Reduce bitterness and increase acidity

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The_italian_cider_maker

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Hi all ladies and gents!
I have the need to reduce the bitterness in my cider and reading all around the web I found someone saying that tht pectinase in some case could lead to a higher bitterness.
Is it possible that? Do you know any method to reduce the bitterness?

Another matter is to increase total acidity to increase the flavor persistence.
Except with the apple variety blending, is there any other method I could use? Is it possible to add malic acid or it's not a good idea?

Thank you all and always enjoy the cider!
 
Not a miracle solution but sweetness tend to balance and so attenuate biterness.
Then backsweet it should be a planB.

Thanks @doublejef.
I've done a dry hard cider.
I will try to add not fermenting sugar without changing the original dry hard cider flavor.
In your opinion, do the professional cider producers usually do this?

Thanks!
 
The classic process is more about stopping fermentation before totally dry to keep some (often a lot) residual sugar. To do that they use chemical (sulfite+), filtration (remove yeast) or temperature (pasteurization).
As a homemaker, both chemical or temperature is quiet easy but need a bit of experience and knowledge.
 
Thank for suggestion, @doublejef The only problem is that I want to obtain a full sparkling cider, so the residual sugar after fermentation stop is then consumed in bottle for carbonation.
 
Time will reduce the bitterness (ageing) and I find after carbonation my cider seems less bitter. other than that sweetening is the main remedy.
 
Have a look at my reply to Hoboturtle on 23 July. There is an attachment about Heat Pasteurisation that might help you, otherwise as suggested by Doublejeff follow Pappers post at the top of the forum.
Cheers
Great guide @Chalkyt!!
Thanks!

I would like to know if it possible (in your opinion) to build a bath pasteurizer using a sous vide and a plastic basin (big enough for 20/25 bottles).
 
In theory it should be possible, but there are a couple of practical issues to consider...

Most domestic (cheap) sous-vide sticks are rated at 1000W-1200W. There are some commercial models that go up to 1500W but they generally cost twice as much (you are paying for all sorts of fancy cooking functions that you don't need).

With a container large enough to take 25 bottles, there will be a certain amount of heat loss through the walls and water surface that the heater will have to replace, as well as an initial water temperature drop when the bottles are first put into the bath. You can minimise the heat loss with a lid and insulation around the bath, but I haven't needed to do this. It is simply a matter of physics in that you have to put in as much heat energy as you are losing plus the energy needed to bring the bottles up to temperature.

My setup is simply a 20 litre plastic food grade bucket with 15 litres of water which just covers the bottles and a 1000W sous-vide stick heater. This bucket holds six 300ml bottles (one with water and a thermometer to monitor the bottle temperature, and five bottles of cider). This suits me because I do 5 litre batches which gives me three lots of five bottles at a time through the pasteurisation process.

A point to remember is that it takes a while to put 25 bottles in a bath and take them out again, so the amount of heat exposure may differ between bottles. Mind you, the target typically is 50 pasteurisation units and it really doesn't matter if you achieve 40 or 60, it all works O.K.

I pre-heat the bottles to around 50C with hot tap water so the differential between the bottles and the 65C bath isn't too great (otherwise bringing the bottles up from room temperature takes a long time). Although the bath temperature drops a few degrees when the bottles are first put in, the 1000W sous-vide stick brings the bath up to temperature again in a couple of minutes. I would probably buy a 1200W stick if I was starting again.

So, it is a case of "suck it and see".

An alternative (apart from manually controlling the water temperature), is to use something like an immersion heater (these are usually up to 2400W) and an Inkbird controller. The combined cost of these would be about the same as a sous-vide stick. The controller plugs into a domestic power outlet and the heater plugs into the controller. The controller has a temperature probe that sits in the water and controls the temperature. What is missing from this setup is a means of circulating the water (which the sous-vide stick does).

SWMBO has her preserving/bottling setup organised this way. It has a 2400W built-in heater. She got tired of maintaining temperature by turning the heat on and off, so we tried the Inkbird controller which works fine. The absence of circulating water doesn't seem to be an issue.

So, good luck and have fun.
 
Thank you very much @Chalkyt!
I saw on Amazon the inkbird controllor and the immersion heater. I was in doubt exactly for the water circulation but I was thinking to use one of the aquarium pumps commonly sold in the pet store (water circulation pump for salt water aquarium).
I'll let you know if if works, in any case is good to know that this is not necessary.

I'll try the solution with inkbird and heater, it seems more affordable!

Thank you again!
 
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