212 



CIDER. 



sour smell, put in about a pint of unslacked lime for a 

 barrel of common size, and pour in three or four gal- 

 lons of hot water ; shake it well, giving it vent occa- 

 sionally ; let it stand till cool, and then rinse with cold 

 water. Repeat this operation till the cask smells per- 

 fectly sweet. Wood ashes might perhaps answer as a 

 substitute for lime. 



In pouring the cider into the cask, let there be a 

 strainer of coarss cloth in the bottom of the funnel, or 

 let it pass through sand, to keep out the pomace. Af- 

 ter it has been tilled, the next process is the fermenta- 

 lion. In warm weather, or in cider made from weak or 

 immature fruit, the fermentation commences in a few 

 hours — but if the fruit is ripe, and the weather cold, it 

 \vill be delayed for a week, and sometimes for a month. 

 The casks should stand in a cool place near the press 

 under cover, and where there is a free current of air. 



There are three fermentations ; the vinous, the acid, 

 and the putrid. When the first ceases, the second be- 

 gins, and when that ceases, the third begins. The first 

 is only necessary for cider, and care must be taken to 

 stop all further fermentntion, as soon as this is over. 

 This is known b} the liquor ceasing to throw up little 

 bubbles to the top. Then too all the pomace is raised 

 up, and if siifiered to remain there, will again sink to the 

 bottom and render the liquor turbid. Let this time then 

 be carefully observed, and let the liquor then be drawn 

 off, not too closely, and put into clean casks, and set 

 away in a cool clean cellar. If the cider remain bright 

 and quiet, nothing more need be done to it till the suc- 

 ceeding spring ; but if a scum collect on the surface, it 

 must be again racked ; as this, if suffered to sink, would 

 be injurious : if a disposition to ferment continue, it will 

 be necessary to rack off again, whenever a hissing noise 

 is heard. The casks into which liquor is put, whenev- 

 er racked off, should be made perfectly clean with lime 

 and water as before mentioned. If intended to be bot- 

 tled it should be fined with isinglass and drawQ off in ten 

 or twelve days. 



After the first racking of cider, a quantity of lees re- 

 main, which when filtered through coarse linen bags, 

 velds a bright liquid; if this be added to the cider 



