102 



with a reo-ular corking machine. The bottles should be left standing 

 upright for a few days until the liquor is quiet, and may then be laid 

 on the side. 



LAGER FERMENTATION. 



Whether in casks or bottles, the cider is now left in the storage room 

 to ripen. This is called b}" the Germans "lager fermentation." The 

 temperature should be kept as near -iO'^ F. as possible, and the vessels 

 (casks or bottles) should remain undisturbed. The cider will soon be- 

 come sparkling, and in two to four months will be in condition for use. 



If racked into these final receptacles at the density mentioned, the 

 air being carefully excluded, the result will be a cider which will, in 

 a measure, chanipagnize itself, and retain some sugar for a long time; 

 but if left in casks with the wood pores open, the cider will eventually 

 become quite "dry" (free from sugar), the gas will gradually be lost, 

 and the product will be a still, hard cider. This sort of cider is little 

 relished l)v most people, and unless preserved by some chemical reagent 

 or charged with carbonic-acid gas at intervals, it will be turned to 

 vinegar whenever temperature conditions favor the growth of the 



vinegar ferment. 



GERMAN METHOD OF FERMENTATION. 



As already stated, the German makers pay no attention to the forma- 

 tion of head or top lees, and make no effort to draw the cider from 

 between the lees. Their cider is, therefore, different in character from 

 English, French, or American cider. Their method of treating the 

 must doubtless accounts, at least in part, for this difference. 



The fresh must is run into the fermentation cask until it comes 

 within about 12 inches of the bung, and then, if yeasts are used, these 

 are sown at once, using about one part of the strong culture, hereto- 

 fore mentioned, to 100 parts of must. A ventilating funnel is now 

 fitted tightly into the bunghole, a 5 per cent solution of sulphuric acid 

 being used in it to prevent the entrance of organisms from the air. 



Fermentation progresses under the methods above discussed, but 

 nothing is done to the liquor until it has fermented out nearl}^ to dry- 

 ness and becomes still. The top lees are permitted to fall back through 

 the liquor and settle to the bottom along with the 3'easts. When the 

 liquor is quite still, some makers follow the practice of fflling the cask 

 to the bung with cider, so as to avoid having an air space, and then 

 closing the bunghole sufficiently tight to prevent access of air. Bung- 

 ing at this period is dangerous, unless a vent is provided for b}' means 

 of a ventilating bung. 



There seems to l)e little uniformity of practice among the Germans 

 about racking off'. Some racked as early as December, and then again 

 about March, while others racked off' three or four months after put- 

 ting the must in casks, and then again the next autumn, if the liquor 



