154 



CIDEK MAKING IN FRANCE. 



[Dec. 1894. 



drawn off, and immediately poured back again over the pulp,, 

 when maceration is allowed to continue for another 12 hours. 

 The cider is then drawn off and placed in the casks. The 

 operation is repeated once or twice, as the case may be, with the 

 same pulp. 



Hubert states the method now generally adopted in this 

 process of lixiviation is to draw off, at the conclusion of the 

 first 12 hours of maceration, only one-third of the liquid, which 

 is then poured back over the pulp. This operation is repeated 

 twice at intervals of 12 hours, when the liquid is placed in the 

 casks to undergo fermentation. The beverage obtained by 

 lixiviation is a small-cider of inferior strength, but it possesses 

 an agreeable flavour and will keep for about a year in good 

 condition. 



After being filtered, the must is poured into clean casks and 

 placed in a cellar at a temperature of 50° to 59° Fahr. in order 

 to set up fermentation. The casks are filled up to about 4 inches 

 from the top and the bung-hole is covered over with a piece of 

 wood or slate weighted by a stone. If tumultuous fermentation 

 does not set in, Hauchecorne recommends that the liquid should 

 be stirred vigorously for five minutes twice a day, and if this 

 fails, that the temperature of the cellar should be increased to 

 77° Fahr. The addition of: a small quantity of must heated to 

 122° Fahr. is said to produce equally good results. Fermentation 

 is also facilitated by the addition of a little cider in a state of 

 fermentation. 



Some cider makers have abandoned the system of fermenta- 

 tion in the casks in favour of another method whereby the must 

 is placed in large open vats or tubs in cellars maintained at a 

 uniform temperature of 54° to 59° Fahr. Tumultuous fermenta- 

 tion is said to set in readily ; and, as a rule, in about four or five 

 days the liquid is ready to be drawn off. 



As soon as fermentation is over, the pure liquid is drawn off, 

 usually by means of a syphon, into clean casks, care being taken 

 to disturb the scum as little as possible. To obtain a perfectly 

 clear cider, it is recommended by many writers that a solution 

 of about 1 oz. of catechu (or better something over J oz. of 

 tannin) dissolved in two pints of cider should be added to every 

 22 gallons of cider. The cask is then left for a few days before 

 the bung is finally driven in. Sometimes about a quart of olive 

 oil is poured through the bung-hole in order to prevent the 

 cider becoming sour and hard from contact with air. 



In 1893, over 20,000 gallons of French cider and perry were 

 imported into the United Kingdom out of a total importation in 

 the year of 558,108 gallons, of which quantity the United States 

 supplied 537,174 gallons. 



