Book II. MANUFACTURE OF CIDER AND FERRY. 673 



the time when his pulp should be carried to the press. If he carried it immediately from 

 the mill to the press, he might lose some small advantage which may be expected from 

 the rind and kernels, and his liquor might be of lower colour than he may wish. If he 

 suffer it to remain too long unpressed, he will find to his cost that the acetous ferment- 

 ation will come on before the vinous is perfected, especially in the early part of the cider- 

 making season. He will generally find that his pulp is in a fit state for pressing in 

 about twelve or sixteen hours. If he must of necessity keep it in that state longer, he 

 will find a sensible heat therein, which will engender a premature fermentation ; and 

 he must not delay turning it over, thereby to expose the middle of the mass to the in- 

 fluence of the atmosphere. Knight's opinion is, however, that it should remain twenty- 

 four hours before it is taken to the press ; and in this opinion the author of the Art of 

 Cider Making, in Lardners Cyclopedia, Domestic Economy, vol. i. also concurs. 



4127. The pommage being carried to the press, and a square cake or cheese made of it, 

 by placing very clean sweet straw or reed between the various layers of pommage ; or 

 by putting the same into the hair-cloths, and placing them one on another. It is of 

 importance that the straw or weed be sweet, and perfectly free from any fustiness, lest 

 the cider be impregnated therewith. Particular care ought also to be taken to keep 

 hair-cloths sweet, by frequently washing and drying, or the ill effects of their acidity 

 will be communicated to the cider. To this cake or cheese, after standing awhile, a 

 slight pressure is at first to be given, which must be gradually increased until all the 

 must or juice is expressed ; after which, this juice must be strained through a coarse 

 hair sieve, to keep back its gross feculences, and be put into proper vessels. These 

 vessels may be either open vats or close casks ; but as, in the time of a plentiful crop 

 of apples, a number of open vats, may by the ciderist be considered an incumbrance in 

 his cider-rooms, they should be generally carried immediately from the press to the 

 cask. Thus far, says Crocker, cider-making is a mere manual operation, performed with 

 very little skill in the operator; but here it is that the great art of making good cider 

 commences ; nature soon begins to work a wonderful change in this foul-looking, turbid, 

 fulsome, and unwholesome fluid ; and, by the process of fermentation alone, converts it 

 into a wholesome, vinous, salubrious, heart-cheering beverage. 



4128. Fermentation is an internal motion of the parts of a fermentable body. This 

 motion, in the present case, is always accompanied with an evident ebullition, the bub- 

 bles rising to the surface, and there forming a scum, or soft and spongy crust, over the 

 whole liquor. This crust is frequently raised and broken by the air as it disengages 

 itself from the liquor, and forces its way through it. This effect continues whilst the 

 fermentation is brisk, but at last gradually ceases. The liquor now appears tolerably 

 clear to the eye, and has a piquant vinous sharpness upon the tongue. If in this state 

 the least hissing noise be heard in the fermenting liquor, the room is too warm, and 

 atmospheric air must be let in at the doors and at the windows. Now, continues 

 Crocker, is the critical moment which the ciderist must not lose sight of; for, if he 

 would have a strong, generous, and pleasant liquor, all further sensible fermentation 

 must be stopped. This is best done by racking off the pure part into open vessels, 

 which must be placed in a more cool situation for a day or two ; after which it may 

 again be barrelled, and placed in some moderately cool situation for the winter. The 

 Herefordshire cider-farmers, after the eider has perfected its vinous fermentation, place 

 their casks of cider in open sheds throughout the winter ; and, when the spring advances, 

 give the last racking, and then cellar it. In racking, it is advisable that the stream from 

 the racking-cock be small, and that the receiving-tub be but a small depth below the 

 cock, lest, by exciting a violent motion of the parts of the liquor, another fermentation 

 be brought up. The feculence of the cider maybe strained through a filtering-bag, and 

 placed among the second-rate ciders ; but by no means should it be returned to the 

 prime cider. In this situation the cider will, in course of time, by a sort of insensible 

 fermentation, not only drop the remainder of its gross lees, but will become transparent, 

 highly vinous, and fragrant. 



4129. According to Knight, after the fermentation has ceased, and the liquor is become 

 clear and bright, it should instantly be drawn off, and not suffered on any account again 

 to mingle with its lees; for these possess much the same properties as yeast, and would 

 inevitably bring on a second fermentation. The best criterion to judge of the proper 

 moment to rack off will be the brightness of the liquor ; and this is always attended with 

 external marks, which serve as guides to the cider-maiier. The discharge of fixed air, 

 which always attends the progress of fermentation, has entirely ceased ; and a thick crust, 

 formed of fragments of the reduced pulp, raised by the buoyant air it contains, is col- 

 lected on the surface. The clear liquor being drawn off into another cask, the lees are 

 put into small bags, similar to those used for jellies: through these whatever liquor the 

 lees contain gradually filtrates, becoming perfectly blight; and it is then returned to that 

 in the cask, in which it has the effect, in some measure, of preventing a second ferment- 

 ation. It appears to have undergone a considerable change in the process of filtratie>n. 



X x 



