In September, Kev put the finishing touches on our homemade pear cider. He made several trips for supplies and mentoring to Beer, Beer, and More Beer, a home-brewing, wine-making, and coffee-roasting supply shop in Concord.So, in the spirit of pursuing endeavors that have the best accessories, we now own a press (for pressing the juice out of large quantities of fruit), a bottle corker, and all manner of large bottles and vats for processing this stuff, as evidenced in this photo.
It'll be a few more months before the cider is ready for sampling. Until then, here are some photos of the bottling process. Maybe we can get Kev to log on and give us a tutorial on the process. (If you want to see any of the photos on this page larger, just click on them. You should get a full-screen size of the picture. Then use your browser's "back" button to get back to the blog.)
Very cool. Chemistry and cooking. I'm glad there's an enlarge function for the photos because I thought the corks in bowl in the first photo were cubes of cheese to go with the cider.
ReplyDeleteI like the high-end approach Kevin is taking -- good equipment and nice, standardized bottles. If there is a process for further distillation into a 100 proof form he can go to Mason jars for that historical look.
Congratulations on the work and effort. Can't wait for a taste.
-CTC-
Thanks, bro. We have a neighbor who is closet engineer. (He's really a lawyer, but he loves to design and build the most awesome stuff.) He and Kev are discussing plans for a still. Stay tuned.
ReplyDeleteImpressive bottling set up, guys! I think your corker is fancier than ours -- looks like Drew's working pretty hard! We look forward to a "tasting" when we visit in June!
ReplyDeleteLove the thought of sauteing corks. If we send you used ones, can you use them? Some consideration on a privileged vintage. Why do i envision a new shed and a still in that spacious backyard. Pear Brandy, pears growing in the bottle, over ripe pears part of serious product. Distillin' hip chillin"
ReplyDelete