Qualities of Good Cider, 



159 



enhances the flavour. Probably the most difficult task of the 

 cider-maker is to retain in the juice this small amount of 

 sugar, or, as it is often called, " sweets." Unfortunately the 

 desire to do so has outweighed all other considerations with 

 some makers : and, as often happens with things which are 

 good in moderation, this desire, carried to excess, has 

 produced a greater evil than the one which it was originally 

 intended to counteract. Those who are investigating the 

 manufacture of cider and other fermented liquids are 

 striving to find a natural means to retain the sugar. 

 Failing the discovery of such a means, preservatives are 

 being used by many, often without the least knowledge 

 of their composition or their effect upon the human body. 

 In view of their wide employment experiments have been 

 made to try and determine what actual benefit may accrue 

 from their use, and what quantities must be employed to be 

 effectual. The results of these experiments will be recorded 

 in due course. 



The conditions affecting the colour of cider have, it appears 

 already been investigated in earlier experiments at Butleigh. 

 The colour depends partly upon the natural colour of the apple- 

 juice, partly upon the freedom of this juice from extraneous 

 substances — as, for example, the juice of rotten apples — and 

 partly on the treatment of the pomace after it leaves the mill 

 and before pressing, for if then exposed to the air it gets 

 darker, and the resulting juice is more highly coloured. In 

 the manufacture of cider at Butleigh, precautions are taken 

 to prevent all these sources of high colour. Clearness is 

 more diflicult to obtain, especially with cider in bottle. It 

 can be obtained in bottle by disgorging, as is done in the 

 wine industry ; but the cost of this process would be pro- 

 hibitive. It is easy to obtain a dry cider in bottle without 

 much deposit, provided the juice is placed in the bottles 

 immediately it comes from the filter, and is not filtered until 

 nearly the whole of the sugar has been fermented. There is 

 a general opinion that sugar-candy will not ferment if placed 

 in the juice at this time, and experiments have been started 

 to determine how far this assumption is correct. That a 

 certain amount of fermentation should proceed in the bottle 



