Dec. 1894.] 



CIDER MAKING IN FRANCE. 



153 



cider, however, the pips are generally crushed, as their essence is 

 considered to give a bouquet to the cider. In the pi eparation 

 of cider which is to be converted into brandy, the pips are 

 always crushed. 



After the crushing process is completed, the semi-liquid pulp 

 is sometimes macerated in open tubs from 12 to 24 hours, 

 according to the temperature ; meanwhile it is stirred two or 

 three times. In many cases, however, the pulp is pressed once 

 before being macerated. The juice obtained from this first 

 operation of pressing is pure cider {gros cidre). In the large 

 cider factories, the pulp after being pressed once is removed from 

 the press, placed in tubs, and macerated for six or eight 

 hours with water or with small cidei:, when it is again pressed. 

 Cider obtained from the second and subsequent pressings is 

 called small cider (petit cidre). According to Hauchecorne, it 

 is indispensable in the manufacture of pure cider to macerate 

 the pulp before passing it through the press. This pro- 

 cess, he says, not only facilitates the extraction of the juice, 

 but promotes the alcoholic fermentation of the must, impregnates 

 the juice with the aroma of the apple, and develops a rich brown 

 colouring matter in the pulp. Hubert states, however, that it 

 has been conclusively proved by experiments that the cider 

 obtained from pulp which has been subjected to maceration is 

 never of so deep a colour as that obtained from the pulp which has 

 been put through the press directly after leaving the crushing 

 machine. Hand-presses are mostly employed, but hydraulic 

 presses are used in some establishments. 



In a few of the large cider factories, the juice is extracted by 

 the process of diflfusion. The difFuser usually consists of a 

 number of closed vats of the same capacity communicating with 

 one another. A quantity of apple pulp is placed in each vat, 

 water is then poured into one of tl^em and made to pass through 

 ench vat in succession, the complete operation extending over 

 about 24 hours, when the liquid is drawn off and allowed to 

 ferment. 



Some authorities are of opinion that cider produced by this 

 process is clearer, more aromatic and more alcoholic than that 

 obtained by the use of presses. It may be observed, however, 

 that Dr. Paul Kulisch, of the Royal Chemical Experiment 

 Station at Geisenheim, who has carried out an exhaustive series 

 of experiments in the manufacture of cider by the process of 

 diffusion, states that the beverage produced by this method is 

 not only always thinner and poorer in quality than that 

 obtained by pressing, but that the yield is also inferior in 

 quantity. 



A simple process of extraction, recommended by Hauchecorne 

 for the brewing of small-cider by labourers and others, is that 

 known as lixiviation. It really is a process of diffusion on a 

 small scale. A weighed quantity of apple pulp is macerated with 

 an equal weight of water for about 12 hours. The liquid is then 



