Cider shed discovery !

[Baldilocks]

So a few weeks ago I was clearing out the shed making room for starting out with beer brewing. Very new to all this and very excited ! Anyway I moved a few things and found a couple of gallons of cider still in fermentation vessels !

I made these in Sept 2011 according to the labels, but the airlocks have gone dry, and no idea when they did so. They were made from pure pressed apple juice of various mixes of varieties. One looks very clear and the other is darker and a bit cloudy, although some of the original batches did come out a bit cloudy depending on the apples used.

Are these going to be alright to try, or am I risking hours on the toilet and potential blindness from supping ? My idea was to hit them with some campden tablets to kill any horrors lurking within and bottle them up. I have very limited knowledge so that's about as far as my ideas run.

 

[JamesMcS]

Hmm - I'm thinking test with your nose before your tongue. Also that dry airlocks might be a bad sign. And also that if bacteria did get in there, killing them off wouldn't get rid of any byproducts they've produced whilst partying in your cider.

That was a lot of thinking. I need a beer :-)

 

[Baldilocks]

Thanks for that. I took the plunge and tasted the clear one. I tried it out before I saw your post.. :s

Do you know, it's not that bad. Has a slightly viscous appearance when swirled, a sweetish sherry like aroma, but a woody, dry, sharp flavour. No explosions from either end yet .... all good so far

There are no signs of mould, floaty bits, rafts of scum, or anything untoward... it certainly doesn't smell unpleasant either.

Tested it at 1.000 and the O.G. was 1.058... would this make it around 7.5% ?

I really really really want to drink this stuff...any other suggestions on "sanitising" this liquid before consumption ?

 

[JamesMcS]

I think the sherry smell might signify an acetobacter infection at some point, probably soon after the airlocks dried up. The viscosity might be another kind of infection, but I can't remember what it is...

To be honest fella, I'd steer clear until you find it what effect the first drink has had on your insides!

 

[JamesMcS]

Of course, the alcohol content may have staved off some infections - but after that many years you'd be very lucky to have avoided any colonisation

 

[Baldilocks]

That might be a very good idea indeed. I am as you can probably tell, a bit of a newbie. This cider was my first attempt at fermenting anything.
I only had maybe 1/16th of a pint at most, just to get a taste. I am anxious not to bin it, but it could have been sat with dry airlocks for years.

Poor forgotten brew I feel quite sad for it and annoyed with myself for neglecting it. When I think of all the apple collecting, washing, scratting, pressing and general faffing I did that autumn, it seems such a waste. These were 2 of around 13 gallons from that season, so I can see why they got forgotten.

 

[JamesMcS]

I know what you mean bud - I spilt about 3 litres of wheat beer all over my brew shed a couple of days ago, I was disappointed to say the least!

I'm pretty new myself, I did a lot of reading before buying all the gear though which is what's making me think what I thought.

You might be best off taking a photo and framing it, and enjoy those happy memories instead of making yourself rough :-)

 

[JamesMcS]

Oh - as an aside, whatever you do with the contents, probably best to bin the bottles when they're empty

 

[Baldilocks]

I'm not scared of making myself rough, in fact I think I may be that stubborn that I would rather do that than pour my hard work away.. lol

I once found an earthenware demijohn in a house that was getting renovated. It was bunged with a cork and the label said "Blackberry, due for bottling Dec 1966" there was a good few pints in it so it had to be drunk. Funny enough, whatever it was had the same curious sherry scent to it. I was fine after that though.

I think the cloudy vessel I have does look rather suspect though. That one might test my bravery.. .lol

 

[JamesMcS]

I'll be interested to know how it turns out - you may well have discovered a whole new method of cider production!

 

[Rolfster]

The whole idea behind brewing is to get a source of 'clean drinking water' as the alcohol should stop any dangerous bacteria growing. Get it drank......
Maybe slowly to start with though.....

 

[YoungJames]

I'm not scared of making myself rough, in fact I think I may be that stubborn that I would rather do that than pour my hard work away.. lol

I once found an earthenware demijohn in a house that was getting renovated. It was bunged with a cork and the label said "Blackberry, due for bottling Dec 1966" there was a good few pints in it so it had to be drunk. Funny enough, whatever it was had the same curious sherry scent to it. I was fine after that though.

I think the cloudy vessel I have does look rather suspect though. That one might test my bravery.. .lol

That sounds brilliant. I'd love to have a find like that.

 

[Baldilocks]

That sounds brilliant. I'd love to have a find like that.

Yeah it was an exciting find. It was left in the pantry of a house I was involved in renovating. An old couple had the house previously and nothing had changed in the house since the 50's/60's !

It was a very strange drink James, but then I suppose 45 year old abandoned homebrew can't be expected to be anything but.

It was a clear liquid with a strong sweet aroma but a powerful schnapps like kick to it. Didn't taste much of blackberries at all by then.

I also had to return the antique DJ to the house owner, but the hooch was all mine

 

[Baldilocks]

So I put on my big boy pants and gave them both a go. My guts have not churned and my palette was mildly surprised at not being assaulted by vinegary filth.
It's not great by any means though. Both batches are very tart and dry and need some doctoring before I consider proper consumption.

How do I go about sweetening these up ? Am i likely to restart fermentation by adding sugar for sweetness ? Any other tips on how to improve these "almost" ciders ?

 

[JamesMcS]

I'm impressed! Both at your bravery and their palatability!

Try splenda or some other non sugar sweetener, although I'd be amazed if the yeast in there was still viable... I see an experiment in the horizon!

 

[Baldilocks]

I'll be racking this off and experimenting soon then. I'm not sure about the sweetener though. I have always hated the taste of these products and don't really want that to come through the drink.
I think you are right though, sugar might be an option as there probably wont be any yeast action going on after all this time. No yeast was added to these batches, just relied on the natural yeasts.
Another Idea I have had is to add fruit syrups to make flavoured cider. Like you say, experiment time.

 

[Rolfster]

My advice would be to add anything that has sugar in it to the glass you drink it out of, or it may kick off fermentation.

Sorry if I am stating the obvious but I would hate for you to create bottle bombs.....

 

[Baldilocks]

My advice would be to add anything that has sugar in it to the glass you drink it out of, or it may kick off fermentation.

Sorry if I am stating the obvious but I would hate for you to create bottle bombs.....

No such thing as being too obvious with me, I am a beginner and my knowledge is rudimentary at best.

The original batches I did mix with lemonade in the glass to make them more pallettable, this worked quite well.

If I were to sweeten the batch, would adding campden tablets first kill off any yeast and prevent further fermentation ?

 

[Rolfster]

Killing the yeast would result in flat cider. you could use artfical sweetener. The yeast can't metabolise it so the yeast can make it fizzy using priming sugar you add as normal, and stop when its all gone. The cider stays sweet as the sweetener is untouched by the yeast and you don't get bottle bombs. I must warn you I make beer, not cider.....