Other Fermented Beverages--Cider, Perry, Toddy, Sake, Meade

Other Fermented Beverages--Cider, Perry, Toddy, Sake, Mead

Cider:

Cider is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from apple juice. Cider varies in alcohol content from 2% to 8.5% or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, such as Germany and USA, cider may be termed as "Apple Wine".

Cider may be made of any varieties of apples, but certain varieties are grown solely for use in cider and are known as cider apples. Cider is popular in the UK, especially in South West England. The UK has the highest per capita consumption of cider, as well as the largest cider-producing companies in the world.

The beverage is also popular and traditional in Ireland, France, Spain; and some regions of Germany. Argentina and Australia also produce cider.

Types of Cider:

The flavor of cider varies

• By taste, ciders can be classified from dry to sweet
• By appearance, cider ranges from cloudy with sediment to completely clear
• By color, ranges from light yellow through orange to brown

The above variations in clarity and color are mostly due to filtering between pressing and fermentation. Some apple varieties will produce a clear cider without any filtration. Both, sparkling and still ciders are made; the sparkling variety is more common.

Modern, mass-produced ciders closely resemble sparkling wines in appearance.

The Manufacturing Process

Harvesting

• Apples are typically harvested in the fall. At this time, field workers pick the apples by hand and transfer them to large storage bins, which can hold about half a ton of fruit. When these bins are filled, they are transported by tractor to the processing plant. At the plant, they are stored outside for about a week which allows them to soften. This makes the apples easier to process and increases the amount of sugar in the juice.

Washing

• After the apples have mellowed, they must be washed to remove leaves, twigs, insects, spray residues, and harmful bacteria. To this end, they are automatically poured out from the bins onto a scrubber. This machine rinses and scrubs each apple, removing most chemical residues from the skin. From there, they are moved along a conveyor to a hopper filled with water. A worker is on hand to see that an even stream of apples flows into the bath and makes sure that the apples are thoroughly washed. Only whole apples are used because they have not been exposed to the flavor-damaging effects of oxidation
  
  

  Grinding

  • Next, the apples are put in a large mill and ground to a fine pulp with the consistency of applesauce. This is done to ensure that the maximum amount of juice can be extracted from the apples. The finer the pulp, the greater the yield of juice.
  
  

  Pressing

  • To remove the juice from the pulp, or pomace, it is pressed. Depending on the desired cider flavor, the pomace from various types of apple pulp is used. This blend is then taken by the press operator and stacked for pressing. Wooden racks and forms are used for stacking the pomace. Each form is lined with a nylon cloth. To start, several barrels of pomace is poured onto the cloth. The corners are then folded up and the form is removed. As a result, a square-shaped layer of pomace called a cheese is formed. A rack is placed on top of the cheese and another form is put in place. The process is repeated until 10-12 pieces of cheese are in a stack. The whole stack is put in a large stainless steel tray that has been designed to hold the cider as it is pressed from the pomace. A worker puts the stack under the cider press, called a wring, and turns it on.

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• Cooling and Filling

  • The cider is expelled from the pomace and pumped through plastic tubes to a cooling tank. As the cider is transferred to the cooling tanks, it is passed through a screen mesh to remove any pulp pieces from the liquid. It is then chilled and stored at 33° F (0.6° C).
  
  

  Fermentation

  • Before fermentation is allowed to proceed, the various fermentation-assisting chemicals are added. Depending on the manufacturer, the cider may be allowed to ferment in a large, sealed bulk tank, or in the individual bottles. If it is fermented in the bottles, the product will be sold with a bottom layer of sediment. The sediment is the remains of the fermentation yeast. In bulk fermentation, the cider is siphoned off after the yeast has died. This allows for a sediment-free product. Complete fermentation may take one month or more.

  Filling and packaging

  • When the cider is ready for filling, it is filtered again and pumped into the appropriate packaging. In this filling process, the empty, sterile bottles move along a conveyor and are passed under a filling machine. The machine pumps cider into the bottles to the desired volume. The caps are then put on the bottles and then labeled. The jugs are put in boxes, then pallets, and stored at just above freezing until the next day when they are delivered to stores.

  Uses of Cider:

• Calvados and applejack are distilled from cider.
• Cocktails may include cider
• Cider may also be used to make vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is noted for its high acidity and its flavor.
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  Indian Cider is mainly produced in Himachal Pradesh. Cider made from apple, pear, plum, peach and other fruits is produced and marketed by HPMC= Himachal Pradesh Fruit Marketing and Processing Corporation.


