Hi,
I've made a few turbo ciders over the last couple of years. I became very interested in malolactic fermentation after reading about it on here. I tried cultivating Old Rosie yeast, but had no luck . I decided to buy some commercial bacteria and hit upon Vinoferm Malocid. The first time I tried it last year, nothing much seemd to happen. I just plonked some of the powder into my turbo, and hoped for teh best. It made no difference compared to my control. I went away, and made lots of beer for a few months. Late last year, the idea came to me again, and I bought some more Malocid culture. I had done some more reading, and decided to make up a starter. I took a litre of apple juice, added two teaspoons of marmite, and pitched some Malocid I had rehydrated with tap water. I kept it under an airlock in a 2 litre flask, in a warm place - about 22C - and checked every day. After a few days, I thought it looked slightly more turbid. A few days later, there were definite little "sparkles" like pin-pricks dancing on the surface best seen looking across the surface, held up to a reasonable light.
Meanwhile, 25 litres of apple concentrate (no malic acid, no tannin) had finished fermenting - there was no airlock activity for several days. Fermented using Youngs wine yeast. I pitched the litre of active culture, and observed. Initially, there was nothing, but after about three days, I got about one bubble through the airlock every ten minutes. I gradually raised the temp of the brew to 25C under PID and heater control. The rate sped up to about one every three to five minutes, and carried on for six weeks. No pellicle formed. After no activity for a week, I allowed it to cool, and then put it into a Corny with gelatine and Kieselgur finings. A few days later it was clear.
Now, as to the taste, it was certainly not sharp, very rounded, with an almost flowery aroma and taste - like a decent light white wine. It was very nice, and liked by one and all, but not really as a cider, more as a sparkling wine. There was no "twang" to it, which is often described as a characteristic of an MLF.
The Malocid certainly did something,it certainly fermented, but perhaps not what I was expecting. I guess that reflects its commercial use, which is to "soften" wines. If it made wines taste like cowpats, it probably wouldn''t sell very well. It probably did the job expected of it to the best of its abilities on my turbo.
Question: Would it have made a difference if I'd followed the mantra, and added malic acid? I suspect not, it would still have had a soft, clean taste, just perhaps softer.
Question: Is it possible that the scrumpy/Old Rosie cultures actually contain Brettanomyces as well as malolactic bacteria? The descriptions of Brett tastes of "farmyard" "horse blanket" etc. are far more reminiscent of scrumpy flavours than those I found in my pure MLF fermentation.
Anyway, that was my experience. Would I repeat it? Probably no, but I am thinking of doing a Brett cider at some point...Is this a good idea?
Comments please!
Simon.
I've made a few turbo ciders over the last couple of years. I became very interested in malolactic fermentation after reading about it on here. I tried cultivating Old Rosie yeast, but had no luck . I decided to buy some commercial bacteria and hit upon Vinoferm Malocid. The first time I tried it last year, nothing much seemd to happen. I just plonked some of the powder into my turbo, and hoped for teh best. It made no difference compared to my control. I went away, and made lots of beer for a few months. Late last year, the idea came to me again, and I bought some more Malocid culture. I had done some more reading, and decided to make up a starter. I took a litre of apple juice, added two teaspoons of marmite, and pitched some Malocid I had rehydrated with tap water. I kept it under an airlock in a 2 litre flask, in a warm place - about 22C - and checked every day. After a few days, I thought it looked slightly more turbid. A few days later, there were definite little "sparkles" like pin-pricks dancing on the surface best seen looking across the surface, held up to a reasonable light.
Meanwhile, 25 litres of apple concentrate (no malic acid, no tannin) had finished fermenting - there was no airlock activity for several days. Fermented using Youngs wine yeast. I pitched the litre of active culture, and observed. Initially, there was nothing, but after about three days, I got about one bubble through the airlock every ten minutes. I gradually raised the temp of the brew to 25C under PID and heater control. The rate sped up to about one every three to five minutes, and carried on for six weeks. No pellicle formed. After no activity for a week, I allowed it to cool, and then put it into a Corny with gelatine and Kieselgur finings. A few days later it was clear.
Now, as to the taste, it was certainly not sharp, very rounded, with an almost flowery aroma and taste - like a decent light white wine. It was very nice, and liked by one and all, but not really as a cider, more as a sparkling wine. There was no "twang" to it, which is often described as a characteristic of an MLF.
The Malocid certainly did something,it certainly fermented, but perhaps not what I was expecting. I guess that reflects its commercial use, which is to "soften" wines. If it made wines taste like cowpats, it probably wouldn''t sell very well. It probably did the job expected of it to the best of its abilities on my turbo.
Question: Would it have made a difference if I'd followed the mantra, and added malic acid? I suspect not, it would still have had a soft, clean taste, just perhaps softer.
Question: Is it possible that the scrumpy/Old Rosie cultures actually contain Brettanomyces as well as malolactic bacteria? The descriptions of Brett tastes of "farmyard" "horse blanket" etc. are far more reminiscent of scrumpy flavours than those I found in my pure MLF fermentation.
Anyway, that was my experience. Would I repeat it? Probably no, but I am thinking of doing a Brett cider at some point...Is this a good idea?
Comments please!
Simon.
