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Craft Hard Cider Is On A Roll. How Ya Like Them Apples?
Hard cider is having a hot moment. Hotter still, if it's locally made and distributed. Over the past four years, the number of cideries across the country has doubled, from 400 to 800, according to The Cyder Market LLC, a small business that keeps statistics on the cider industry. [...] Wine has long had its connoisseurs. With the rise of the craft beer movement, drinkers have learned to appreciate the nuances of that brewed beverage, too. But cider, in many drinkers' imagination, remains an unrefined, blandly sweet drink, says Johnson. The reality is far different, he says.
[...] Hard cider's history in the U.S. goes all the way back to the Founding Fathers. During the American Revolution, many landowners had apple orchards and made homemade fermented cider using the cider apples that grew in their backyard, says Michelle McGrath, executive director of the U.S. Cider Makers Association. "Prohibition came and most of the cider apple trees were cut down in this country. But now, it's having a renaissance," she says. "It's coming back really strongly; it's taking market share from beer."
Nielsen's research says sales for regional cider are up 35.6 percent. McGrath says this is because local cideries have more varieties of cider that appeal to more sophisticated palates. In other words, cider seems to be going through what wine and beer went through years ago: people moving from drinking big brands to being more discerning, niche, and sometimes downright persnickety.
(Score: 1) by anubi on Friday December 08 2017, @03:43AM
I understand your grief about buying a new fancy CO2 jug. Several years ago, I lucked out finding a couple of old 20-Lb steel CO2 jugs in a dumpster. ( They appear to be the same size as SCUBA tanks... would not be surprised if they actually use this same jug for both purposes ). I was working in Aerospace at the time, and came across a 0-100 PSI nitrogen gas regulator at surplus sales... believe I paid around $10 for it. I was able to do a little mechanical fitting alteration to get the proper CO2 fitting onto the Nitrogen regulator ( Nitrogen has a substantially higher tank pressure, and both gases are non-reactive ), so I should be pretty safe.
The CO2 has tank pressures from about 500 to 1500 PSI, dependent on tank temperature, as the CO2 is given to me in a liquid state. ( If you want the precise pressure for a given temperature, consult thermodynamic tables for CO2 ).
While discussing the prospect of how to get them filled, my contacts told me that all the CO2 came from the same place, Matheson [mathesongas.com], and they got it from fractionating air. Many local welding and refrigeration supply shops had contacts to swap bottles, only one place in town could actually fill a custom bottle, and that was Matheson themselves. But being I had old steel jugs, I swapped 'em. Took me a couple of trips before I discovered that the local tradesmen were using the newer Aluminum jugs. And all it took for me to upgrade was just to ask!
So, on my next trip to the refrigeration supply shop, I swapped 'em out for aluminum ones. Much improved design... especially the handle. About the only grab point I had on the steel cylinders was by the valve assembly... and I hated using the valve as a handle.
They cost me right at $20 for a refill/swap, and they also take care of recertifying the tank ( yes, they actually have expiration dates for pressure tests! ). So, at my rate of use, it does not make much sense for me to own my jugs. They will time out before I even get 'em banged up. It takes me about two years to use a tank of CO2. And that includes other uses I come to occasionally when I just need a little compressed air for blowing the dust out of a computer, or tire inflation.
I do not know of any harm that comes from use of CO2 as a tire pressurant, but I have been doing so as trotting the CO2 tank out to the fill site is usually a lot easier than trotting out the air compressor with extension cords... and I already use tire fittings anyway for carbonation. Pep-Boys sell a really nice stainless steel screw type schraeder tire stem that fits neatly in the cap of a standard soda bottle.
Well, anyway, that's the story of my cheapie soda-pop maker.
The most expensive part by far is the fruit juice . I am particularly fond of carbonated Ocean Spray cranberry juice.
Adding the fizz is about $10/year or so for me. Use your own imagination of what concoction you want to be fizzy.
I have even carbonated Milk of Magnesia, but it tasted awful and had a rather unpleasant side effect of not only acting as a powerful laxative, but also filling the gut with CO2, which was quite a messy deal.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]