Page 1155 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1892. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
has ceased to ferment, it is to be drawn off the lees by boring a gimlet-hole at the bottom of the cask, a little above the chimb. The liquor as it runs out is to be received in a clean cask, which when full is to be bunged, and may be kept for di-aught. Or, after remaining in this cask for two or three weeks, it may be drawn off and bottled, when it will soon get into good order. If the cider be made in cold weather it will require a longer time to clear ; and the same will happen if there had been a very considerable ratio of crabs amongst the apples. A little dissolved isinglass added will soon clear it ; but this tends to flatten. These, and a variety of minor circumstances can be only learned and provided for by practice. — Donovan.
Before bottling cider, examine it, and see whether it is clear and sparkling. If not so, clarify it in the same way as beer, and leave it for a fortnight. The night before you intend to put it into bottles, take the bung out of the cask, and leave it so till the next day. The filled bottles should not be corked do\\'n till the day after ; if this is done immediately, they will burst by keeping. Use only the best corks. Champagne bottles are the sort usually chosen for cider. It is customary to wire down the corks, and cover them with tin-foil, just like champagne. A few bottled at a time may be laid to rijDen in a warm place. Should the cider be wanted for immediate use, or for consumption during the cooler months of the year, drop a small piece of loaf sugar into each bottle before corking. Or, which comes to the same thing, .cork the bottles two or three hours after they are filled. In summer, or for long keeping, this practice, however, is inadmissible. Store the bottled cider in a cool cellar ; the quality will greatly improve by age. Cider for bottling should be of good quality, sound and piquant, and at least a twelvemonth old. When out of condition it is unfit for bottling.
Mr. Knight, a well-known authority on the subject, states, that in the manufacture of perry the pears are ground and pressed in the same way as apples in the manufacture of cider; but that it is not usual for the reduced pulp to be allowed to remain any length of time without being pressed. In Herefordshire, and in the counties in its neighbourhood, it has never been the practice to blend the juices of the different varieties of the pear, in order to correct the defects of one kind by the opposite properties of another. It is, however, Mr. Knight allows, more easy to find the required portion of SHgar and of astringency in three or four varieties than in one ; hence, he supposes, a judicious mixture of fruits affords a prospect of great benefit.
The method of fermenting perry is nearly the same as that of fermenting cider. The former, however, does not afford the same indications as the latter by which the proper period
of rackinw-oft"
may
be known. " The thick
scum that collects on the surface of cider rarely appears in the juice of the pear, and during the time of the suspension of its femientation the excessive brightness of the former liquor is seldom seen in the latter; but where the frnit has been regularly rij^e, its produce
Records on this page
Cider Making