Experimenting "classic method" for sparkling cider

[Giulio Pini]

Hi all!

New apple season is starting in a couple months here in North Italy and I wanted to experiment, with a small 50 liter batch, the classic method.

I was planning to ferment at 15°C down to about 1.010-1.015, cold crash then rack and bottle, letting the bottles referment horizontally for about 6-7 months, then using a pupitre to convoy the sediments In the neck and degorge it in an year time.

The reason why I don't want to let it ferment to 1.000, rest and then add a liquer de tirage is because I really want to avoid using nutrients, dry selected yeasts and such. I want to work with pure apple juice from my seller.

Keep in mind his orchard is young (very high in nutrients and nitrogen) certified biologic and since he grows mostly dessert apples I crush and press them when they are not completely ripe, as to keep acidity high. 

Could this method work or am I missing something? Has anyone tried this way before?

Thank you all for reading!

[Claude Jolicoeur]

What you describe is a variation on the Ancestral method, with the addition of disgorgment.

Some cider makers do it... but for my part I have never done it. I do the normal Ancestral method where the cider is bottled at a SG of typically 1.012 to 1.014, and it stops around 1.007 to 1.010. And since I like the cider to be well clarified prior to bottling, I get very little sediment in the bottles - for me it is not worth the trouble to go through the disgorgment process.

I would strongly recommend you do a keeving of your juice prior to fermentation, as this will help a lot in stabilizing the fermentation and preventing excessive in-bottle refermetnation.

[gareth chapman]

You can but try, but as Claude says you may have trouble controlling the fermentation by just cold crashing and a single racking, if you are trying to retain some residual sugar
You don't say what you are trying to achieve in the end .
If you bottle at 1.010 and your cider ferments to dry then you might just about get away with it but any higher and you will probably end up over carbonated.
If you just want a dry cider and you are planning to disgorge then just ferment to about 1.008-1.009 before bottling.

[Yann Gilles]

Hi ! 

I agree with Claude, about keeving. But keeving may not be sufficient with fruits that have a lot of Nitrogen (do you have an idea about the N amount ?). All the more the fermentation will be conducted at 15°C, which is quite high, I mean the fermentation speed will be high and you probably will bottle quite rapidly. To prevent excessive pressure in the bottle I would bottle at 1.008/1.009 so if all the sugars are fermented in bottle, the pressure won't be too high and you'll be able to disgorge it. 

cheers,

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[Jonathan Miner]

I also strongly agree with Claude and others that have suggested Keeving. I keeved for the first time this year and the results compared to my prior ciders where so much better. The apples I used were also from a young commercial orchard. I wasn't able to run measurements on it, but I assume there was quite a lot of available nitrogen at the start, but the keeving process really seems to have succeeded in reducing it. Final taste profile ended up being pretty similar to what you would expect out of a classical Normandy cider, though I ended up bottling a little too late with an SG of about 1.0008 and didn't achieve as much carbonation in the bottle as I had hoped for.  

Good luck to you and I'm a little jealous that your apple season is already started! Please keep us updated on your results. 

Jonathan