• Service of Cider

Although many authors suggest a cider glass as shown in the center in the above pic, the cider connoisseurs suggest that the best glassware to use when trying to evaluate or appreciate the nuances of a good craft cider is a proper wine glass. Not a mug. Not a tumbler, not a highball glass. A wine glass. In particular, the glass should have a good-sized bowl to allow swirling, which releases the cider’s aromatic compound, and an opening that is smaller in diameter so that those aromas are funneled upward and made accessible.

Preferable service temperature is 55 °F. 

Types of Cider:

- Draught Cider: It is usually unfiltered and has a dosage of yeast and sugar to induce fermentation which gives sparkle to the product. It is termed as cask-conditioned cider. It is slightly sweet with sparkle. If it is completely dry, it is known as scrumpy or farmhouse cider.

- Keg Cider: It is a pasteurized and filtered cider which is usually carbonated and sweetened. It is very brilliant in appearance.

- Bottled Cider: It is a pasteurized and filtered cider bottled with a dosage of yeast and sugar to induce secondary fermentation in the bottle or impegranted with CO2 gas.

Brands of Cider:

• Bulmers
• Coates
• Gaymers
• Merrydown
• Magners
• Whiteways

Sake:

Sake is a rice-based alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin. Sake is also referred to as a form of rice wine, in which alcohol is produced by sugar naturally present in the rice. Sake is made through a brewing process more like that of beer, thus it is more like a rice beer than a rice wine. 

To make beer or sake, the sugar needed to produce alcohol must first be converted from starch. However, the brewing process for sake differs from beer brewing as well. Sake generally contains 9-16% alcohol although this is often lowered to around 15% by diluting the sake with water prior to bottling.

The rice for brewing Sake is called Shuzo Kotekimai ( Sake rice)

How Sake is made:

Water is one of the important ingredients for making sake. The water used is almost always groundwater or well water.

Sake is produced by the multiple parallel fermentation of rice. The rice is first polished to remove the protein and oils from the exterior of the rice grains, leaving behind starch.

The rice is washed clean of the rice powder produced during milling and then steeped in water. After soaking, the rice is steamed on a conveyor belt. The microorganism Aspergillus oryzae ( Aspergillus oryzae is a filamentous fungus, or mold that is used in food and beverage production, such as in sake and soybean fermentation) is sprinkled onto the steamed rice and allowed to ferment for 5-7 days. 

Aspergillus Oryzae

After this initial fermentation period, water and yeast culture Saccharomyces cerevisiae are added to the "Koji". (The heart of a sake brewery is its “koji muro”, the cedar-lined room in which koji is made. Koji making is a 48-hour process that involves the inoculation of rice with koji spores, careful kneading, and control of temperature and humidity, resulting in very sweet and white koji, ready for becoming about 20-35% of the rice used in the production of sake depending on the recipe.)

Koji making.

Koji is allowed to incubate at 4°C for about 7 days. The mixture is now known as the main mash.

The main mash then ferments, at approx 15-20°C for 2-3- weeks. With high-grade sake, fermentation is deliberately slowed by lowering the temperature to 10°C or less. Unlike malt for beer, rice for sake does not contain the amylase necessary for converting starch to sugar and so it undergoes a process of multiple fermentation.

After fermentation, sake is extracted from the solid mixtures through a filtration process. For cheap sake, a large amount of brewer's alcohol might be added to increase the volume of sake produced.

Mature sake has reached its ideal point of growth. New sake is not liked because of its rough taste, whereas mature sake is mild, smooth, and rich. However, if it is too mature, it also develops a rough taste. 9-12 months are required for sake to mature.

There are 2 basic types of sake:

1. Futsu-shu: Ordinary sake is the equivalent of table wine and accounts for the majority of the sake produced.
   
   
   
2. Tokutei meisho-shu: Special designation sake. Refers to premium sakes distinguished by the degree to which the rice has been polished and the added percentage of brewer's alcohol or the absence of such additives.

Service of Sake:

Sake service (video)

Sake is served out of porcelain flasks that are known as tokkuri. It is poured into small ceramic cups called sakazuki or choko. Chilled sake may also be served in wine glasses. Sake may be served at room temperature, warm, hot or chilled.

Tokkuri and Sakazuki.

