IMPROVEMENT AND PRESERVATION OF CIDER. 95 



The result, in the first case, would be a solution of alcohol with some- 

 what of the taste and flavor of the apple ; that in the second would be cider 

 vinegar, and in the third a kind of diluted cider cordial. As access to the 

 air is understood in all the three cases, there would remain only so much 

 carbmic acid as was due to its solubility. 



Now we have an agent which will withdraw the albuminous matter (al- 

 ways in excess) from cider at will. If we apply it to the juice of the 

 apple, as it falls from the press, we shall leave behind sweetened water. 

 If we withhold it altogether, we shall have acetic acid and water — or cider 

 vinegar. If we apply it after fermentation has been some time in progress, 

 without exposure to the air, we shall have a weak solution of alcohol and 

 sugar. If, with exposure to the air, up to the time the agent is applied, we 

 shall have sugar, alcohol, and a little acetic acid. If now, with an invaria- 

 ble excess of albuminous matter, we add more sugar, we shall have more 

 alcohol, with the same measure of acetic acid as before. 



It is not unusual to add sugar to the juice of the grape in the production 

 of certain kinds of wine. Here follow the proportions of these ingredients 

 in several well characterized fermented wines. A sample of cider is given 

 for comparison. [Acetic acid is replaced to some extent by tartaric, malic, 

 and other acids.] The alcohol is given in per cents by volume, the sugar 

 in per cents by weight, and the acid in the number of parts by weight, of 

 caustic potassa, required to neutralize 100 parts of the wine : — 



Name. Alcohol. Sugar. Acid. 



It will be seen that these fermented wines, aside from their peculiar taste 

 and bouquet, are nearly allied to cider. The wines have more alcohol, and 

 some of them have sugar. The claret and Burgundy in the samples ana- 

 lyzed had no sugar, because it had. by fermentation, as in the case of the 

 cider, been converted into alcohol, and to some extent into acetic acid. 

 To secure the increased quantity of alcohol and sugar, provision is made in 

 the receipt above alluded to; and to guard against excessive fermentation, 

 by which more alcohol than is desirable, or more acetic acid than is accept- 

 able, would be produced, sulphite of lime is employed. 



Time is given in the recipe, for the well-known reason that, as a general 

 thing, age improves all beverages in which the proper proportions of fer- 

 ment and sugar are present. The finer products that are especially ac- 

 ceptable to the palate require a more nicely regulated temperature and 

 generally more care. They are easily destroyed by rapid and excessive 

 fermentation, by too high heat, by the presence of the juices of defective 

 fruit, by unnecessary exposure to the air, and by various other agencies — 



