Is this too left-field???

[Chalkyt]

Is this too left field???

One of my batches last year was mostly Red Delicious, because I had a surplus of them. We had used a lot of the Red Delicious apples for pies, preserving etc, so I fermented on the left-over skins because that is where most of the tannins live.

The result was markedly superior to the same batches without the skins.

So the “left field” question is... has anyone tried grinding apples, pressing the juice then returning the juice to some or all of the pomace which contains skins as well a pulp for primary fermentation. Then filter the juice for extended final fermentation.

The idea being that the skins would give up the tannins that are otherwise discarded in the pomace.

Just an idle thought… any opinions?

 

[bushpilot]

I am surprised by the silence.

I think it should add some nice character and structure to the cider.

 

[Jonakr]

I am surprised by the silence.

I think it should add some nice character and structure to the cider.

My understanding is that apples grown for hard cider are not the same as those grown for eating, but I make mine with store bought juice. I would not be surprised if the skins changed the character.

 

[Elk479]

While I have not done so myself, I would assume using some of the pomace would help introduce some tannins and character to the cider. The same is done for country wines to help develop some structure.

IMO, one could try it and give some feedback on how it turns out vs control.