Author: Matt Del Fiacco

Traditionally, hard cider was naturally fermented by the yeast present on the apple skins at juicing. However, many modern cider makers choose to pasteurize the juice before pitching pure yeast cultures, as it affords them greater control over the finished product. Two of the most common methods of pasteurization include treatment with either chemicals, specifically potassium or sodium metabisulfite, or heat. Technically, treating juice with chemicals isn’t pasteurization, but rather an alternative process that inhibits the wild yeasts and bacteria naturally present in fresh pressed juice. Holding juice at a specific temperature for a certain amount of time will fully eliminate those same yeast and bacteria, thereby pasteurizing the juice.

Both methods have their pros and cons. For example, in addition to the gear and energy requirements, many believe heat pasteurization drives off volatile aromatic compounds that leads to a “cooked apple” flavor. While dosing juice with a relatively small amount of cheap powder may negate the need for heating equipment, the effectiveness of this method is dependent on the pH of the juice, which isn’t an issue with heat. Moreover, some individuals are very sensitive to sulfites, especially those with asthma, excluding chemical pasteurization as an option.

One of my favorite days of the year is when I get to set up shop outside my family member’s house and press all of the apples that haven’t been turned into apple sauce, apple chips, or apple pie. After pressing the apples, I often struggle with how to go about inhibiting the wild yeast and bacteria present. While I am concerned about the potential flavor impact and aroma loss due to the use of heat, I’m also skeptical of the use of sulfites due to the potential flavor impact. Eager to be able to plan more effectively in the future, I offered up my lot of a season’s worth of fresh pressed apple juice to test it out for myself!

| PURPOSE |

To evaluate the differences between hard ciders made with juice pasteurized with either chemical (potassium metabisulfite) or heat.

| METHODS |

I opted to make a dry, pétillant, traditional cider using a clean lager yeast that I have had good experiences with in the past.

A Pressing Situation

Recipe Details Batch Size Boil Time IBU SRM Est. OG Est. FG ABV 4 gal 0 min 0.0 IBUs 9.8 SRM 1.050 0.997 7.0 % Actuals 1.05 0.997 7.0 % Fermentables Name Amount % Fresh Pressed Apple Juice 35.067 lbs 100 Yeast Name Lab Attenuation Temperature SafLager German Lager (S-189) DCL/Fermentis 73% 48°F - 56°F Download Download this recipe's BeerXML file

I always prep for apple pressing a few days ahead of time by getting the materials out of storage and giving it all a thorough cleaning. Come juicing day, the apples are gathered, washed, and quartered by hand, after which we run the chunks through a purpose-purchased garbage disposal and gather the resulting decimated apple mash in a bucket lined with a Brew Bag fabric filter.

The apple filled Brew Bag is then moved to the cider press and the juice is collected in a sanitized bucket. The bees were plentiful this year and drawn to the juice, so we kept the bucket covered between pressings.

At the end of pressing, I found myself with 8 gallons of apple juice. I took a hydrometer reading that revealed the juice was right at 1.050 OG, similar to many commercially available apple juices.

For this experiment, I went with the general rule-of-thumb to use 1 Campden tablet per gallon of juice, which amounts to a sulfite addition of roughly 50 ppm per gallon. After racking half of the juice to a sanitized fermentation keg, I dissolved the ground Campden in a small amount of juice and tossed it into the filled fermentor.

For the pasteurization of apple juice, the FDA recommends a temperature of 160°F/71°C for at least 6 seconds, though based on recommendations from other cider makers, these numbers seem to be bare minimums. Wanting to ensure the job was done completely, especially considering the copious amounts of wild yeast and bacteria on the apples, I brought the juice up to 180°F/82°C, shut off the heat, and let it sit covered for 5 minutes.

I then racked the heat pasteurized batch into an identical fermentor and let both kegs sit at 60°F/16°C for 24 hours while the Campden did its work. I rehydrated a sachet of yeast with Go-Ferm for each batch before pitching.

The ciders were allowed to ferment at 60°F/16°C in my temperature controlled chamber.

After a month of fermentation, I racked each batch of cider into its own serving keg and allowed them to age at 68°F/20°C for approximately 6 months. Hydrometer measurements at this point showed the cider treated with chemicals had attenuated ever so slightly more than the heat pasteurized batch.

The filled kegs were put in my kegerator where they were chilled and carbonated to my desired level, after which they were ready to serve to participants!

| RESULTS |

A total of 21 people of varying levels of experience participated in this experiment. Each participant was served 1 sample of the cider treated with potassium metabisulfite (Campden) and 2 samples of the heat pasteurized cider in different colored opaque cups then asked to identify the unique sample. At this sample size, 12 tasters (p<0.05) would have had to identify the unique sample in order to reach statistical significance, though only 8 (p=0.40) made the accurate selection. These results indicate participants in this experiment were unable to reliably distinguish a cider made with fresh pressed juice treated with chemicals from one pasteurized with heat.

My Impressions: Out of the 5 semi-blind triangle tests I attempted, I chose the different sample only once. Both ciders had a deceptively sweet aroma reminiscent of apple peels and white wine, while the flavor was quite dry and crisp on the palate. If there was a loss of character to the heat pasteurization, or an altering of flavor due to the sulfite addition, I was unable to tell. And that’s a good thing, because I loved these ciders!

| DISCUSSION |

The pasteurization of fresh pressed juice is a method used by cider makers to ensure a consistent and predictable finished product. As with most things involving fermentation, opinions regarding the various methods of pasteurization abound, with some preferring chemical options while others opt for the more natural use of heat. The fact blind tasters in this experiment were unable to reliably tell apart ciders pasteurized using either method suggests the fears some hold of negative flavor impact may be for naught.

I have used both chemical and heat pasteurization when making cider from fresh pressed juice in the past, and both methods always seemed to work equally as well. Based on my experience with these ciders, I’ll be using potassium metabisulfite to inhibit wild yeast and bacteria in future batches, as it requires one less time consuming step. That said, it’s nice to know that heat pasteurization doesn’t seem to have the detrimental effects some claim, making it a fantastic option for those who have a sensitivity to sulfites or simply prefer a more natural process.

If you have any thoughts about this cider experiment, please do not hesitate to share in the comments section below!

Support Brülosophy In Style!

All designs are available in various colors and sizes on Amazon!

Follow Brülosophy on:

If you enjoy this stuff and feel compelled to support Brülosophy, please check out the Support page for details on how you can very easily do so. Thanks!

Advertisements

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Tumblr

Email



Like this: Like Loading...