Hello All,
Some of us have the experience of a headache when we freeze down our fermented fruit juices. I have never seen a recipe for fruit wine that did not have the campden tablet at the beginning, BUT...
Drinking cider used to be made by cleaning picked apples and pears. Some mills used bleach dip, some used metabisulfite dip, but the external fruit was cleaned before it was crushed. The stone press would also be sanitized before each use.
I remember that this kind of cider would ferment to a clear beverage that would be ready for drinking after about 4 months of aging. No acid, no pectin, no nothing added. This of course could then be allowed to freeze for more fun. Natural cider became impossible to find after the e.coli scare in the mid-1990's (that e.coli came from apples that lay on the ground with birdshit...)
So this is what I know: that it is a heck of a lot easier to freeze and decant after fermentation is complete. (It was some test of patience to ferment double strength juice without getting off flavours).
Anybody else know how we make cider without adding chemicals to the bulk? Anybody willing to try next cider season?--Irene