Sparkling Apple Wine on Danish Apple Varieties

It has been quite here for the last month. I have been working hard to finish my thesis on sparkling apple wine. It's done now. Last friday it was done and signed.

Interested? Read the whole thesis here...

Step 10: Riddling

10 days before disgorging I started riddling. I hope that I will be able to remove all the yeast in only 10 days. If not I have to continuous. However, in order for my experiments to make sense I have to take out sample on day 66 (66 days of bottle fermentation) in order to be able to compare with the traditional ciders.

Here are some shoots from the riddling process.

The Producer: Kristoffer Møller @ Horn Cider

Horn Cider in central Jutland was the last stop on my way drive through Jutland. Horn Cider was founded by Kristoffer Møller in 2006 after he attended a how-to-do cider course at with Jens from Cold Hand Winery. Since then Kristoffers production has grown and today he sells all his ciders to restaurants and deli shops in Jutland.

Horn Cider produces two different ciders. One bottled with residual sugar and allowed to ferment and build up pressure in the bottle. So as known from traditional French cider. However Kristoffer uses Danish apples. The other cider is fermented to dryness, then bottled and added sugar and yeast and allowed to ferment for a second time in the bottles. Both ciders are riddled and disgorged.

What make Kristoffers ciders special is that he use honey instead of yeast for inoculation. Kristoffer told me that he was working together with some scientists to figure out what yeasts the honey introduced and what happened during the fermentation. I’m really looking forward to hear more about these results…