Brands of Sake:

• Kokuryu
• Dassai
• Juyondai
• Hakkaisan
• Tozai

Perry:

Perry is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented Pears. Perry has been common for centuries in Britain and France.

In more recent years, commercial perry has also been referred to as "pear cider", though some organizations do not accept this as a name for the traditional drink.

As with apples specifically grown to make cider, special pears are used in the UK. The most commonly used variety of pear perry is "Blakeney Red".

Traditional Perry making is similar to traditional cider making, in that the fruit is picked, crushed, and pressed to extract the juice, which is then fermented using the wild yeasts found on the fruit's skin. The principal differences between perry and cider are that pears must be left for a critical period to mature after picking, and the pomace must be left to stand after initial crushing to lose tannins. After initial fermentation, the drink undergoes a secondary malolactic fermentation while maturing.

Like commercial pale lager and commercial cider, commercial perry is highly standardized, and today often contains large quantities of cereal adjuncts such as corn syrup or invert sugar. It is also generally of a lower strength, and sweeter, than traditional perry, and is artificially carbonated to give a sparkling finish. However, unlike traditional peery it is a consistent product: the nature of perry pears means that it is very difficult to produce traditional perry in commercial quantities.

Brands of Perry:

• Lambrini
• Perry Ritz
• Bulmers Pear
• Magners Pear

Toddy:

Palm wine, known also as toddy, is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm trees such as the palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and is common in various parts of Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, South America, and Micronesia. Toddy is also consumed in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and India.

The sap is extracted and collected by a tapper. Typically the sap is collected from the cut flower of the palm tree. A container is fastened to the flower stump to collect the sap. The white liquid that initially collects tends to be very sweet and non-alcoholic before it is fermented.

In parts of India, the unfermented sap is called neera and is refrigerated, stored, and distributed by semi-government agencies. A little lime (calcium hydroxide) is added to the sap to prevent it from fermenting. Neera, similar to fruit-juice products, is relatively rich in potassium. Palm sap begins fermenting immediately after collection, due to the yeasts in the air (often spurred by residual yeast left in the collecting container). Within 2 hours, fermentation yields an aromatic wine of up to 4% alcohol content, mildly intoxicating and sweet.

Palm wine may be distilled to create a stronger drink, which goes by different names depending on the region. In parts of southern Ghana distilled palm wine is called akpeteshi or burukutu. In Togo it is called sodabe, in Phillippines it is called lambanog, while in Tunisia it is called Lagmi.

In the Indian state of Kerala, toddy is used in leavening (as a substitute for yeast) a local form of hopper called the "Vellayappam". Toddy is mixed with rice dough and left overnight to aid in fermentation and expansion of the dough causing the dough to rise overnight, making the bread soft when prepared. It is also used in the preparation of a soft variety of Sanna, which is famous in the parts of Karnataka and Goa in India.

Mead:

Mead or honey wine is made by fermenting honey with water. Like beer, mead is sometimes flavored with fruits, spices, grains or hops. But it's generally higher in alcohol than beer and more in line with grape wine—typically between eight and 20 percent ABV. Also like wine, mead is produced in a variety of sweetness levels, from bone dry to lusciously sweet and can be still or sparkling.

Within the world of mead, there are sub-group. For example, if mead is mixed with beer or brewed with hops and malt, it becomes a hybrid style closer in taste to beer known as braggot. This beverage, unlike its purely mead-made counterparts, can be produced in breweries. Mead with added fruit is known as melomel, while hydromel is a watered-down version consumed in Spain and France. Great Mead is mead that's meant to age.

Honey wine occupies a somewhat precarious position between beer and wine. Legally, mead is produced in "wineries" and bottles are usually sold in wine shops. But, thanks to the presence of hops, which some brewers choose to add as a natural preservative, mead is often clumped into the craft beer category. But, the reality is that mead is in a category of its own much like cider or sake.

Service:

While Ethiopians typically drink tej (Ethiopian Honey Wine) out of a bulbous glass container called a berele, nowadays in the US mead is usually served in wine glasses.  Though sometimes the drink will come in an Old World drinking vessel like a mazer cup from Germany, which is also the name for the world's largest mead competition.  And, for serious history buffs, there's always a mead horn.

Berele (Ethiopia)

Mazer Cup

Mead Horn

                    

Brands of Mead:

• Redstone
• Medovina
• Brother's Drake
• Schramm's
• Nektar